1. The Concept of Cultural
Hegemony in Cultural
Studies
Presented by Bhavna Sosa
2. .
Prepared by Bhavna Sosa
Paper no. 205 :Cultural Studies
Topic : The Concept of Cultural Hegemony
in Cultural Studies
Sem : 3
Roll no. 2
Submitted by: S.B. Gardi Department of
English MKBU
3. What is Cultural Studies ?
■ cultural studies, interdisciplinary field concerned with the
role of social institutions in the shaping of culture .
■ such scholars as Richard Hoggart, Stuart Hall, and Raymond
Williams, cultural studies later became a well-established
field in many academic institutions.
■ It has since had broad influence in sociology,
anthropology, historiography, literary criticism, philosophy,
and art criticism.
4. What is Cultural
Hegemony?
Cultural hegemony refers to domination or rule maintained
through ideological or cultural means. It is usually achieved
through social institutions, which allow those in power to
strongly influence the values, norms, ideas, expectations,
worldview, and behavior of the rest of society.
The notion of hegemony, before being adopted by Antonio
Gramsci, already had a long history.
Knowledge of this history is vital to gaining an understanding of
the term’s immediate influence within Cultural Studies.
5. Antonio Gramsci define Cultural Hegemony :
The Italian philosopher Antonio Gramsci developed
the concept of cultural hegemony out of Karl Marx’s
theory that the dominant ideology of society reflects the
beliefs and interests of the ruling class.
Gramsci argued that consent to the rule of the dominant
group is achieved by the spread of ideologies—beliefs,
assumptions, and values—through social institutions such as
schools, churches, courts, and the media, among others.
6. Importance of Cultural Hegemony to
Cultural Studies
■ In the 1970s, cultural hegemony has been introduced to the
field of cultural studies by Raymond Williams and others.
They play an important role in understanding Gramsci's
question. Cultural Studies aims to complete what Gramsci
has already proposed.
■ In this sense, Cultural Studies gives Gramsci's theory of
cultural hegemony a final shape and applies it to other
fields.
7. Continue...
The theory of hegemony, in general, and cultural hegemony in
particular, is of central importance to the development of
Cultural Studies.
Stuart Hall sheds light on this by saying: "I have said enough to
indicate that, in my view, the line in Cultural Studies which
attempted to think forward from the best elements in the
structuralist and culturalist enterprises, by way of some of the
concepts elaborated in Gramsci's work, comes closest to
meeting the requirements of the field of study" (Hall, 2018,
p.72).
8. Example of Cultural Hegemony :
The most common example of hegemony can be
observed in the franchising and globalization of
world cuisine, which involves franchises like KFC,
Starbucks, McDonald’s, etc. It also includes the
practice of foreign companies to produce products
that would sell well in the foreign market..
9. Conclusion:
In conclusion, as it has been observed, cultural hegemony
occupies a wide range of interest in the field of Cultural
Studies and Postcolonial studies as well. Cultural Studies
tackles the theory of cultural hegemony according to Antonio
Gramsci's perception of hegemony within the Fascist.
10. Citation
■ ALMKHELIF, Shaymaa Neamah. “Cultural Hegemony in Chinua Achebe's Things
Fall Apart: A Postcolonial Analysis.” RIMAK International Journal of Humanities
and Social Sciences, vol. 04, no. 01, 2022, pp. 184–191.,
https://doi.org/10.47832/2717-8293.15.13.
■ Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "cultural studies". Encyclopedia
Britannica, 26 Jul. 2015, https://www.britannica.com/topic/cultural-studies.
Accessed 7 October 2022.
■ Cole, Nicki Lisa, Ph.D. "What Is Cultural Hegemony?" ThoughtCo, Aug. 28,
2020, thoughtco.com/cultural-hegemony-3026121.
