Hi Ed,
At 14:36 13/04/01 -0400, you wrote:
>Hi Keith and Ray:
>Here's another example of my not knowing what culture is.
I'm also not sure what culture is. It's used as a slogan by all sorts --
not only by the intellengtsia who want pubic funding of their favourite
activities, but also by the less desirable members of the population.
While I was re-reading your message I was listening to a BBC radio
interview with a member of the National Front in the city of Leicester.
(The NF is a racist organisation which wants to repatriate the millions of
non-whites who have immigrated in the past ? years.) Because the NF want
to march through the Asian and Carribean parts of Leicester, the police are
opposing it for public safety reasons.
The NF spokesman says that the march is not intended to cause trouble but
to "celebrate the English culture"! There you are then. A clincher of an
argument, and just as strong as the claims of the Friends of Covent Garden
Opera House who press the Minister of Culture (yes, we have one of those)
for yet more public funds to subsidise the ticket prices. Of course, the
former argument will not wash (quite rightly) but the latter undoubtedly
will (quite unjustly).
(EG)
>I always thought that culture was what we as a society value, and the
>expression thereof, materially, spiritually and aesthetically. That would
>include both inherited and aquired values.
That's a fair enough description. Unfortunately, as you say below, we're
not a society any longer. Culturally, we're a sea of islands with few
connections between them.
(EG)
>Coming (oops) back to the self absorption, where is the "culture" when
>there is no "we as a society"?
> When the obsession with the self negates any remaining culture. We attend
>an orchestra performance as an audience that has values in common, at least
>with others who attend, as a social social function.
One can't be sure of the primary motivations of those who attend large
concerts. There are those who are relatives or close friends with some of
the performers who may or may not like/know the music. There are those who
are likely to bump into some of their friends in the audience. There are
those who have "standing" within the "community" (whatever that is) and
wish to be seen to be there. There are those who already love the music and
pay to see a live performance. There are those who are intrigued by the
programme and don't know whether they are going to enjoy it or not.
The last category is usually small but, I suspect, will be more sizeable
than usual at a concert to be held here in Bath next month (as part of the
Bath International Music Festival -- heavily subsidised by all the
rate-payers of Bath, mostly against their will). This is of Busoni's Piano
Concerto, composed in 1903 and the longest and technically most demanding
piano concerto ever written. I shan't be going because I don't know the
work and would have to spend a lot of time listening to recordings in order
to familiarise myself with it -- and thus have a chance of enjoying it at
the concert.
(EG)
>A major problem arises when the admission cannot be $ afforded by those who
>would attend. It is akin to those who cannot afford the time to become
>informed as to the issues in order to express their ballot and participate
>in the democratic process. Democracy is just too expensive.
Yes, this is a good way of describing it -- similar to my attitude to the
Busoni concert. Most people don't understand the increasingly complex
issues of modern "society", and even if they were capable of understanding
them they haven't enough time, except for perhaps 20% of the population.
And even they can only specialise in one or two issues.
(EG)
Except for
>those whose admission is paid for by the public purse, and when the
>performance subsidised, provided it conformes to the requirements of the
>ruling elite.
And this matter of subsidies is now entering politics itself. The
membership of political parties in England has declined from about a
million or two to a few hundred thousand (few of them young), so there's a
clamour for subsidies for political parties and politicians. Democracy as
we have known it cannot survive any more than popular support for the "high
arts".
(EG)
>Where then can we find the expression of the culture of which the masses
>are the owners?
Nowhere. In the developed countries there are no masses any longer. We're
moving into a totally different era and we're all confused. But just
because we're confused, we shouldn't hang onto previous cultures (in
politics or the arts or whatever) as any sort of answer.
Keith H
___________________________________________________________________
Keith Hudson, General Editor, Calus <http://www.calus.org>
6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England
Tel: +44 1225 312622; Fax: +44 1225 447727;
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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