Sociology of the Arts in Action : New Perspectives on Creation, Production, and Reception

This edited collection carries out an extensive coverage of the sociology of arts’ most characteristic thematic areas (production, creation, the artwork, and reception) across an important range of artistic fields, from the most traditional to the more unusual. It makes an argument for the theoretical creativity and empirical expansion that characterizes the study of contemporary sociology of the arts. Such creativity is present in the increasingly predominant approach to a sociology of the arts in action, in all areas of inquiry within the discipline. The range of theoretical paradigms evoked is rich, analysing several of the most important theoretical frameworks currently handled in the discipline (Bourdieu, Becker, Peterson, ANT), and combining them with the works of many other influential contemporary specialists (De Nora, Hennion, Lamont, Menger and Born et al.). The book also establishes links to less known theoretical frameworks and some from different fields including economic sociology,microsociology, ethnomethodology, semiotics, and cultural history. The volume argues that Spanish-speaking scholars are now at the forefront of new developments in the field of the sociology of the arts, and is the first effort to gather research by these influential Spanish-language scholars in a single volume for an English-language audience. Contents Notes on Contributors List of Figures List of Tables Chapter 1: New Perspectives for the Sociology of the Arts The Overhaul and Maturity of the Sociology of the Arts The Sociology of the Arts in Action Broadening the Sociological View of the Arts Looking to the Future of the Sociology of the Arts References Part I: Reconsidering the Frames of Artistic Production Chapter 2: Heteronomy and Necessity: How Architects Design for Architectural Competitions The Commission: The Restoration of Architectural Heteronomy The Submission: The Conveyance of Architectural Necessity The Competition: The Production of Architectural Facts References Chapter 3: Creative Settings: The Influence of Place on Urban Cultural Creativity Processes Introduction: Cultural Creativity and Place Creative Settings Towards a Sociological Conceptualisation of the Relationship Between Cultural Creativity and Place Creative Rituals Creative Frames Creative Settings Open Creative Settings Non-oriented Creative Rituals Experimental-CFs Weak Boundaries Hybrid Milieu Closed Creative Settings Oriented Creative Rituals Professional Creative Frames Strong Boundaries Homogeneous Milieu Dissonant Creative Settings Double-Oriented Creative Rituals Hybrid Creative Frames Conflict Boundaries Heterogeneous Milieu Conclusion References Chapter 4: Cultural Creation in Culinary Fields: The Cases of New York and San Francisco Introduction: Theories of Fields Culinary Fields Methodology The Culinary Fields of New York and San Francisco The Mode of Production and Innovation in Culinary Fields Logics of Action How to Navigate a Field References Part II: New Visions on Creative Practices Chapter 5: The Jolie Môme Theatre Company: A Sociology of Artistic Work in Political Theater Introduction: Convergences Between Art and Politics Methodology: The Ethnography of Theatrical Work Jolie Môme: A Countercurrent Theater Modes of Collective Operation: The Organization and Division of Labor The Multiple Capabilities of Actors and Equal Wages The Material Life of the Troupe Sources of Income The Intermittent Employment System Existing Without Subsidies: Between Autonomy and Insecurity The Distribution of Power and Collective Decision-Making Elements for a Foucauldian Analysis of Power in Theatrical Work The Two Pillars of the Troupe A Variation in the Exercise of Power The Director’s Place in the Creative Process Power Relations Between Men and Women Conclusion References Chapter 6: Habitus in Dance: The Social and Artistic Skills of a Rehearsal Introduction: The Rehearsal as an Artistic and Social Practice Theoretical and Conceptual Perspective The Communicative Dimension of the Artistic Decision Artistic Decision as Focused Interaction The Habitus of a Dance Company Methodology The Social Location of Choreographic Instructions Conclusion References Chapter 7: Representations of the Uncertain: Art, Astronomy, and Dark Matter Introduction: The Uncertain Object The Artwork as a Dialogue The Artwork as a Window into Scientific Uncertainties: Dark Matter The Artwork as Pieces for Exhibit The Artwork as an Epistemic Proposition Conclusion References Part III: The Artwork: Expanding the Analysis of Its Materiality and Meaning(s) Chapter 8: With the Beatles: Generating the Recorded Rock Album Formula The Beatles, Rock Music and Its Material: The Vinyl Record The Generative Formula The Recording Case Beat Boom Recording Artists The Recording Art at the Height of Beatlemania Consolidation of Recorded Rock Conclusion References Chapter 9: Concrete Materialities: Architectural Surfaces and the Cultural Sociology of Modernity Materiality and Cultural Sociology Materialist Architectural Sociologies: Ugly Buildings and Architextures Places and Their “Faces”: Material Surfaces and Spatial Habitus Architectural Surfaces: Materials as Agents and Topics of Modernity Concrete as “Grey” or Drab Modernity Concrete Rehabilitation: Rethinking Gray, Revaluing Brutalist Buildings Conclusion References Chapter 10: The Literary Classic and the Underappreciated Significance of Indexical Expressions Introduction: The Classic as an Object of Sociological Study Indexical Expressions: Distinguishing Between Meaningfulness and Meaning Methods and Data Indexical Expressions and Patterns of Meaningfulness in One Hundred Years of Solitude Macondo: A Fictional Colombian Village Becomes Universal Lived Experience Universalization Artistic Commensuration Entrenched Criticism An Imitated Opening: “Many Years Later, as He Faced the Firing Squad...” Lived Experience Universalization Artistic Commensuration Entrenched Criticism Remedios’s Ascent to Heaven: Indexing a Character and a Literary Event Lived Experience Universalization Artistic Commensuration Entrenched Criticism Magical Realism: Universalizing a Literary Genre Lived Experience Universalization Artistic Commensuration Entrenched Criticism Conclusion References Part IV: Deepening Reception Analysis: Aesthetic Experience, Evaluation and Critique Chapter 11: Objects, Emotion and Biography or How to Love Opera and Football Jerseys Again Introduction: How to Restabilize Attachment to a Cultural Object Objects in Cultural Sociology Data and Methods What’s in an Opera? Opera as a Stabilized Object Disrupting Opera Re-establishing Opera, Anew What’s in a Football Jersey? Jersey as a Totem for Football How Is Authenticity Destabilized? Restoring Authenticity What Does Love Have to Do with All This? Conclusion References Chapter 12: How Contemporary Art Is Evaluated: The Artistic Quality Criteria of the Quebec Arts and Letters Council Introduction Art and Professional Salaries The CCA and the CALQ The Allocation of CALQ Scholarships Methodology Theoretical Framework: Critical Sociology Categories Used to Evaluate Artistic Quality in the Field of Visual Arts Out of Time, Out of Place: The Non-contemporary Category The Voiceless, or the Beginners: The Junior’s Category “I Like It, but...”: The Grey Zone Potential Fellows: The Meritorious Category The Rewarded Quality: The Meritorious Plus Category Quality by Unanimity: The Exceptional Category What Is Excellence in Contemporary Art? Conclusions References Chapter 13: A Sociology of Art, Protest and Emotions: Disrupting the Institutionalisation of Corporate Sponsorship at Tate Galleries Protest and Institutional Disruptive Work: Bringing in Arts Sociology Emotions and Interaction Rituals: Artistic Protests Put into Action BP’s Sponsorship of the Arts: Tate Galleries Art Protests in Action: Liberate Tate’s Activism, 2010–2016 Liberate Tate’s Performances, Interaction Rituals and Emotions Conclusion: Art, Protest and Emotions—A Sociological Agenda References Index