Daenekindt

Question 1

What, according to Daenekindt, is generally understood as ‘high culture’ What is its opposite?

Answer 1

• high culture is described as in forms of culture of theatre, opera, ballet, classic literature, classical music
• its definition as part of high culture is always in contrast with popular culture
• high culture as “valuable and worthy of appreciation”
• is intrinsically superior to popular culture

Question 2

According to Daenekindt, Horkheimer and Adorno “argue that mass-produced popular culture erodes the capacity for individual thinking, generates conformity, and cripples innovation and intellectual reflection”. Name an example

Answer 2

• Commented Tv shows or games on Youtube
• Tik tok or social media algorithms in general
• Video games

Question 3

How do sociologists look at ‘high’ culture?

Answer 3

• they show that it is a socially constructed category
• The socially constructed nature of the high culture category becomes evident when we consider that the position of cultural products in the cultural hierarchy changes over time
• lower classes are underrepresented as consumers of high culture
• high culture as something that is only consumed by the higher class, therefore social hierarchy

Question 4

Daenekindt speaks of a ‘cultural hierarchy’. What is situated at its top? What is at its bottom?

Answer 4

• High culture as something that has to be understood and interpreted
• Popular culture is for the masses and does not confront humans with new ideas, it is worthless and works as an increaser for the decrease of human intellect
• Minority culture as something with a lot of worth and imprortance

Question 5

Who determines the position of cultural products and practices in the cultural hierarchy? Who decides what is to be regarded as ‘high’ culture?

Answer 5

• the high social circles themselves
• Critics and intellectuals
• Cultural Institutions (Louvre, Modern Tate…)
• Education Systems (Universities, Schools)
• Media and Publishing Industries (The New York Times, The Guardian…)
• Cultural Academies and Awarding Bodies (Literaturhaus, Booker Prize, Nobel Prize in Literature, Publitzer Price

Question 6

Is it correct that “that cultural hierarchies have decayed, resulting in cultural pluralism in which the term high culture has lost its meaning”?

Answer 6

Indeed, despite trends toward greater tolerance, cultural hierarchies and the high culture category remain relevant and crucial for understanding the social implications of cultural consumption and production.”