ENG364Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: The New York Intellectuals, Dwight Macdonald, Massachusetts College Of Art And Design
20th Centry Am Lit Lecture 11
February 9th 2017
The New York Intellectuals
-historically, there has only been high culture and folk culture
-high culture was traditionally elitist
-art was traditionally sealed off from the present day
-but with the industrial revolution, it allowed for the gradual evolution of folk art into mass
culture
-introduced literacy to the masses
-recorded sound allowed everyone to hear great works of music
-these developments were mostly driven by technology
-also, people started to get leisure time, and a bit of extra money
-suddenly, a majority of people can experience art
-for the first time in human history, millions of humans can experience the same art at
the same time—art becomes a marketable commodity
-what is wrong with mass culture?
-reproduction of high art cheapens the effect of viewing high art
-mass culture was consciously designed to be easy, consumable, and above,
distracting
-it asks nothing of its audience and it gives nothing
-people want to have fun: want a relief from boredom and effort simultaneously
-but a work of high culture, however inept, is an expression of feelings, ideas, tastes,
visions that are idiosyncratic and the audience similarly responds to them as individuals
-when the experience becomes depersonalized, when it becomes popular, it removes
this personal aspect
-it is no longer an exchange between individuals, but in between a corporation and a
mass
-people are no longer real people—they are mass people
-mass people are open to totalitarianism
-mass cult is not just bad art—it is not just unsuccessful art, it is non art. it is even anti-
art
-this is not to say that the people behind mass art are no skilled—they are very skilled,
but according to dwight macdonald, they are not artists
-the mental processes involved with mass success are very different than those involved
with art
-but what macdonald thinks is really dangerous is mid cult
-instead of intending just to distract people, mid cult tries to make them feel like they’re
having an artistic experience
-mid cult is more dangerous because it poses an actual threat to high culture, and could
eventually replace it
-is artistic difficulty a value?
-maybe, but the degradation of something hard into something easy in order to
make more money is dangerous
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Document Summary
It asks nothing of its audience and it gives nothing. Reproduction of high art cheapens the effect of viewing high art. Mass culture was consciously designed to be easy, consumable, and above, Historically, there has only been high culture and folk culture. Art was traditionally sealed off from the present day. But with the industrial revolution, it allowed for the gradual evolution of folk art into mass culture. Recorded sound allowed everyone to hear great works of music. Also, people started to get leisure time, and a bit of extra money. Suddenly, a majority of people can experience art. For the first time in human history, millions of humans can experience the same art at the same time art becomes a marketable commodity. People want to have fun: want a relief from boredom and effort simultaneously.
