Bergen, Månen

I tilfelle du har et uventet behov for å lese om fremveksten av det moderne konsumsamfunnet og smakshierarkiene på 1700-tallet så har du jaggu flaks for her kommer en link + et par kjappe utdrag:

” ‘Taste’ is a term which first acquired prominence in England in the later 17th century. As goods multiplied, it became a central concept of aesthetic theory and an important form of cultural differentiation. As a contemporary noted in 1633, ‘great folks’ always had a tendency to ‘think nothing of that which is common and ordinary people may easily come by’. Tasteinvolved transcending mere financial criteria when assessing the value of goods, introducing instead a subtler and more elusive yardstick.
…
Meanwhile, the consumption of new goods was unleashing a torrent of contemporary criticism. From the 16th century onwards, there were denunciations of ‘immoderate purchasings’, ‘unlawful spending and consuming’, and what one Protestant divine called ‘the inordinate and unsatiable desire of having’. Moralists pointed to the waste of resources which could have been better employed in relieving the poor; to the adverse consequences for the balance of trade of the import of foreign commodities; and to the ruinous effects of self-indulgence upon an individual’s health and finances. ”

Les hele artikkelen i History Today: To Buy or Not to Buy: The Origins of Good Taste
Via Arts & Letters Daily (En ukentlig sjekk av denne siden vil garantert gjøre deg smartere.)

Enhver snobb vet at å finne bøker man har lest på kultursidenes best-of kåringer på ingen som helst måte er noe å juble over. Det som derimot er et klokkerent tegn på klasse og god smak er å ha lest halvparten av bøkene i Times Literary Supplements lister over hvilke 10 bøker man ikke bør lese før man dør.

I mitt tilfelle; James Joyce: Ulysses, Marcel Proust: På sporet av den tapte tid, Ernest Hemingway: Solen går sin gang, Homer: Illiaden, Hunter S. Thompson: Frykt og avsky i Las Vegas

Og siden vi først er inne på skepsis til bøker; I en anmeldelse av en ny biografi over Knøttene-skaper Charles Schulz nevnes en episode med Schulz’ favorittkarakter Linus:

In one strip he is trying to wheedle Lucy into reading a story to him. Exasperated, she grabs a book at random from the shelf – “A man was born, he lived and he died. The End!” she says and tosses the book aside. Linus picks it up reverently. “What a fascinating account,” he says. “It almost makes you wish you had known the fellow.”