As Greg also discussed, Burger comments on the art of the Bourgeois as art produced by and for the individual, and art about bourgeois concerns. He mentions and diagrams the historical uses of Sacral Art and Courtly Art as having a more collective or social purpose or goal. As well, he discusses how historic avant-garde and aspects of certain contemporary art can be seen as an attack on the bourgeois art, and on the individual.
I was struck by how many time he uses the term “bourgeois or bourgeoisie”, 23 times by my count, and not to mention the word “praxis” 39 times. These are term I don’t normally run across in my everyday readings or conversations, so to see them used again and again certainly adds to Burgers commentary.
But I’m curious about the use of “bourgeois’, and others please correct me if I’m wrong or you have other opinions. To preface my thoughts, I believe that in European society “bourgeois” might be used in a more pedestrian way, so Burgers intentions might certainly be different than my reception. But, when I do see it used, it usually has a somewhat derogatory tone. It is either being used in an elitist way by commenting down on the mundane un-sophisticated middle class of society, or it is by used with a more Marxist political tone referring to consumer driven capitalistic society, who driven by material concerns, exploit the working class. Either way, to me it’s a loaded term that brings with it a certain elitism, which over course can go hand in hand with discussing art.
Kirk
1 comment:
I understood that the bourgeois, pre-French Revolution,were the part of the Third Estate which were comprised of merchants and artists guilds (businesses) as well as the peasantry. The First Estate were the clergy, who wielded a certain amount of power, and the Second Estate were the aristocracy ruling class. Only the Third Estate paid taxes. I thought the term bourgeois refers to the middle class, usually merchants but that's French Revolution terminology. Marxism charged that the bourgeois are what kept the working class (proletariat)down. Burger writes drawing upon Marxism. So, I believe the word bourgeois has become a put -down in a Marxist point of view way.
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