Cultural Studies: Understanding Culture and Power in Modern Societies

Abstract

This article endeavours to address key questions by engaging with conceptual tools that allow for a critical re-examination of culture moving beyond mere description toward analytical and reflective inquiry. It seeks to illuminate new perspectives for interpreting cultural reality that transcend the traditional dichotomy between heritage and modernity. Central to this discussion is the exploration of how concepts such as power, representation, hegemony, and identity intersect in shaping everyday cultural discourses. The study also interrogates whether culture can be understood solely as a social construct, or whether, in essence, it operates as an instrument of political and social hegemony and influence.