Cultural Studies Solved Questions

Section Overview: This section of the Dec 2025 exam focuses on the Birmingham School, Postmodernism, Media Studies, and Key Cultural Theorists.

Q64. According to Will Wright, the Western has evolved through three stages: ‘classic’, ‘transition theme’ and ‘professional’. Wright has identified in the professional Western, the binary oppositions which are reversed. Answer the correct option which expresses, with their corresponding binary oppositions, the right sequence and order, as reported by John Storey:

A. Hero – society
B. Outside society - Inside society
C. Good - Bad
D. Weak - Strong
E. Wilderness - Civilization
  • 1. A, B, C, D, E
  • 2. A, C, B, D, E
  • 3. A, B, C, E, D
  • 4. E, A, B, C, D
Correct Answer: 1. A, B, C, D, E

Explanation:

This question refers to Will Wright's structuralist analysis in Six Guns and Society (1975), famously summarized in John Storey’s textbook.

  • The Concept: Wright applied Claude Lévi-Strauss's structuralism to Western films. He argued meaning is found in "binary oppositions."
  • The Shift: In "Classic" Westerns, the Hero protects Society. In "Professional" Westerns (Wright's final stage), the binaries flip: Society is corrupt/weak, and the Outsiders (Professionals) are strong/honorable.

The Sequence (as reported by Storey):

  1. A. Hero – Society: (The primary relationship)
  2. B. Outside – Inside: (Spatial placement)
  3. C. Good – Bad: (Moral judgment)
  4. D. Weak – Strong: (Power dynamic)
  5. E. Wilderness – Civilization: (Environmental setting)

Why this question is asked in UGC NET English:

This tests the application of Structuralism to popular culture.

  • The Storey Connection: John Storey’s Cultural Theory and Popular Culture is a "Bible" for this section of the NET exam.
  • Genre Evolution: It tests understanding of how genres change with society (e.g., "Professional" Westerns reflect post-Vietnam cynicism).
Q65. Assertion A: Television is the popular cultural form of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Reason R: Meanings and messages are not simply ‘transmitted’, they are always produced: first by the encoder from the ‘raw’ material of everyday life; second by the audience in relation to its location in other discourses.
  • 1. Both A and R are correct and R is the correct explanation of A
  • 2. Both A and R are correct but R is NOT the correct explanation of A
  • 3. A is correct but R is not correct
  • 4. A is not correct but R is correct
Correct Answer: 1. Both A and R are correct and R is the correct explanation of A

Explanation:

This question is rooted in the "Encoding/Decoding" model developed by Stuart Hall (Birmingham School).

  • Assertion A (True): TV is the dominant medium of our era, shaping public consciousness.
  • Reason R (True): This describes Hall's rejection of the "Linear Model." Meaning isn't just sent; it is produced.
    • Encoding: Producers package "raw" events into discourse.
    • Decoding: The audience actively interprets this based on their own background (social/cultural location).
  • The Link: R explains why TV is a "cultural form" and not just a machine. It is a site where meanings are negotiated between power (encoders) and people (decoders).

Why this question is asked in UGC NET English:

Stuart Hall's 1973 essay is a mandatory text.

  • Active Audience Theory: It moves away from viewing the audience as "passive dupes" to "active participants."
🎯 Exam Point: Remember the 3 Reading Positions proposed by Hall: 1. Dominant-Hegemonic (Accepts the message fully). 2. Negotiated (Accepts broadly but modifies for local conditions). 3. Oppositional (Understands the message but rejects it entirely).
Q66. Who defined culture as “one of the two or three most complicated words in the English language”?
  • 1. Raymond Williams
  • 2. John Storey
  • 3. Ben Agger
  • 4. Peter Goodall
Correct Answer: 1. Raymond Williams

Explanation:

This famous observation was made by Raymond Williams in his 1976 book, Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society.

  • The Argument: The word is complicated because it evolved from a literal agricultural sense ("cultivation" of crops) to a metaphorical one ("cultivation" of the mind) and finally to its modern sociological use.
  • Three Meanings of Culture:
    1. A general process of intellectual/spiritual development.
    2. A particular Way of Life (of a people or period).
    3. The works of intellectual/artistic activity (Literature, Art).

Why this question is asked in UGC NET English:

Raymond Williams is a "Founding Father" of the Birmingham School of Cultural Studies (along with Richard Hoggart and E.P. Thompson).

  • Paradigm Shift: He shifted English studies from a narrow focus on "High Literature" to a broader study of society.
🎯 Exam Point: Memorize Williams' other famous quote: "Culture is ordinary." This was a radical idea that argued culture isn't just for the elite; it is the everyday experience of working-class people.
Q67. Who has insisted that the power of the audience “derives from the fact that meanings do not circulate in the cultural economy in the same way that wealth does in the financial”?
  • 1. Tamar Liebes
  • 2. Elihu Katz
  • 3. Ien Ang
  • 4. John Fiske
Correct Answer: 4. John Fiske

Explanation:

This statement is a central tenet of John Fiske’s theory regarding the "semiotic power" of the audience, found in his works Television Culture (1987) and Understanding Popular Culture (1989).

  • The Two Economies: Fiske distinguishes between the Financial Economy (where the industry produces wealth/products) and the Cultural Economy (where the audience produces meanings/pleasures).
  • The Argument: The industry cannot control the meaning the audience creates. Meanings are not a finite commodity like money; the audience can "circulate" their own interpretations, often resisting the intended message.
  • Semiotic Democracy: He coined this term to describe a world where audiences are active producers of meaning, not passive consumers.

Why this question is asked in UGC NET English:

This tests your grasp of Post-Structuralist Media Theory and Active Audience Theory.

  • Popular Culture vs. High Culture: Fiske is pivotal because he defended "low" culture (like soap operas) as sites of potential social resistance.

Why other options are wrong:

  • Tamar Liebes & Elihu Katz: Famous for The Export of Meaning (1990), a study on how different ethnic groups interpreted the show Dallas.
  • Ien Ang: Author of Watching Dallas (1985). She focuses on the "ideology of mass culture" and feminist readings, but not Fiske's specific economic distinction.
Q68. Historians establish the essay film with its first theorization in writings of Sergei Eisenstein, Richter, Alexandre Astruc and that of others. Arrange the Essay Films in the chronological order of their publication:

A. As You See
B. Notebooks on Cities and Clothes
C. “The Film Essay: A New Type of Documentary Film”
D. “The Camera Stylo”
E. “Notes for a Film of ‘Capital’”
  • 1. A, B, C, D, E
  • 2. E, C, D, A, B
  • 3. A, B, E, C, D
  • 4. A, B, C, E, D
Correct Answer: 2. E, C, D, A, B [Image of timeline of essay film history Eisenstein to Wenders]

Explanation:

To solve this, you must distinguish between the early theoretical manifestos (1920s-40s) and the later cinematic works (1980s).

  • 1. E. "Notes for a Film of ‘Capital’" (1927–28): By Sergei Eisenstein. The earliest conceptual seed, planning to film Marx’s Das Kapital using "intellectual montage."
  • 2. C. "The Film Essay..." (1940): By Hans Richter. Explicitly coined the term "film essay" to make invisible concepts visible.
  • 3. D. "The Camera Stylo" (1948): By Alexandre Astruc. Argued the filmmaker should use the camera like a writer uses a pen (stylo).
  • 4. A. As You See (1986): By Harun Farocki. A modern essay film critiquing industrial history.
  • 5. B. Notebooks on Cities and Clothes (1989): By Wim Wenders. A personal essay film on fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto.

Why this question is asked in UGC NET English:

Film Studies is now a major component of Cultural Studies.

  • Intermediality: It tests your understanding of the "Camera Stylo" concept—how the camera can "write" like a pen, bridging literature and film.
  • Thematic History: You must track the concept from Modernism (Eisenstein) to Postmodernism (Wenders).
Q69. Which of the following have been written by Ien Ang?

A. “Wanted: Audience”
B. “Culture and Communication: Towards an Ethnographic Critique of Media Consumption in the Transnational Media System”
C. “The Photographic Message”
D. “Feminist Desire and Female Pleasure”
E. “On Popular Music”
  • 1. A, C and D Only
  • 2. A, B and E Only
  • 3. B, C and E Only
  • 4. A, B and D Only
Correct Answer: 4. A, B and D Only

Explanation:

Ien Ang is a prominent figure in Cultural Studies, known for bridging critical theory with empirical "active audience" research.

  • A. “Wanted: Audience”: Critiques how media institutions construct an artificial idea of an audience that doesn't match reality.
  • B. “Culture and Communication...”: A foundational text in Audience Ethnography, arguing for studying the local, lived experiences of people in a global media system.
  • D. “Feminist Desire and Female Pleasure”: Explores how women find pleasure in texts (like soap operas) that might be patriarchal, arguing for female agency.

Why other options are wrong:

  • C. “The Photographic Message”: Written by Roland Barthes (Structuralism/Semiotics).
  • E. “On Popular Music”: Written by Theodor Adorno (Frankfurt School). He famously hated popular culture, whereas Ien Ang defends the audience's right to enjoy it.
🎯 Exam Point: Ien Ang is most famous for her book Watching Dallas (1985), where she analyzed letters from Dutch viewers of the American soap opera Dallas to understand "emotional realism."
Q70. Angela McRobbie, in an influential essay first published in 1978, argues that Jackie, the best-selling teenage girls' magazine in the 1970s, can be analysed "as a system of messages, a signifying system and a bearer of a certain ideology, an ideology which deals with the construction of teenage femininity". McRobbie identifies four strategies ('subcodes') through which Jackie makes its appeal. Identify the correct strategies or subcodes given below:
  • 1. The code of Cinema, the code of personal/domestic life, the code of fashion and beauty and the code of pop music
  • 2. The code of romance, the code of personal/domestic life, the code of fashion and beauty and the code of Mall-Culture
  • 3. The code of romance, the code of personal/domestic life, the code of fashion and beauty and the code of pop music
  • 4. The code of cinema, the code of personal/domestic life, the code of cosmetics and beauty and the code of pop music
Correct Answer: 3. The code of romance, the code of personal/domestic life, the code of fashion and beauty and the code of pop music

Explanation:

This question refers to Angela McRobbie's foundational essay, "Jackie: An Ideology of Adolescent Femininity" (1978).

  • The Argument: McRobbie analyzed how the magazine "constructed" teenage identity through four specific subcodes:
    1. The Code of Romance: (The dominant code) Framing the "boy-girl" relationship as the ultimate goal.
    2. The Code of Personal/Domestic Life: Focusing on the "inner self," emotions, and family.
    3. The Code of Fashion and Beauty: Positioning the body as something to be improved for the "romance market."
    4. The Code of Pop Music: Fostering a culture of fandom within the safety of the "bedroom."

Why this question is asked in UGC NET English:

Feminist Cultural Studies: McRobbie is pivotal for shifting the focus from male subcultures (punks, skinheads) to female "Bedroom Culture."

  • Ideology: It shows how "harmless" entertainment like a magazine acts as a powerful tool for gender conditioning.

Why other options are wrong:

  • Option 2 (Mall-Culture): This is an anachronism. "Mall Culture" became a major study in the late 80s/90s (mostly in the US), not in 1970s Britain.
  • Options 1 & 4 (Cinema): While films existed, McRobbie specifically identified Pop Music as the key subcode because of its integration with posters and pin-ups.
Q71. Match the List I with List II:

List I (Author)
A. J. Fiske
B. R. Bowlby
C. I. Ang
D. Q. D. Leavis

List II (Work/Show)
I. Watching Dallas
II. Fiction and the Reading Public
III. Television Culture
IV. Just Looking: Consumer Culture in Dreiser, Gissing and Zola
  • 1. A-III, B-IV, C-I, D-II
  • 2. A-II, B-I, C-III, D-IV
  • 3. A-IV, B-I, C-II, D-III
  • 4. A-IV, B-II, C-III, D-I
Correct Answer: 1. A-III, B-IV, C-I, D-II

Explanation:

This question traces the evolution of Cultural Studies from early 20th-century literary sociology to modern media ethnography.

  • A. J. Fiske — Television Culture (III): A central text exploring the "semiotics" of TV and how audiences produce meaning.
  • B. R. Bowlby — Just Looking (IV): A mix of Feminism, Marxism, and Psychoanalysis, examining the rise of consumer culture (department stores) in the novels of Gissing and Zola.
  • C. I. Ang — Watching Dallas (I): A classic ethnographic study on why the soap opera Dallas was globally popular despite being "low-brow."
  • D. Q. D. Leavis — Fiction and the Reading Public (II): A pioneering 1932 work. Unlike Fiske and Ang who celebrated the audience, Leavis criticized the "mass market" for lowering cultural standards.

Why this question is asked in UGC NET English:

Tracing the Genealogy: It moves from the "High Culture" defense of the 1930s (Leavis) to the "Popular Culture" defense of the 1980s (Fiske/Ang).

  • Bibliographic Accuracy: Success often depends on knowing exactly which theorist wrote which specific title, especially when topics overlap (like women and reading).
Q72. According to Jeremy Hawthorn, which of the following can be said to "have prepared the ground for the development of theories of the gaze"?
  • 1. John Berger's Ways of Seeing
  • 2. Michael Argyle and Mark Cook's Gaze and Mutual Gaze
  • 3. Sigmund Freud's Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality
  • 4. Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison
Correct Answer: 1. John Berger's Ways of Seeing

Explanation:

Jeremy Hawthorn (in A Glossary of Contemporary Literary Theory) credits John Berger’s 1972 work (both the book and the BBC series) with preparing the ground for the political analysis of the gaze.

  • The Core Argument: Berger revolutionized art history by arguing: "Men act and women appear." Women are taught to watch themselves being looked at.
  • The Shift: Before Berger, "the gaze" was psychological. Berger turned it into a site of Power and Gender struggle, paving the way for Laura Mulvey.

Why other options are wrong:

  • Foucault (Discipline and Punish): Famous for the "Panoptic Gaze" (surveillance), but published in 1975, three years after Berger. Berger defined the aesthetic/gendered gaze first.
  • Freud: Introduced "scopophilia" (pleasure in looking) in 1905, but this was psychoanalytic, not the cultural/political theory Hawthorn refers to.
🎯 Exam Point: John Berger is a Marxist art critic. His work challenged the "mystification" of art by the elite.
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