Matei Calinescu, Five Faces of Modernity:
Modernism, Avant-Garde, Decadence, Kitsch, Postmodernism. Durham: Duke
University Press, 1987. 395p.
KITSCH
Kitsch and Cultural Industrialization (255)
"Kitchification of culture substantially caused by mass diffusion of art
true even if original elements are not kitsch
psychologically mass media induce passiveness
mass media "designed for a mindless, hedonistic use of spare time
Lack of a ritual element in handing out cultural and aesthetic nourishment
brings about indifference (Dorfles) (256)
media cause homogenized culture
unified audience
merging of child and grown-up audience
infantile regression of grown-ups - escape via kitsch
overstimulation of child - grow up too fast
antielistist, Leslie Fiedler, - (257)
proud of interest in books "no one has ever congratulated himself on
being able to read
join together all possible audiences
massification affects all the arts, most directly visual arts (257)
Whether an object is kitsch depends on purpose and context
Mona Lisa
in art history class not
on towel yes
kitsch is the normal art of our time
normal starting point for aesthetic experience
kitsch thrives on aesthetic infantilism
Pedagogical function of kitsch
in bourgeois society passage through kitsch is normal passage to reach
the genuine (Abraham Moles (258)
Kitsch and Modernity
Kitsch, Camp, and
High Art
Etymology, Contexts
of Usage, and the "Law of Aesthetic Inadequacy"
Kitsch and Romanticism
Bad Taste, Ideology,
and Hedonism
Some Stylistic Considerations
Kitsch and Cultural
Industrialization
The "Kitsch-Man"
Links and Abbreviations (links are abbreviated by using the initials)