www.quondam.com/32/3194.htm

"How Did This Happen Revisited"
2005.08.09 14:58

"This is in line with traditional sociological accounts of the formation of taste, which are inclined to stress the desire for status, either in terms of imitation within a social group, of emulation of a superior social group, or differentiation from one below, as the most powerful motivating force in culture.
The problem with this type of cultural analysis it that it relies on a reading of subconscious motivation. Few individuals are so brazen as to admit, even to themselves, that they buy art [or love Rita Novel] or even build great architecture out of a straightforward desire to provide visible bulwarks to their social or political positions."
--The Building of Castle Howard

««««

»»»»