Fringe and Fortune : The Role of Critics in High and Popular Art

Why does the distinction between high and popular art persist in spite of postmodernist predictions that it should vanish? Departing from the conventional view that such distinctions are class-related, Wesley Shrum concentrates instead on the way individuals form opinions about culture through the mediation of critics. He shows that it is the extent to which critics shape the reception of an art form that determines its place in the cultural hierarchy. Those who patronize "lowbrow" art—stand-up comedy, cabaret, movies, and popular music—do not heed critical opinions nearly as much as do those who patronize "highbrow" art—theater, opera, and classical music. Thus the role of critics is crucial to understanding the nature of cultural hierarchy and its persistence. Shrum supports his argument through an inquiry into the performing arts, focusing on the Edinburgh Fringe, the world's largest and most diverse art festival. Beginning with eighteenth-century London playhouses and print media, where performance art criticism flourished, Shrum examines the triangle of mediation involving critics, spectators, and performers. The Fringe is shown to parallel modern art worlds, where choices proliferate along with the demand for guidance. Using interviews with critics and performers, analysis of audiences, and published reviews as well as dramatic vignettes, Shrum reveals the impact of critics on high art forms and explores the "status bargain" in which consumers are influenced by experts in return for prestige. Item Looks At The Role And Impact Of Critics With Reference Mainly To The Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Introduction: A Critic's New Clothes -- Ch. 1. Cultural Mediation And The Status Bargain -- Ch. 2. Critics In The Performing Arts -- Ch. 3. Development Of The Festival Fringe -- Ch. 4. Festivals And The Modern Fringe -- Ch. 5. Myth Of The Fringe -- Ch. 6. Do Critics Matter? -- Ch. 7. Critical Evaluation -- Ch. 8. Do Performers Listen? -- Ch. 9. Beyond Formal Evaluation -- Ch. 10. Discourse And Hierarchy -- Appendix A: Review Genres -- Appendix B: Methodological Note -- Appendix C: Note On The Mediation And Reception -- Appendix D: Tables. Wesley Monroe Shrum, Jr. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [265]-274) And Index. Focuses on the way individuals form opinions about culture through the mediation of critics. This book shows that it is the extent to which critics shape the reception of an art form that determines its place in the cultural hierarchy. It supports this argument through an inquiry into the performing arts, focusing on the Edinburgh Fringe.