Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:09:02 — 118.2MB)
On Pierre Bourdieu’s Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste (1979), introduction, chapter 1 through p. 63, conclusion, and postscript.
How do our tastes in music, art, and everything else reflect our social position? This philosophically trained sociologist administered a few detailed questionnaires in 1960s France and used the resulting differences in what people in different classes preferred and how they talked about these preferences to theorize about the role that taste plays in our social games. People with more education and/or with an upper-class social background use their ability to appreciate fine art (which requires some know-how to decode) to distinguish themselves: to prove that they deserve their social status. Other classes’ tastes were in reaction to this dominant taste: middle-class responders aspired to have the taste of the elite (often getting it wrong by favoring simply pretentious works), while lower-class workers either made excuses for their lack of appreciation (“it’s good but not not my cup of tea”) or rebelled by reveling in low-class art. In all cases there was gamesmanship at work: the distinctions were at work in cementing or trying to move within or rebelling against the social order. (Seth posted the lists of classes as they were asked their opinions about a high-brow, middle, and low-brow work.) Buy the book
Mark, Wes, and Seth were joined by Tim Quirk, famed as singer from the 90s band Too Much Joy and recent guest on Mark’s Nakedly Examined Music podcast. Here’s that presentation, “Good News for Yo La Tengo,” that he talks about.
Recommended prerequisites: This can be seen as a reaction to the snobbiness displayed by Adorno (ep. 136), but Bourdieu explicitly identifies the un-worldly (which requires being shielded from economic necessity), aesthetic (and ultimately ascetic, i.e., denying of immediate pleasures) stance with Kant’s theory of taste (ep. 105), and also explicitly discusses Schopenhauer’s view (ep. 115).
End song: “When She Took Off Her Shirt” from Tim’s band Wonderlick’s Topless At The Arco Arena
Bourdieu picture by Solomon Grundy.
“In the phenomenology of spirit, as consciousness’s becoming-other-to-itself and coming-to-itself, “forms” of consciousness emerge, as Hegel says; but this emergence of forms of consciousness has nothing to do with the procedure, now becoming routine and stemming from various motivations, of classifying the so-called types of world views and types of philosophical standpoints according to just any schema. These typologies and morphologies would be a harmless way of passing time, if at the same time the odd idea were not in play that, by placing a philosophy in the net of types, one has decided on the possible and of course relative truth of that philosophy. This urge toward classification and such like always begins at a time when the lack of the power to do philosophy gets the upper hand, so that sophistry comes to dominate. But sophistry provides itself and its own barrenness with some respectability by first catching whatever ventures to emerge in philosophy in the net of standpoints, and then, having given each type a label, by leaving it with the people. This label sees to it that, regarding the philosophy in question, one will be interested in its label only so as to compare it with another label. Subsequently, the literary discussions about the label give rise to a literature which in its kind may be quite considerable. Consequently, the Kant literature is not only more important than Kant himself, but above all else it reaches the point where no one any longer gets to the matter itself. The procedure reflects the mysterious art of sophistry, which always and necessarily arises along with philosophy and controls the field. Nowadays the power of sophism has “organized” itself, one of the many indications of this being the popularity of typologies of philosophical standpoints–typologies which appear in various disguises (manuals and series). Philosophy becomes a managerial concern–a diabolical condition to which the younger scientific minds, rare enough as they are nowadays, fall prey in their prime. But the reason for mentioning these seemingly remote things at exactly this point is the fact that in their confusion these typologies appeal to Hegel’s Phenomenology, in the belief and pretense that in Hegel a similar typology is aimed at, although without the benefit of contemporary depth psychology and sociology.”
Heidegger, Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit (p. 29)
I’d love to see a survey of that kind done again.
My impression from my 15y.o. niece is that those kinds of classifications are being shaken up by youtube. People just swap stuff and it is judged on the basis of how much people like it or whether its cool. The traditions (classical, blues, pop) etc aren’t respected.
Does anyone else have this impression?
In some more pretentious circles the idea of tradition is still much revered
Tim Quirk should have given more of a personal opinion. I understand you guys are trying to describe “Distinction”; but, our current society is running rampant with these ideas. You should inject some opinions on what you’re reading. Quirk’s presentation on “Yo La Tengo” sounds like a very simple argument. Did the people at the event not understand it?
If you would compare Beethoven sales with Michael Jackson sales; especially, now in the youtube era. Jackson might have 10 million hits on the trendy youtube and Beehoven would have much less. But, if you add up all sales from 1905, Beethoven will sell 400k records every year; Jackson will have big years around “Thriller” but it will decline drastically after that. In the long run Beethoven would crush.
To drive the point home, let’s use “Oscars so white”. The Academy is now changing their membership to reflect the taste of “2016 young people”. If taste changes in the future do we change the academy again to reflect “2026 young people”, then again for “2036 young people”. Are the 2016 people wrong when 2026 arrives and the 2026 people wrong about taste when 2036 arrives?
Would have been better to stick with an older opinion of aesthetics / taste; it would have lasted and had more endurance. Hegel’s aesthetics / taste should be held in higher regard than 20 year olds in 2016. This has nothing to do with conditioning. It’s just common sense. We can still use his form and content ideas to judge works of art.
I hope you guys state that many intellectuals are against books like “Distinction” and the mindset it leads to. Harold Bloom comes to mind. His canon drives people nuts. LOL.
In reaction to the bluebonnet discussion. There’s something similar yet more peculiar going on across the pond. Apparently, the Holocaust monument in Berlin is a favourite spot for young women to take there Tinder picture. Several websites are dedicated to this phenomenon. Though the largest collection of pictures on http://tindermeisjesinberlijn.tumblr.com/ is now offline, you can still visit http://tindercaust.blogspot.nl/
I found this “kids in bluebonnet fields” quite moving, actually….. http://www.babyrabies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/BluebonnetDino.jpg