Popular Culture Values and the Arts: Essays on Elitism versus Democratization

by Ray B. Browne (Editor), Lawrence A. Kreiser, Jr. (Editor)

Overview

In countries around the world, the rise of class divisions and unbridled capitalism are changing the conventional definitions of art and esthetics. Historically, the philanthropy of the elite has played a leading role in supporting, funding, and distributing artistic works. While such measures may be pure in intent, many worry that private funding may be gentrifying the arts and creating a situation in which art will only be valued for its prestige or, worse, its price tag.

This collection of essays examines the current movement to democratize the arts and make the world of artistic endeavor open and accessible to all.

Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786439447
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	04/30/2009
Pages:	230
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

The late Ray B. Browne (1922–2009) edited the Journal of Popular Culture, served as an officer of the Popular Culture Association and wrote prolifically on the subject. He was the founding chair of the Department of Popular Culture at Bowling Green (Ohio) State University. Lawrence A. Kreiser, Jr., is an assistant professor at Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama; his interest in the psychology of conflict drives him into studies in the conflicts of cultures.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface     
Introduction: Arts and Cultures
Ray B. Browne and Lawrence A. Kreiser, Jr.     

Part 1. Folk Roots
1. Cultural Aesthetics: Anthropology and the (In)Visible Values of “Art”
Benjamin K. Urish     
2. Garden of the Folk Arts
Ray B. Browne and Lawrence A. Kreiser, Jr.     
3. Carnival as Living Element of our Cultural Heritage
Vasiliki Sirakouli     

Part 2. Developing the Oversized Spirit
4. Values, Popular Culture and Social Change
Arthur G. Neal     
5. Values for and of Popular Culture in a Democracy: Heroic, Superheroic, Hyperheroic?
John Shelton Lawrence     
6. Reading “Monolith” Texts: A Consideration of Uluru, Stone Mountain, and Devils Tower as Cultural Intersections
Douglas Noverr     

Part 3. Breaking the Cast
7. Artists Taking the High Road and the
Joy Sperling     
8. Subversive Children’s Stories: The Work of American Book Women, 1930–1980
Amy E. Singer     
9. Who Gets to Play? The Hegemony of Copyright and Trademark in Art and Popular Culture
Holly Crawford     
10. Negotiating Dissent: The Adrian Mole Diaries and The Young Ones
Janine Utell     

Part 4. Promoting the American (and World) Dream
11. Art and Religion: The Power to Persuade
Gregory J. Thompson     
12. Selling Culture to the People: Advertising, Marketing, and Public Relations in a Changing World
Bob Batchelor     

Part 5. Outsider Views of American Cultures
13. The Contradictory Values of U.S. Popular Culture
Mel van Elteren     

About the Contributors     
Index