What Miller regards as sociology is really more closely examined as cultural studies. Aesthetics and art judgment cannot be disentangled from culture; in fact, art is a cultural object and therefore a mirror of cultural values.
I recommend two books: Sentimental Democracy: The Evolution of America's Self Image, by Andrew Burstein, 1999. Roads to Rome, by Jenny Franchot, 1994. Instead of offering one-liner quips, Miller is encouraged to engage in the nuanced investigation of the link between sentimentalism and democracy. Roads to Rome investigates how certain types of protestant religion became normalized the American consciousness during the early 19C, particularly in opposition to the growing number of Catholic immigrants and the increasing influence of medieval and Renaissance Catholic sponsored art and architecture in forming the art historical and literary canon. WC --- On Sat, 1/24/09, Chris Miller <[email protected]> wrote: > From: Chris Miller <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: The good sort of sentimentality > To: [email protected] > Cc: [email protected] > Date: Saturday, January 24, 2009, 8:13 AM > Has anyone else noticed that, so far, the only way that > listers have > identified sentimentality is by social placement ? > > If something is made for popular consumption, it's > sentimental --- if it's > made for the cultural elite, it's "merging the > self to objectivity" > > > Status creates feeling (or -- the feeling for status > trumps all ) - at > least for those who live that way -- and since status is > established by > institutions -- this kind of experience is well accounted > for by institutional > theory. > > Though --- sometimes --- it does work the other way around > -- doesn't it ? > > > As when a popular art form (Ukiyo-e) or maybe some of > Mando's toys are > promoted to art museum status. How could that happen ? > > I would propose that this direction of change is the only > one proper to the > study of aesthetics instead of sociology. > > > > > > > > > > (BTW -- I'm sorry if Kate or the rest of you are > annoyed by the fact that I'm > mailing these posts to myself. It's the result of > doing a "Reply All" from my > mail program -- which is a convenient way for me to > preserve the exact wording > of the subject line) > > > > ____________________________________________________________ > Click to get 150,000 in student loans and find the lowest > rates > http://thirdpartyoffers.netzero.net/TGL2231/fc/PnY6rc1jK0iXvquR7mYhfG9tGfuaBM > 3SgRPYSvWQIWTkJDUUKoOgM/
