Fringe and Fortune: The Role of Critics in High and Popular ArtWhy does the distinction between high and popular art persist in spite of postmodernist predictions that it should vanish? Departing from the conventional view that such distinctions are class-related, Wesley Shrum concentrates instead on the way individuals form opinions about culture through the mediation of critics. He shows that it is the extent to which critics shape the reception of an art form that determines its place in the cultural hierarchy. Those who patronize "lowbrow" art--stand-up comedy, cabaret, movies, and popular music--do not heed critical opinions nearly as much as do those who patronize "highbrow" art--theater, opera, and classical music. Thus the role of critics is crucial to understanding the nature of cultural hierarchy and its persistence. Shrum supports his argument through an inquiry into the performing arts, focusing on the Edinburgh Fringe, the world's largest and most diverse art festival. |
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... fact that subscriptions to so many English and Scottish newspapers have made my job much easier than it should have been . Accepting the 1993 Bernal Prize of the Society for Social Studies of Science , Professor Edge thanked the members ...
... fact . Everyone can " see ” that the monarch is not exhibiting a new wardrobe , but rather no wardrobe at all . He has lost touch with common standards of decency and taste . He is beyond normal feelings of shame , misled by sycophants ...
... fact , persisting differences between high and low cultural forms in spite of this rampant availability makes it all the more pressing to determine the source of these differences . The “ supply - side ” argument does not show that the ...
... fact about modern consumership is that the most avid consumers appreciate both highbrow and popular forms . Although social class and the taste for different kinds of cultural products are associated , these forms of appreciation may be ...
... the written word endures . Reviews outlive the longest performance runs and the most energetic publicists . 10 This fact - and not any inherent tendency of reviewers A CRITIC'S NEW CLOTHES 11 Hayden Murphy, the Oxford Bar, Young Street.
Contents
10 | |
CHAPTER | 25 |
CHAPTER | 42 |
CHAPTER THREE | 63 |
TABLES | 69 |
CHAPTER FOUR | 83 |
Assembly Rooms | 85 |
CHAPTER FIVE | 109 |
CHAPTER SEVEN | 144 |
CHAPTER EIGHT | 165 |
CHAPTER NINE | 181 |
CHAPTER | 193 |
EPILOGUE | 213 |
NOTES | 229 |
BIBLIOGRAPHY | 265 |
CHAPTER | 125 |