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KITSCH: an introduction

Author(s): Robert Boyers and Peg Boyers


Source: Salmagundi, No. 85/86 (Winter-Spring 1990), pp. 197-200
Published by: Skidmore College
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40548553 .
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KITSCH
an introduction

WhentheAmericaneditionofSaul Friedlander' s Reflections


of
Nazism:An Essay on Kitschand Death appearedin 1984,a numberof
Americanintellectuals feltforthefirsttimethattheyhadnotpreviously
understood crucialimplicationsoftheword"kitsch." Theclassicessayson
kitschbyClementGreenberg andHermann Brochnolongerseemedatall
The distinction
sufficient. betweenmass cultureand highart,in some
respectsan elementary distinction,suddenly assumedan importance that
hadas muchto do withpoliticsas withaesthetics. Celebratedessaysby
DwightMacdonald(onmasscult andmidcult) andSusanSontag(onfascist
now
aesthetics) seemed to the
point way to considerationsfewofus had
The
wishedtopursue. pages onkitsch embedded inMilanKundera' s novel
TheUnbearableLightnessofBeing,withtheirprovocative definition
of
kitschas "theabsolutedenial of shit"and "theaestheticideal of the
categoricalagreement withbeing,"helpedto open up a debatewhich
continueshereand theretoresonate.
ThoughKundera's novel hardlydeliveredthe final
wordoncommunist kitsch,andneither SontagnorFriedlander claimedto
haveprovideda definitive exploration itnowseemed
offascistaesthetics,

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On Kitsch 199

possible withtheirworksin hand to ask questions about kitschwhich no


one had earlierthoughtto formulate.
-Why is kitsch so prevalent not only in totalitarian
societies but in the liberal democracies?
-Whyat certaintimesshould itseem importantto insist
upon distinctionsbetweenhighartand mass art,while at othertimessuch
distinctionsinterestalmost no one?
-In whatsense is kitschto be viewed as a holdingaction
againstmodernityand as such only conceivable withinthe frameworkof
modernsocieties?
-Is there such a thing as good kitsch, or is that a
contradictionin terms?
-How surely does kitsch reflect the degradation of
ordinarylife and the dominationof ordinarypeople by mechanismsof
culturalcontrolbeyond theirunderstanding?
-Is therean antidoteto kitsch,or is it futileand delu-
sional even to thinkin such terms?
To address these and other questions, the editors of
SALMAGUNDI inviteda numberof people to join Saul Friedlanderfor
two days in the livingroom of theSkidmoreCollege conferencecenter.
Armedwitha packet of selected readingsassigned by theeditorsforthis
occasion, the thirtyparticipantsengaged in an animated free for all,
invitinga combination of digression, anecdote, analysis, theoryand
fearlessspeculation.The resultingfifteenhoursof sound-tapecaught the
sheerexhilarationand occasional brillianceof theaffairand convinced us
thattherewas muchto be salvaged forpublicationcould we butdiscover
a way to shape the thing.We had produced memorable symposia from
unrulytranscripts in thepast,butthosehad involvedno morethanfouror
fivespeakers.The sheernumberof voices herepresentedanotherorderof
difficultyaltogether.
In theend, we decided to leave in a greatdeal more of
thetranscript thanwe'd planned,and to interfere as littleas possible with
thesometimesintenselyfocussed,sometimeschaotic give and takeof the
actual discussion.Though in such an affairitis possible forone speakerto
remarkon therelationbetweenkitschand televisiononly to see thenext
speakermove on to somethingelse, so powerfulwas theattractionof the

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200 On Kitsch
generalsubjectthatno oneeverstrayed veryfarfromourtheme.Though
itmaysometimes seemtoa readerofthesepagesthata particular topicis
dropped rather more abruptly thanone had the
expected, topicalmost
invariably can be seen to reappearelsewherein thetranscript.
No doubtsomewillwonderatall theattention herepaid
towhatmaywellseema marginal subjectButifkitschis marginal- and
thatis farfromcertain - itmayat leastbe said to haveinspirednotonly
a number ofextraordinary essaysbutthehigh-spirited
exertionsofthose
who convenedwithus to talkaboutit. For thatpowerto provokethe
readersofthismagazinewillsurelybe grateful.
RobertBoyersandPeg Boyers

fromlefttoright:SarahGoodwin,Lome Goldensohn,
Saul Friedlander,
andCharlesMolesworth

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