In his twenty-seven year reign (1978-2005), Pope John Paul II created not only more saints than any other pope in history, but also more saints than all the other popes put together since Pope Urban VIII centralised control of saint-making in 1634. This article argues that the elevation of ‘celebrity saints’, such as Padre Pio and Mother Theresa, can be seen as an attempt on the part of the Cat...

At a time of increasing globalization of much popular culture, we observe not a rise but a marked fall in the spatial homogeneity of the popularity of first names across the United States in recent decades. We explain this apparent paradox by calibrating a modified standard model of neutral cultural evolution to the record of first name popularities for the United as a whole since 1900 and acro...

Diverse depictions of the WWII German army exist in Japanese popular culture. This essay will explore the origins of the Japanese fandom devoted to German military technology and also the way that authors have (re)produced stereotypes related to German culture and traditions in their portrayals of wartime Germany. Finally, using examples by authors Tezuka Osamu and Aramaki Yoshio, this essay wi...

In his article, "Popular Culture and the Rituals of American Football," Mark Axelrod reflects on meanings of cultural practice in American popular culture. Before globalization -driven by economics -became a fact of life with profound implications, there were myths and rituals that provided a kind of insulation from the mysteries of life. These practices were ritualized by "primitive" men and w...

tanding in front of Cinderella’s castle at Walt Disney World is a statue of two figures, one tall and one short, holding hands like parent and child. The tall figure is a representation of Walt Disney himself, evoking memories for baby boomers who watched him as the genial narrator of Disney’s Sunday evening television show. The smaller figure, the child, is Mickey Mouse, including those tradem...

Almost by definition, bpopular cultureQ reflects the effects of most people imitating those around them. At the same time, trends and fashions are constantly changing, with future outcomes potentially irrational and nearly impossible to predict. A simple null model, which captures these seemingly conflicting tendencies of conformity and change, involves the random copying of cultural variants b...

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Note to Readers: It is important to note that the focus groups conducted for this report are not based on a representative sample of young women between the ages of 14-24. Rather, our aim was to offer a starting point to further explore the representation of female sexuality and social networking technologies. Therefore, all references to the participants’ responses cannot be generalized. They ...

Follow up what we will offer in this article about cached decoding the internet in global popular culture. You know really that this book is coming as the best seller book today. So, when you are really a good reader or you're fans of the author, it does will be funny if you don't have this book. It means that you have to get this book. For you who are starting to learn about something new and ...