for various cheeses are refused by the shopkeeper named “Henry Wensleydale.” The
humour is in the expert knowledge of cheese types that Cleese is able to display—this
knowledge being his elite cultural capital—and the shopkeeper’s subversive refusal to
provide any cheese. The final absurdity, of course, is that the “National Cheese Emporium” is “uncontaminated by cheese.” The shopkeeper, by offering up an empty cheese shop in
the face of Cleese’s insistent demands, exposes Cleese’s knowledge of cheese as itself as
shameless—and failed—display of cultural power.
We can appreciate better what Bourdieu is saying by establishing a chart mapping the terms
in which he distinguishes the properties of cultural capital with reference to elite and popular
taste in art and culture. It’s important to look past the particular content of a given class’s
cultural capital—the highly detailed knowledge of antiques or celebrities, fashion or sports—
and see the underlying features of these forms.
elite cultural capital middle class cultural working class and
capital “popular” cultural capital
. culture (whether art, film,
. culture (art, film, television,
. strives to imitate the elite while
television, music, food, etc.) is
music, food, etc.) is at its best
remaining grounded in realism
at its best when it emphasizes
when it emphasizes “function”
and literal representation (i.e.,
“form,” i.e., not what the
or “content”, i.e., not how 英语论文网 【http://www.51lunwen.org】the
middlebrow culture)
cultural artefact is about, but
cultural product is made, but
how it is made
what it’ about and what it does
. middle class cultural capital is
in an anxious and uncertain
. the criticism of culture
. the criticism of culture
place; it possess superficial
focuses on the artist – who
focuses on plot, character,
abstraction (Martha Stewart)
made it, their training and
special effects (e.g., where
while being made available and
history (e.g., films are talked
television is concerned, we
easy to emulate (buy her
about with reference to a given
rarely know or care who
magazine)
director, and his or her
directed the show)
techniques), e.g., the films of
. “Book of the Month” club;
Hitchcock or David Lynch
. popular cultural capital is not
Martha Stewart; the “Brian
identified with aloofness or
Gluckstein” ready-made room
. elite cultural capital is guided
distance, but with participation,
ensembles at the Bay
by the “pure gaze” – that takes
e.g., a pro wrestling match and
in art and culture at a distance
spectator involvement
from the object
. art and culture refer to the
. art and culture refer to the
world, and assumes a
history of art and culture, not
relationship between art and
to the world; refuses a
life, e.g., Norman Rockwell,
relationship between art and
Trisha Romance, or Robert
life, e.g., abstract art
Bateman paintings
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