The ‘charm’ of mass culture in social relations of modern young people: A review

This article reviews issue involving the youth. The youth issue is inseparable from the great themes in the tradition of sociology within the contemporary social sciences approach. The article aims to discuss how popular culture could be understood. Review includes popular culture as a historical concept, theory and operation. The approach and conceptual thinking used in this article is based on the debate originated from the Frankfurt school of thought and its derivations. Popular culture in the larger theme may be divided into two main subthemes: firstly, contemporary culture which is closely related with consumption patterns; secondly, the new life styles surrounding the youths. At the outset, the discussion highlights the general perspectives of mass culture based on the theoretical paradigms. This followed by a discussion on how the young people being trapped and ‘charmed’, alienated themselves and practice popular culture in their daily life. The present review is hoped to assist the youths to read and understand their social activities within the context of modern culture building