Introduction to PC200

Modules main themes and whatever else I thought interesting and wrote down.

History for the class of PC200 (with Dr Richard Mills down in the bowels of St. Mary’s or D10) starts in 1956 (approximately), a year of significant change for Great Britain. The Suez crisis effectively spelled a mayor change in international political power for the once great empire and a change in political balance around the world. The tensions of the cold war and the influence of the America became all too real for the financially struggling island. The irony of the Suez crisis to the modern viewer is the change in roles that we see in the international sphere today. When Britain (with the help of France and Israel) attempted to invade Egypt, to gain back control of the Suez Canal and the important oil importing trade route America stepped in with the help of the U.N. (Ironic when we look at more recent American behaviour towards the U.N. and its own crusades for oil within the middle east.) The political balance of power between the U.S. and Britain can also be seen to be mirrored by the change in the balance of cultural influence that America has over British popular culture.

The many strains of influence which form the cultural fabric of Britain today where touched upon; the end of the British Empire and the cultural influence of the immigrants from the former empire, the rapidly growing youth culture of American consumption, the rise of what can essentially be seen as uncensored entertainment in the form of texts such as ITV and just to make Richard happy; the emergence of a little know four piece from Liverpool called the Beatles.

The introductory session of this module did exactly what it said on the tin (How about that for a cultural reference?). It introduced the module but more importantly for myself it introduce the idea that when looking at cultural texts the influence these have, not only influence society in a great many ways that they themselves are permissive to influence. So do we look at the picture of Harold Macmillan on the front cover of our module guide as clever photo opportunity for him or the persuasiveness of popular culture on our lives? Or rather more interestingly does the truth lie somewhere in between with both ideas influencing and reacting as whole?