Untangling pop: A systems theoretical approach

The current scholarly analysis of pop continues to operate within the framework of a power theory that ascribes the subject of investigation a political function. This text seeks an alternative explanation of the phenomenon by assigning pop its own (exclusive) social function. Pop is understood as a self‐substitutive unit, which qualifies it for the status of a function system. The basic structures typical for systems can be demonstrated: function, medium, code, various programmes, the specific communicative operation as well as its reflexive function, and so forth. The present text examines four additional structural elements which Luhmann designates as characteristic of function systems—secondary code, side code, contingency formula and zero methodology—to further refine the concept. Findings: Pop has many features that are characteristic of function systems. It is anything but a sphere of disorder, but has a definite infrastructure.