New Class Culture: How an Emergent Class Is Transforming America's Culture

(Hardback)

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Argues that a new class is emerging in the wake of the information economy and studies how this class is reshaping American culture. Both opponents and defenders of the cultural scene have neglected the class factors in culture generally and in present society. Instead of arguing about values in aesthetic taste or morality, this book offers a new perspective on the culture wars by inquiring into the social sources of the argument. When a new class is seen to have emerged in the wake of the information economy, its effects on cultural taste and style will help to explain both their strengths and weaknesses. The book's message is that much of the heat generated in the culture wars may be lowered and clarification obtained by observing a principle in social and aesthetic matters: every class has its culture. When the social functions of both high and popular cultures are acknowledged, it becomes possible to criticize current offerings for their effectiveness or limitations in fulfilling those functions. If the new class is added to our picture of American society, its input into the cultural marketplace helps to explain present trends in postmodernism, mixtures of high and low culture, and other recent developments.

Author Bio

AVROM FLEISHMAN is Professor Emeritus of English at Johns Hopkins University, where he taught graduate and undergraduate courses in Victorian and modern literature. He is the author of 8 books, including The Condition of English (Greenwood, 1998).