Comparison between Art Worlds and the Production of Culture Perspective

Document Type:Essay

Subject Area:Sociology

Document 1

The American culture, for instance, is different from the culture of the people in England or in the Caribbean. Cultures also vary depending on timelines, even among the same population. The American culture in the eighteenth century is totally different from the twentieth century culture. What was regarded as popular culture or trendy at that time is most likely not viewed the same in these modern times. The progression and processes of cultural change can be termed as cultural production. These individuals are often innovative and inventive and come up with creative and often less popular ideas. The innovations are often a build-up on the existent norms or a complete deviation from what is presently available. Using the art worlds’ perspective, this refers to the artists, the sculptors, the painters, the actors and the singers among others.

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They create the art for consumption by the audience. Without this group of people, there is no art to be consumed. According to both perspectives, the audience and their demand for particular art results in cultural production in a society. The demand aspect is important in the production of culture. This side mainly comprises the audience to whom the art is targeted. If the audience cannot relate to the music, painting, plays, stories, films, television programs or any other form of presentation of the art then it ceases to be popular. When artists create pieces for the audience, they are keen on audience response. His works ceased to be plays meant for entertainment because the audience viewed them as classics. They became educational pieces.

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Reading Shakespeare’s work became a mark of class for the learned and those not. It therefore became an elitist category of classics. Despite the two perspectives having similarities in their arguments on cultural production, they present various contrasts. The audience at the time was however receptive and enabled the popularity of Shakespeare’s work. The audience were aware of the work that they kept the actors in check as themselves they had a mastery of the works (Levine, 1993). The audience therefore played a bigger role in cultural production compared even to the artist. The actors in this case form part of the audience of Shakespeare since they were well read of the work which made it easier to cast and produce the plays.

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When the audience changed, it did not matter how good Shakespeare’s work was. This was both a good and bad thing. It was good because the entire population irrespective of the classes would get access to watch the performances. It was bad because it was difficult to create content that would cut across the diverse population. With technology however, people have migrated theatres and turned to film and television for entertainment leaving Shakespeare’s work to being educational. Even when the work is documented in a film, it is not consumed as any other entertainment media like movies and situational comedies. Technology also explains the transformation of Shakespeare’s work. What remains true is that culture keeps changing from generation to generation.

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