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. |
From inside the book
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... Festival Fringe 63 CHAPTER FOUR Festivals and the Modern Fringe 83 CHAPTER FIVE Myth of the Fringe 109 PART THREE : THE TRIANGLE OF MEDIATION 123 CHAPTER SIX Do Critics Matter ? 125 CHAPTER SEVEN Critical Evaluation 144 CHAPTER EIGHT Do ...
... Festival Fringe Society , 180 High Street , Edinburgh . 2 . Main workroom of the Fringe office . 3. Fringe press office . 4. Fringe Club , Teviot Row House , Bristo Square . 5. Opening press reception . 6 . Main offices , the Scotsman ...
... festival's first shows . PREFACE HEN I FIRST CAME to Scotland in 1973 I missed the Festival Fringe by a week . When I left my job at British Rail in And when I arrived for sabbatical in Edinburgh in 1988 the last thing I expected was to ...
... Festival . Arts editor Allan Wright lent encouragement during the early going . His “ witches and warlocks ” l have guided , entertained , amused , and terrorized spectators and performers for many years . Although an articulate band of ...
... Festival of Israel . The analysis is an important addition to the evidence in Chapter 9. Others who deserve particular thanks for helping scrape together bits and pieces of the larger puzzle are Jodie Rabelais , Dorothy Armstrong , Dawn ...
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 |