| Is Art Good for Us?: Beliefs about High Culture in American Life Contributor(s): Jensen, Joli (Author) |
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ISBN: 0742517411 ISBN-13: 9780742517417 Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers OUR PRICE: $51.48 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: April 2002 Annotation: Are the arts good for us? This book questions our taken-for-granted assumptions about the transformational powers of high culture by critiquing an instrumental American heritage of beliefs about the arts. Jensen argues that faith in high culture's unproven ability to transform people and society allows social critics to keep faith with the idea of a democratic society while deploring popular culture. Instead of expecting the arts to improve things (and blaming the media for ruining them) we need to recognize that it is up to us, not the arts to make the world a better place. Visit our website for sample chapters! |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Art | Popular Culture - Social Science | Media Studies |
| Dewey: 306.47 |
| LCCN: 2002001194 |
| Physical Information: 0.52" H x 5.94" W x 8.94" (0.70 lbs) 224 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Are the arts good for us? This book questions our taken-for-granted assumptions about the transformational powers of high culture by critiquing an instrumental American heritage of beliefs about the arts. Jensen argues that faith in high culture's unproven ability to transform people and society allows social critics to keep faith with the idea of a democratic society while deploring popular culture. Employing perspectives from Tocqueville and Dewey, she argues that the arts are good, but they don't do good. Instead of expecting the arts to improve things (and blaming the media for ruining them) we need to recognize that it is up to us, not "the arts" to make the world a better place. |