Toward a definition of popular culture

History and Theory. 2011 N50 P. 147-170.The most common definitions of popular culture suffer from a presentist bias and cannot be applied to pre-industrial and pre-capitalist societies. A survey reveals serious conceptual difficulties as well. We may, however, gain insight in two ways. 1) By moving from a Marxist model (economic/class/production) to a more Weberian approach (societal/status/consumption). 2) By looking to Bourdieu’s cultural capital and Danto’s and Dickie’sInstitutional Theory of Art, and defining popular culture as «unauthorized culture».