Elizabeth Outka
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195372694
- eISBN:
- 9780199871704
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195372694.003.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This chapter introduces the concept of the “commodified authentic” and the nostalgic, originary, and aesthetic forms of such marketing, examining the explosive growth of efforts to sell these various ...
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This chapter introduces the concept of the “commodified authentic” and the nostalgic, originary, and aesthetic forms of such marketing, examining the explosive growth of efforts to sell these various forms in Britain at the end of the nineteenth century. The chapter traces the interdisciplinary expressions of the commodified authentic and explores how such a strategy eased for consumers the abrupt transition from the Victorian age to the modern era. The chapter further analyzes the importance of the commodified authentic in the history of modernity and for the development of literary modernism. Tracing some of the central debates in modernist criticism—such Huyssen’s concept of “the great divide,” and the relations between modernism and material culture—the chapter argues that the commodified authentic offers a new way to explore two critical but missing parts of the equation: how commercial ventures in fact deployed and dismantled the vexed relationship between high and low culture, and how literary modernism developed not through a reliance on the great divide or its dismantling but on the uneasy movement between the two impulses, a movement intimately connected to the paradoxical impulse to construct authenticity. The chapter concludes with a detailed summary of the chapters that follow.Less
This chapter introduces the concept of the “commodified authentic” and the nostalgic, originary, and aesthetic forms of such marketing, examining the explosive growth of efforts to sell these various forms in Britain at the end of the nineteenth century. The chapter traces the interdisciplinary expressions of the commodified authentic and explores how such a strategy eased for consumers the abrupt transition from the Victorian age to the modern era. The chapter further analyzes the importance of the commodified authentic in the history of modernity and for the development of literary modernism. Tracing some of the central debates in modernist criticism—such Huyssen’s concept of “the great divide,” and the relations between modernism and material culture—the chapter argues that the commodified authentic offers a new way to explore two critical but missing parts of the equation: how commercial ventures in fact deployed and dismantled the vexed relationship between high and low culture, and how literary modernism developed not through a reliance on the great divide or its dismantling but on the uneasy movement between the two impulses, a movement intimately connected to the paradoxical impulse to construct authenticity. The chapter concludes with a detailed summary of the chapters that follow.
Edwin L. Battistella
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195367126
- eISBN:
- 9780199867356
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195367126.003.0007
- Subject:
- Linguistics, English Language
Chapter Seven takes up Cody's advice on literature and book culture, connecting these to early 20th century self‐improvement views.
Chapter Seven takes up Cody's advice on literature and book culture, connecting these to early 20th century self‐improvement views.
Anthony Quinton
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199694556
- eISBN:
- 9780191731938
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199694556.003.0019
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This chapter begins by considering the relations between culture, education, and values in general, to draw attention to what is at issue, which is, briefly, not culture in its most inclusive sense, ...
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This chapter begins by considering the relations between culture, education, and values in general, to draw attention to what is at issue, which is, briefly, not culture in its most inclusive sense, but high culture. It then puts our present situation in some sort of comparative context by outlining an extremely short and selective history of education. Education is the transmitter of culture and the inculcation of values is at the centre of education. Traditionally, high culture, as embodied in the canon and the more theoretical academic disciplines and made possible by developed linguistic capacity, has been assumed to be the supremely valuable part of education. Hitherto those who wished to extend education from the few to the many aimed to enlarge the constituency for high culture. But now, by those who would unmask it as an elitist device, it is under threefold attack.Less
This chapter begins by considering the relations between culture, education, and values in general, to draw attention to what is at issue, which is, briefly, not culture in its most inclusive sense, but high culture. It then puts our present situation in some sort of comparative context by outlining an extremely short and selective history of education. Education is the transmitter of culture and the inculcation of values is at the centre of education. Traditionally, high culture, as embodied in the canon and the more theoretical academic disciplines and made possible by developed linguistic capacity, has been assumed to be the supremely valuable part of education. Hitherto those who wished to extend education from the few to the many aimed to enlarge the constituency for high culture. But now, by those who would unmask it as an elitist device, it is under threefold attack.
HUGH M. THOMAS
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199251230
- eISBN:
- 9780191719134
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199251230.003.0022
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
Castles and cathedrals are important heritage sites in England and Britain, with the Tower of London, the origins of which date to William the Conqueror's attempts to secure the Norman conquest, as a ...
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Castles and cathedrals are important heritage sites in England and Britain, with the Tower of London, the origins of which date to William the Conqueror's attempts to secure the Norman conquest, as a prime example. In general, past cultural achievements are celebrated as important sources for national identity. At the same time, the continuing production of high culture is considered important to national pride. This chapter examines whether cultural achievements played a similar role in English or Norman pride and identity after the Norman conquest. First, it provides a brief and necessarily oversimplified account of the cultural interaction between English and Normans in several important cultural arenas. The Anglo-Norman period was a crucial one not only for the emergence of high culture, but also of religious culture.Less
Castles and cathedrals are important heritage sites in England and Britain, with the Tower of London, the origins of which date to William the Conqueror's attempts to secure the Norman conquest, as a prime example. In general, past cultural achievements are celebrated as important sources for national identity. At the same time, the continuing production of high culture is considered important to national pride. This chapter examines whether cultural achievements played a similar role in English or Norman pride and identity after the Norman conquest. First, it provides a brief and necessarily oversimplified account of the cultural interaction between English and Normans in several important cultural arenas. The Anglo-Norman period was a crucial one not only for the emergence of high culture, but also of religious culture.
Anthony Quinton
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199694556
- eISBN:
- 9780191731938
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199694556.003.0020
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Chapter 19 described various directions from which the high culture component of the traditional content of education is under attack. The canon of supposedly supreme works of literature, the ...
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Chapter 19 described various directions from which the high culture component of the traditional content of education is under attack. The canon of supposedly supreme works of literature, the intellectual values that are most concentratedly pursued in the higher theoretical disciplines, the linguistic skills needed for effective study of the canon and the higher disciplines are all repudiated from the point of view of a militant egalitarianism which seeks to undermine their respective claims to superiority as compared with rock videos, women's or gay studies, and the discourse of Derrida, Dave Spart, or Raymond Williams. This chapter takes a critical look at the objections raised against high culture. Before doing so, it first reflects on possible explanations for this violent cultural insurrection. Secondly, it considers what might be the consequences — for education and for culture, and, therefore, for the community at large — of the revolution's success.Less
Chapter 19 described various directions from which the high culture component of the traditional content of education is under attack. The canon of supposedly supreme works of literature, the intellectual values that are most concentratedly pursued in the higher theoretical disciplines, the linguistic skills needed for effective study of the canon and the higher disciplines are all repudiated from the point of view of a militant egalitarianism which seeks to undermine their respective claims to superiority as compared with rock videos, women's or gay studies, and the discourse of Derrida, Dave Spart, or Raymond Williams. This chapter takes a critical look at the objections raised against high culture. Before doing so, it first reflects on possible explanations for this violent cultural insurrection. Secondly, it considers what might be the consequences — for education and for culture, and, therefore, for the community at large — of the revolution's success.
Luis Moreno-Caballud
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781781381939
- eISBN:
- 9781781382295
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9781781381939.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Cultural Studies
This book studies the emergence of collaborative and non-hierarchical cultures in the context of the Spanish economic crisis of 2008. It explains how peer-to-peer social networks that have arisen ...
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This book studies the emergence of collaborative and non-hierarchical cultures in the context of the Spanish economic crisis of 2008. It explains how peer-to-peer social networks that have arisen online and through social movements such as the Indignados have challenged a longstanding cultural tradition of intellectual elitism and capitalist technocracy in Spain. From the establishment of a technocratic and consumerist culture during the second part of the Franco dictatorship to the transition to neoliberalism that accompanied the ‘transition to democracy’, intellectuals and ‘experts’ have legitimized contemporary Spanish history as a series of unavoidable steps in a process of ‘modernization’. But when unemployment skyrocketed and a growing number of people began to feel that the consequences of this Spanish ‘modernization’ had increasingly led to precariousness, this paradigm collapsed. In the wake of Spain's financial meltdown of 2008, new ‘cultures of anyone’ have emerged around the idea that the people affected by or involved in a situation should be the ones to participate in changing it. Growing through grassroots social movements, digital networks, and spaces traditionally reserved for ‘high culture’ and institutional politics, these cultures promote processes of empowerment and collaborative learning that allow the development of the abilities and knowledge base of ‘anyone’, regardless of their economic status or institutional affiliations.Less
This book studies the emergence of collaborative and non-hierarchical cultures in the context of the Spanish economic crisis of 2008. It explains how peer-to-peer social networks that have arisen online and through social movements such as the Indignados have challenged a longstanding cultural tradition of intellectual elitism and capitalist technocracy in Spain. From the establishment of a technocratic and consumerist culture during the second part of the Franco dictatorship to the transition to neoliberalism that accompanied the ‘transition to democracy’, intellectuals and ‘experts’ have legitimized contemporary Spanish history as a series of unavoidable steps in a process of ‘modernization’. But when unemployment skyrocketed and a growing number of people began to feel that the consequences of this Spanish ‘modernization’ had increasingly led to precariousness, this paradigm collapsed. In the wake of Spain's financial meltdown of 2008, new ‘cultures of anyone’ have emerged around the idea that the people affected by or involved in a situation should be the ones to participate in changing it. Growing through grassroots social movements, digital networks, and spaces traditionally reserved for ‘high culture’ and institutional politics, these cultures promote processes of empowerment and collaborative learning that allow the development of the abilities and knowledge base of ‘anyone’, regardless of their economic status or institutional affiliations.
Elizabeth Outka
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195372694
- eISBN:
- 9780199871704
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195372694.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This chapter moves from the department stores discussed in the previous chapter to the individual consumer gaze, examining the rapid growth and cultural importance of carefully constructed displays ...
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This chapter moves from the department stores discussed in the previous chapter to the individual consumer gaze, examining the rapid growth and cultural importance of carefully constructed displays of “authentic” goods. The early writings of Virginia Woolf, including her novel Night and Day, structure the analysis of window shopping and self-fashioning before and after World War I. Both the fictional and the actual displays left behind the crowded, though often lavish, arrangements of the Victorian store window to present less cluttered exhibits with clean lines and single objects. The chapter explores how Selfridges, Woolf, and the new window displays satisfied in different ways some of the contradictory desires of the modern subject: the longing for the noncommercial, the pleasure in distinguishing between high and low culture, and a modern wish to acknowledge and even celebrate the constructed nature of this satisfaction. These very desires became a critical part of the modernist project, as such strategies promised to transcend distinctions between the “authentic” and the mass-produced, between an aesthetic modernism and a commercial modernity.Less
This chapter moves from the department stores discussed in the previous chapter to the individual consumer gaze, examining the rapid growth and cultural importance of carefully constructed displays of “authentic” goods. The early writings of Virginia Woolf, including her novel Night and Day, structure the analysis of window shopping and self-fashioning before and after World War I. Both the fictional and the actual displays left behind the crowded, though often lavish, arrangements of the Victorian store window to present less cluttered exhibits with clean lines and single objects. The chapter explores how Selfridges, Woolf, and the new window displays satisfied in different ways some of the contradictory desires of the modern subject: the longing for the noncommercial, the pleasure in distinguishing between high and low culture, and a modern wish to acknowledge and even celebrate the constructed nature of this satisfaction. These very desires became a critical part of the modernist project, as such strategies promised to transcend distinctions between the “authentic” and the mass-produced, between an aesthetic modernism and a commercial modernity.
Jonathan Brant
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199639342
- eISBN:
- 9780191738098
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199639342.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society, Theology
This chapter provides a theoretical justification for the application of Tillich’s theology to the medium of film. This work is necessary because Tillich was very much a theologian of high culture ...
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This chapter provides a theoretical justification for the application of Tillich’s theology to the medium of film. This work is necessary because Tillich was very much a theologian of high culture and had very little interest in popular culture. The first section argues that one common approach to Tillich’s theology fails to distinguish between two senses of the word ‘religion’ in his writings and, therefore, wrongly assumes that his method of correlation is too positivist with respect to revelation, doctrine and religious institutions. A more nuanced reading is then offered. The second section of the chapter begins with a survey of religion-film scholars’ approaches to Tillich’s thought before offering an extended thought experiment drawing on the works of Bazin and Kracauer suggesting that the unique characteristics of film give it precisely the kind of breakthrough potential that Tillich associated with his most-favoured art-form, expressionist painting.Less
This chapter provides a theoretical justification for the application of Tillich’s theology to the medium of film. This work is necessary because Tillich was very much a theologian of high culture and had very little interest in popular culture. The first section argues that one common approach to Tillich’s theology fails to distinguish between two senses of the word ‘religion’ in his writings and, therefore, wrongly assumes that his method of correlation is too positivist with respect to revelation, doctrine and religious institutions. A more nuanced reading is then offered. The second section of the chapter begins with a survey of religion-film scholars’ approaches to Tillich’s thought before offering an extended thought experiment drawing on the works of Bazin and Kracauer suggesting that the unique characteristics of film give it precisely the kind of breakthrough potential that Tillich associated with his most-favoured art-form, expressionist painting.
AMY NG
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199273096
- eISBN:
- 9780191706318
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199273096.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
The relation between the family backgrounds of Josef Redlich and Lewis Namier is a relation of theme and variations. The common themes arise from their common membership of the affluent assimilated ...
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The relation between the family backgrounds of Josef Redlich and Lewis Namier is a relation of theme and variations. The common themes arise from their common membership of the affluent assimilated Jewish strata in Central and Eastern Europe; the variations from differences in personalities and geography. Like Redlich, Namier's forebears had been assimilated for several generations, although they had assimilated to Polish rather than German culture. What Namier's and Redlich's ancestors shared was the desire to assimilate to Western high culture. Namier showed interest in the British empire, which necessarily led to a critical look at the empire of which he was a subject — Austria. It is true that in later times Namier's antipathy towards the Austrian empire increased, and that he tried to dissociate himself from it as much as possible. Still, the evidence from the beginning of World War I suggests that Namier looked at the Austrian empire not so much with hostility as with a kind of contemptuous affection.Less
The relation between the family backgrounds of Josef Redlich and Lewis Namier is a relation of theme and variations. The common themes arise from their common membership of the affluent assimilated Jewish strata in Central and Eastern Europe; the variations from differences in personalities and geography. Like Redlich, Namier's forebears had been assimilated for several generations, although they had assimilated to Polish rather than German culture. What Namier's and Redlich's ancestors shared was the desire to assimilate to Western high culture. Namier showed interest in the British empire, which necessarily led to a critical look at the empire of which he was a subject — Austria. It is true that in later times Namier's antipathy towards the Austrian empire increased, and that he tried to dissociate himself from it as much as possible. Still, the evidence from the beginning of World War I suggests that Namier looked at the Austrian empire not so much with hostility as with a kind of contemptuous affection.
Michael Ellman
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198289845
- eISBN:
- 9780191684777
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198289845.003.0009
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
In a socialist state like that of the Soviet Union, the state — speaking economically — controls all the means of production. While socially speaking, in socialism, the state is the most powerful ...
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In a socialist state like that of the Soviet Union, the state — speaking economically — controls all the means of production. While socially speaking, in socialism, the state is the most powerful figure that can reshape a society. In contrast to a capitalist state, the state is the weaker variable and it lets the state dynamically change itself. After the abolition of socialism in countries formerly espousing it, a lot of attributable negative events happened after its dissolution, poverty incidence grew more pervasive, the high-culture espoused by socialism disappeared together with it. However, after the socialism disappears, all the rights guaranteed under a true democratic society are granted to the people like the right to speech, free press, organization and a lot more.Less
In a socialist state like that of the Soviet Union, the state — speaking economically — controls all the means of production. While socially speaking, in socialism, the state is the most powerful figure that can reshape a society. In contrast to a capitalist state, the state is the weaker variable and it lets the state dynamically change itself. After the abolition of socialism in countries formerly espousing it, a lot of attributable negative events happened after its dissolution, poverty incidence grew more pervasive, the high-culture espoused by socialism disappeared together with it. However, after the socialism disappears, all the rights guaranteed under a true democratic society are granted to the people like the right to speech, free press, organization and a lot more.
Georgina Born
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520202160
- eISBN:
- 9780520916845
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520202160.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, European Cultural Anthropology
This book presents an ethnography of a powerful western cultural organization, the renowned Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) in Paris. As a year-long ...
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This book presents an ethnography of a powerful western cultural organization, the renowned Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) in Paris. As a year-long participant-observer, the author studied the social and cultural economy of an institution for the research and production of avant-garde and computer music. The text gives a unique portrait of IRCAM's composers, computer scientists, technicians, and secretaries, interrogating the effects of the cultural philosophy of the controversial avant-garde composer, Pierre Boulez, who directed the institute until 1992. It depicts a major artistic institution trying to maintain its status and legitimacy in an era increasingly dominated by market forces, and in a volatile political and cultural climate, illuminating the erosion of the legitimacy of art and science in the face of growing commercial and political pressures. By tracing how IRCAM has tried to accommodate these pressures while preserving its autonomy, the book reveals the contradictory effects of institutionalizing an avant-garde. Contrary to those who see postmodernism as representing an accord between high and popular culture, this book stresses the continuities between modernism and postmodernism, and how postmodernism itself embodies an implicit antagonism toward popular culture.Less
This book presents an ethnography of a powerful western cultural organization, the renowned Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) in Paris. As a year-long participant-observer, the author studied the social and cultural economy of an institution for the research and production of avant-garde and computer music. The text gives a unique portrait of IRCAM's composers, computer scientists, technicians, and secretaries, interrogating the effects of the cultural philosophy of the controversial avant-garde composer, Pierre Boulez, who directed the institute until 1992. It depicts a major artistic institution trying to maintain its status and legitimacy in an era increasingly dominated by market forces, and in a volatile political and cultural climate, illuminating the erosion of the legitimacy of art and science in the face of growing commercial and political pressures. By tracing how IRCAM has tried to accommodate these pressures while preserving its autonomy, the book reveals the contradictory effects of institutionalizing an avant-garde. Contrary to those who see postmodernism as representing an accord between high and popular culture, this book stresses the continuities between modernism and postmodernism, and how postmodernism itself embodies an implicit antagonism toward popular culture.
Samia Mehrez
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9789774163746
- eISBN:
- 9781617970399
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774163746.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This work presents original research on cultural politics and battles in Egypt at the turn of the twenty-first century. It deconstructs the boundaries between “high” and “low” culture, drawing on ...
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This work presents original research on cultural politics and battles in Egypt at the turn of the twenty-first century. It deconstructs the boundaries between “high” and “low” culture, drawing on conceptual tools in cultural studies, translation studies, and gender studies to analyze debates in the fields of literature, cinema, mass media, and the plastic arts. Anchored in the Egyptian historical and social contexts and inspired by the influential work of Pierre Bourdieu, it rigorously places these debates and battles within the larger framework of a set of questions about the relationship between the cultural and political fields in Egypt.Less
This work presents original research on cultural politics and battles in Egypt at the turn of the twenty-first century. It deconstructs the boundaries between “high” and “low” culture, drawing on conceptual tools in cultural studies, translation studies, and gender studies to analyze debates in the fields of literature, cinema, mass media, and the plastic arts. Anchored in the Egyptian historical and social contexts and inspired by the influential work of Pierre Bourdieu, it rigorously places these debates and battles within the larger framework of a set of questions about the relationship between the cultural and political fields in Egypt.
Lucy Mazdon
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780719078163
- eISBN:
- 9781781705056
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719078163.003.0006
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
This chapter notes that television presents an interesting case of a relatively young medium whose function and forms had to be defined within a context of already developed debates over the ...
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This chapter notes that television presents an interesting case of a relatively young medium whose function and forms had to be defined within a context of already developed debates over the high/popular divide. It shows that the possible contradiction in television's aims to disseminate national values and ‘high’ culture and to entertain a mass audience was posed with particular acuity in France, where the democratisation of high culture had long been central to national identity and to what the State perceived as its duty. The chapter concludes that television exemplifies the twin threads of allegiance to French exceptionalism and market-driven alignment with Western norms which characterise French cultural life.Less
This chapter notes that television presents an interesting case of a relatively young medium whose function and forms had to be defined within a context of already developed debates over the high/popular divide. It shows that the possible contradiction in television's aims to disseminate national values and ‘high’ culture and to entertain a mass audience was posed with particular acuity in France, where the democratisation of high culture had long been central to national identity and to what the State perceived as its duty. The chapter concludes that television exemplifies the twin threads of allegiance to French exceptionalism and market-driven alignment with Western norms which characterise French cultural life.
Richard Harvey Brown
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300100259
- eISBN:
- 9780300127874
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300100259.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, Economic History
Traditionally associated with craft production of beauty, art is now about mass consumption of signs. It is purchased as a sign of status and identity, and has become an investment in an increasingly ...
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Traditionally associated with craft production of beauty, art is now about mass consumption of signs. It is purchased as a sign of status and identity, and has become an investment in an increasingly fragmented selfhood, rather than simply being aesthetic, political, or commemorative. This chapter argues that postindustrial social structures and postmodern ideological orientations have played a role in promoting the intrusion of capitalistic behaviors and attitudes in the cultural sphere. It first looks at the earlier conflict between commerce and high culture before showing the commodification of art in the postindustrial and postmodern period despite the artists' refusal to be reduced to commodities. The chapter then discusses the impact of postmodernity on American cultural scenes in the major artistic disciplines and considers the role of corporations, dealers, auction houses, museums, and critics as commodifiers of art.Less
Traditionally associated with craft production of beauty, art is now about mass consumption of signs. It is purchased as a sign of status and identity, and has become an investment in an increasingly fragmented selfhood, rather than simply being aesthetic, political, or commemorative. This chapter argues that postindustrial social structures and postmodern ideological orientations have played a role in promoting the intrusion of capitalistic behaviors and attitudes in the cultural sphere. It first looks at the earlier conflict between commerce and high culture before showing the commodification of art in the postindustrial and postmodern period despite the artists' refusal to be reduced to commodities. The chapter then discusses the impact of postmodernity on American cultural scenes in the major artistic disciplines and considers the role of corporations, dealers, auction houses, museums, and critics as commodifiers of art.
Philip Goff
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231140201
- eISBN:
- 9780231530781
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231140201.003.0016
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter explores the relationship between religion and popular culture in America. More specifically, it considers how various schools of thought direct their inquiries at popular culture and ...
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This chapter explores the relationship between religion and popular culture in America. More specifically, it considers how various schools of thought direct their inquiries at popular culture and how, in recent years, those who study religion in America have seized on those models to help us better understand the nature of American religious life. For much of the twentieth century, popular culture was understood to be anything between high culture and folk culture. While nearly all the terms are debatable, specialists generally regarded high culture as unique, difficult to create, and highly individual. The creations of elite culture aspire to break the boundaries of tradition, challenge common beliefs, and validate the experience of the individual. Its formation is an aesthetic act; that is, it seeks truth and beauty. Generally, there are three ways scholars approach the study of popular culture: textual analysis, audience analysis, and production analysis. This chapter also discusses typologies of religion and popular culture and concludes by assessing popular religion and religious culture in American history.Less
This chapter explores the relationship between religion and popular culture in America. More specifically, it considers how various schools of thought direct their inquiries at popular culture and how, in recent years, those who study religion in America have seized on those models to help us better understand the nature of American religious life. For much of the twentieth century, popular culture was understood to be anything between high culture and folk culture. While nearly all the terms are debatable, specialists generally regarded high culture as unique, difficult to create, and highly individual. The creations of elite culture aspire to break the boundaries of tradition, challenge common beliefs, and validate the experience of the individual. Its formation is an aesthetic act; that is, it seeks truth and beauty. Generally, there are three ways scholars approach the study of popular culture: textual analysis, audience analysis, and production analysis. This chapter also discusses typologies of religion and popular culture and concludes by assessing popular religion and religious culture in American history.
Nadine Hubbs
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520241848
- eISBN:
- 9780520937956
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520241848.003.0001
- Subject:
- Music, History, American
This chapter examines Gertrude Stein and Virgil Thomson's opera Four Saints in Three Acts. It suggests that this opera was a landmark collaborative creation of U.S. modernist artists engaged in ...
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This chapter examines Gertrude Stein and Virgil Thomson's opera Four Saints in Three Acts. It suggests that this opera was a landmark collaborative creation of U.S. modernist artists engaged in early-twentieth-century efforts to establish a distinctly and genuinely American voice in transatlantic high culture. It also highlights the queer expressive potential of artistic abstraction within the homophobic context of twentieth-century U.S. culture, and the crucial confluence of queer lives and culture with artistic activity and culture.Less
This chapter examines Gertrude Stein and Virgil Thomson's opera Four Saints in Three Acts. It suggests that this opera was a landmark collaborative creation of U.S. modernist artists engaged in early-twentieth-century efforts to establish a distinctly and genuinely American voice in transatlantic high culture. It also highlights the queer expressive potential of artistic abstraction within the homophobic context of twentieth-century U.S. culture, and the crucial confluence of queer lives and culture with artistic activity and culture.
Thomas Jackson Rice
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813032191
- eISBN:
- 9780813038810
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813032191.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century Literature and Modernism
This chapter focuses on how James Joyce consumes the body of world literary culture to nourish his own works wherein although his works were often cast in the metaphor of cannibalism they remained ...
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This chapter focuses on how James Joyce consumes the body of world literary culture to nourish his own works wherein although his works were often cast in the metaphor of cannibalism they remained well within the traditional readings of the fictions. In this chapter, the focus is on his consumption of classical literature and popular culture. His fondness of consuming “high” culture and his capacity for incorporation is examined in this chapter.Less
This chapter focuses on how James Joyce consumes the body of world literary culture to nourish his own works wherein although his works were often cast in the metaphor of cannibalism they remained well within the traditional readings of the fictions. In this chapter, the focus is on his consumption of classical literature and popular culture. His fondness of consuming “high” culture and his capacity for incorporation is examined in this chapter.
Nissim Kadosh Otmazgin
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780824836948
- eISBN:
- 9780824870911
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824836948.003.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Asian Studies
This chapter examines the political economy of Japanese popular culture within East Asia using an analytical model that combines a traditional political economic approach with an approach that takes ...
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This chapter examines the political economy of Japanese popular culture within East Asia using an analytical model that combines a traditional political economic approach with an approach that takes into account characteristics specific to the popular culture market. It first reviews theoretical supports offered in the field and highlights their advantages and limitations. It then considers the relations between “popular culture,” “high culture,” and “cultural industries,” along with the ways in which cultural industries operate. It also explains the meaning of popular culture products and cultural commodities and discusses the differences between cultural industries and other industries. It shows that cultural industries have “special” characteristics—the strong focus on creativity and ease of technological access—that may explain the relative ease with which cultural industries in East Asia have been able to learn from and imitate the Japanese model to develop their own popular culture markets.Less
This chapter examines the political economy of Japanese popular culture within East Asia using an analytical model that combines a traditional political economic approach with an approach that takes into account characteristics specific to the popular culture market. It first reviews theoretical supports offered in the field and highlights their advantages and limitations. It then considers the relations between “popular culture,” “high culture,” and “cultural industries,” along with the ways in which cultural industries operate. It also explains the meaning of popular culture products and cultural commodities and discusses the differences between cultural industries and other industries. It shows that cultural industries have “special” characteristics—the strong focus on creativity and ease of technological access—that may explain the relative ease with which cultural industries in East Asia have been able to learn from and imitate the Japanese model to develop their own popular culture markets.
Graham M. Jones
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780520270466
- eISBN:
- 9780520950528
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520270466.003.0005
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Global
This chapter examines the horizons of cultural possibility for magic as a vehicle of creative expression by focusing on the efforts of several French magicians to assimilate magic to the realm of ...
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This chapter examines the horizons of cultural possibility for magic as a vehicle of creative expression by focusing on the efforts of several French magicians to assimilate magic to the realm of high culture. It first looks at the legacy of France's most famous magician, Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin and how his legacy was embraced by the French Ministry of Culture as a constitutive element of the nation's cultural heritage. It then discusses the ways that magicians strive to distinguish themselves as artists through strategic engagements with the state's cultural apparatus. It also shows how the efforts of magicians to invoke the notion of tradition as a source of prestige or as an inertial impediment to desirable aesthetic change have coalesced around a fledgling “new magic” movement, a genre that is purportedly distinct from the modern magic of Robert-Houdin and introduces a novel set of discursive practices to magicians' staging talk.Less
This chapter examines the horizons of cultural possibility for magic as a vehicle of creative expression by focusing on the efforts of several French magicians to assimilate magic to the realm of high culture. It first looks at the legacy of France's most famous magician, Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin and how his legacy was embraced by the French Ministry of Culture as a constitutive element of the nation's cultural heritage. It then discusses the ways that magicians strive to distinguish themselves as artists through strategic engagements with the state's cultural apparatus. It also shows how the efforts of magicians to invoke the notion of tradition as a source of prestige or as an inertial impediment to desirable aesthetic change have coalesced around a fledgling “new magic” movement, a genre that is purportedly distinct from the modern magic of Robert-Houdin and introduces a novel set of discursive practices to magicians' staging talk.
Pamela M. Potter
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780520282346
- eISBN:
- 9780520957961
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520282346.003.0004
- Subject:
- Art, Visual Culture
This chapter and those that follow undertake more focused historiographic analyses. Chapter 4 opens with an examination of the origins of the concept of totalitarianism and historians’ debates over ...
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This chapter and those that follow undertake more focused historiographic analyses. Chapter 4 opens with an examination of the origins of the concept of totalitarianism and historians’ debates over the viability of models for framing Nazi history: the totalitarian concept, intentionalism versus functionalism, challenges to the totalitarian paradigm with the alternative concept of fascism, and the historians’ debate (Historikerstreit) of the 1980s. With arts disciplines traditionally focused on high culture and the life and works of individuals, the totalitarian concept was useful for exonerating artists from any voluntary involvement in Nazi cultural production and persisted as a model for cultural histories of the Third Reich, despite losing its usefulness in other historical fields. A form of cultural intentionalism that credited Hitler and Goebbels with personal oversight of all artistic affairs held a similar appeal. As arts disciplines showed signs of taking their first steps away from these older paradigms of structural nazification, however, the Historikerstreit in the mid-1980s, with its warnings against relativizing the Holocaust—as well as simultaneous events in the art world that raised new questions about the pernicious effects of artistic products from the Third Reich—slowed any progress toward placing Nazi culture within broader historical and global contexts.Less
This chapter and those that follow undertake more focused historiographic analyses. Chapter 4 opens with an examination of the origins of the concept of totalitarianism and historians’ debates over the viability of models for framing Nazi history: the totalitarian concept, intentionalism versus functionalism, challenges to the totalitarian paradigm with the alternative concept of fascism, and the historians’ debate (Historikerstreit) of the 1980s. With arts disciplines traditionally focused on high culture and the life and works of individuals, the totalitarian concept was useful for exonerating artists from any voluntary involvement in Nazi cultural production and persisted as a model for cultural histories of the Third Reich, despite losing its usefulness in other historical fields. A form of cultural intentionalism that credited Hitler and Goebbels with personal oversight of all artistic affairs held a similar appeal. As arts disciplines showed signs of taking their first steps away from these older paradigms of structural nazification, however, the Historikerstreit in the mid-1980s, with its warnings against relativizing the Holocaust—as well as simultaneous events in the art world that raised new questions about the pernicious effects of artistic products from the Third Reich—slowed any progress toward placing Nazi culture within broader historical and global contexts.
