Dick Hebdige And His Popular Cultural Studies

Popular cultural studies have been a very important field of studies since cultural studies first appeared in the fifties of the twentieth century. As one of the key scholars in the Birmingham School, Dick Hebdige has taken part in studying this field for more than 30 years. He elucidates the multiplicity meaning of the popular culture with the hegemony theory, which articulates culturalism paradigm and structuralism paradigm and syncretizes the difference and fluxion of postmodernism, so that he wishes to correct the misunderstanding of the popular culture with one paradigm. Not only refer to broad popular subjects, theories and methods, but also pass through two important transitions of cultural studies, his studies can offer references for whatever studying Chinese popular culture or understanding the characteristics of different periods of cultural studies.The paper is divided into five parts. The first chapter will firstly offer a simple map of Hebdge's all works and thoughts, in which the writer will trace the development of them for four phrases. And then the writer will introduce the description of Hebdige's thoughts at home and abroad. At the end of the chapter, the writer explains the reason for choosing for study Hebdige's thoughts of popular culture, meanwhile, illuminates the significance and values of the dissertation.The second chapter is about Hebdige's research of subculture. Subculture: The Meaning of Style is considered to be the most important one among Hebdige's works, in which Hebdige syncretized the hegemony theory and semeiology to illuminate the meaning of style of subculture as the resistance to ideology for the first time. But later, Hebdige rethought this kind of elucidations, and the writer will discuss why Hebdige took this transition.The third chapter involves Hebdige's discussion of the relationships among taste, consumption and popular culture. Considering Pierre Bourdieu's research of taste has broad influence, the paper will compare the two author's discussions and hope to show the differences between them. Also, it will present the problems when Hebdige use the hegemony theory to study taste.The fourth chapter pays attention to Hebdige's opinions of postmodernism and the politics of the popular. Late in 1980s, Cultural studies faced the challenges of postmodern theory and the reform of British social and cultural shape .On one hand , the paper will present how Hebdige answered the challenges in theory and reaffirm cultural studies'unique view about populace, on the other , it will discuss how Hebdige established new alliance under the"New Time".Through the four parts of discussions, the last part of the dissertation will sum up four points about Hebdige's theory, method of studying popular culture and his writing style, the conclusion is that although he never gives up hegemony theory, Hebdige's thoughts contain more and more difference and fluxion of postmodernism. Just as Hall says"the Marxism without guarantee", Hebdige's thoughts are also without any guarantee in the scope of hegemony theory.