ABSTRACT
Contemporary culture and society has been described in many different ways: as a post-industrial society, a narcissistic culture, a postmodern culture, a risk society and so on (Beck 1986; Bell 1976; Lasch 1985; Lyotard 1986). Although social scientists disagree concerning the description of contemporary culture and society, they agree that the formation of self-identity and lifestyle has turned into a complicated issue for modern humanity. In preindustrial Western societies there was no problem of order, everybody being so clearly labelled (Sennett 1976). There was also a greater coherence between social, cultural and personal identity - they formed an integrated whole. In late modern culture individuals often deliberately scramble all the codes and symbols, by quickly shifting from one to another. They combine different styles and tastes and construct what could be called postmodern collages (Johansson 1992; Ziehe 1989). Through such combinations of different and often contradictory styles, people explore the symbolic possibilities in their culture. People's use of different popular cultural elements may lead to the creation of a kind of dream-world, i.e. a condition in which one has the possibility, in a symbolic way, to realize all kinds of dreams and desires. However, the consumption of popular cultural goods may also increase individuals' possibilities to reflect upon their own situation and consequently also to change their lives.
