Fringe and Fortune [Hardcover]

Wesley Monroe, Jr. Shrum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 8, 1996

Departing from the conventional view that distinctions between high art and popular art are class related, the author concentrates instead on the way individuals form opinions about culture through the mediation of critics. He shows that it is the extent to which critics shape the reception of an art form that determines its place in the cultural hierarchy. Those who patronize "lowbrow" art - stand-up comedy, cabaret, films and popular music - do not heed critical opinions nearly as much as do those who patronize "highbrow" art - theatre, opera, and classical music. Therefore the role of the critics is crucial to understanding the nature of cultural hierarchy and its persistence. The author supports his argument through an enqiury into the performing arts, focusing on the Edinburgh Fringe. Using interviews with critics and performers, analysis of audiences and published reviews, the impact of critics on high art forms is revealed. The extent to which consumers are influenced by experts is explored.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Shrum (sociology, Louisiana State Univ.) debunks here the common conception that what distinguishes "high" from "popular" art is the social class of their respective adherents. Instead, he posits the importance of the critic or, more precisely, the credence given to critics as the determinant of "high" art. This credence results from what Shrum describes as the "status bargain," in which devotees of "high" (but not "low") art give up partial rights of control to their opinions in exchange for the higher status that competent discourse about art provides. Standards are not inherent in a work of art; they are socially constructed within contexts of evaluative discourse, largely through the mediation of the critic. Shrum uses the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, perhaps the world's largest and most diverse art festival, as his principal case study. Thoroughly researched and convincingly argued, with a minimum of jargon, the book will nevertheless appeal primarily to sociologists of culture, "high" art critics themselves, and scholars of contemporary theater.?Rob Melton, Univ. of Kansas Libs., Lawrence
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Fringe and Fortune has a charm and wit that novelist [Henry] James would have liked.... The book includes an excellent and stunning review of relevant theories in aesthetics and the sociology of art and culture. -- American Journal of Sociology



A solid sociological investigation, one that employs anecdote, interview, statistical analysis, and even some between-the-lines common sense. -- K. Marantz, Choice
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr; First edition. edition (July 8, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691021457
• ISBN-13: 978-0691021454
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,045,287 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.