Culture: Identity

Abstract

Some definitions of the term “culture” are offered, and the ideas of cultural theorist Stuart Hall are quoted on the importance of the production and exchange of meanings in the study of media and popular culture. The ideas of the French psychoanalyst and marketing expert Clotaire Rapaille are explored, and his notion that children are imprinted during the first seven years of their lives is considered.

Application Theories about culture and language are used to explore the notion of personal identity. It is suggested that there are two different kinds of identity available to people now: an anonymous identity and an authentic identity. The impact of postmodernism on our ideas about identity is dealt with. A survey about the brands of products the reader owns is offered as a means of suggesting the way readers use brands to define themselves.