Book Description
One of the world's most respected sociologists updates his classic work on public views of popular and high culture.
Is NYPD Blue a less valid form of artistic expression than a Shakespearean drama? Who is to judge and by what standards?
In this new edition of Herbert Gans's brilliantly conceived and clearly argued landmark work, he builds on his critique of the universality of high cultural standards. While conceding that popular and high culture have converged to some extent over the twenty-five years since he wrote the book, Gans holds that the choices of typical Ivy League graduates, not to mention Ph.D.s in literature, are still very different from those of high school graduates, as are the movie houses, television channels, museums, and other cultural institutions they frequent.
This new edition benefits greatly from Gans's discussion of the "politicization" of culture over the last quarter-century. Popular Culture and High Culture is a must read for anyone interested in the vicissitudes of taste in American society.
Library of Congress
"In this revised and updated edition, Herbert Gans extends his classic study of the roles popular culture and high culture play in American society. Gans argues in favor of all peoples' right to the culture they choose. He also looks at "dumbing down" and other examples of the new mass culture critique and lays out changes in America's taste cultures. Gans has added a new introduction and new postscripts to each chapter updating the original analysis to incorporate recent trends. The book concludes with a concerned discussion of the fate of marginal, deviant and innovative cultures in a society in which increasing inequality makes it harder to pursue the cultural aspects of the American dream."--BOOK JACKET.
About the author
Herbert J. Gans is the author of
The War Against the Poor,
The Urban Villagers, and
People, Plans, and Policies. A former president of the American Sociological Association, Gans recently received an award for "lifetime contribution to research" from its urban section.
