This week we discussed high culture, we learnt about the nineteenth century writer and critic Matthew Arnold, Arnold was famous for writing many series of essays about culture called 'Culture and Anarchy'. Arnold believed by educating the public it would stop Anarchy from appearing, he also said by having an appreciation for high culture it would stop social disorder.
We also looked at the 'Arts Canon' including the likes of Da Vinci, Shakespeare, Mozart, Beethoven and many others, we discussed what makes them 'High culture'. We came up with the fact that they are so exclusive, they transcend beyond their time and because they are so inspirational that makes them this as only the 'elite' decides who is in this canon and how exclusive it is, as it is so hard to get your hands on this type of Art. Other people such as F R Levis, and Storey agreed with this concept, Storey even said "For something to be culturally worth while it has to be difficult". While F R Levis developed the literature canon, he believed difficult texts were humanising as you can engage with them.
Then we went on to think about popular culture as we thought about it's cultural practices and what makes it popular. Popular culture is 'popular' because it is easy to access and everyone can value it and be entertained by it and not at a high price.
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