The Social Impact of the Arts

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

An intellectual history of contrasting ideas around the power of the arts to bring about personal and societal change - for better and worse. A fascinating account of the value and functions of the arts in society, in both the private sphere of individual emotions and self-development and public sphere of politics and social distinction.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Foreword (p. vii)
• Acknowledgements (p. viii)
• Introduction (p. 1)
• 1 Towards a New Approach to Researching the Social Impacts of the Arts (p. 13)
• Defining the terms of the debate (p. l6)
• On the pitfalls of 'Eurocentrism' (p. 25)
• On the distinction between 'high' and 'low' culture (p. 32)
• Identifying categories of 'functions' of the arts (p. 35)
• 2 Corruption and Distraction (p. 40)
• Metaphysical arguments (p. 41)
• Epistemological arguments (p. 42)
• Psychological arguments (p. 53)
• 3 Catharsis (p. 79)
• Moralistic/didactic catharsis (p. 81)
• Emotional fortitude (p. 83)
• Moderation (p. 84)
• Emotional release (p. 85)
• Intellectual catharsis (p. 88)
• Dramatic or structural catharsis (p. 90)
• 4 Personal Well-Being (p. 92)
• Pleasure and enjoyment (p. 92)
• Relief from 'will' (p. 93)
• In work and in leisure (p. 96)
• Fulfilled time (p. 97)
• Art as 'experience' (p. 98)
• Art as play (p. 99)
• Evolutionary significance (p. 100)
• Art therapy (p. 102)
• 5 Education and Self-Development (p. 107)
• The influence of Horace (p. 109)
• Renaissance elaborations (p. 111)
• Bildung (p. 115)
• Modern elaborations (p. 120)
• 6 Moral Improvement and Civilisation (p. 124)
• Aristotle and Horace (p. 124)
• French Enlightenment (p. 127)
• Kant (p. 129)
• Romanticism (p. 130)
• Matthew Arnold (p. 134)
• F. R. Leavis (p. 137)
• The arts and colonialism (p. 141)
• 7 Political Instrument (p. 146)
• Fascism and Nazism (p. 148)
• 'Governmentalisation of culture' (p. 151)
• The 'committed' novel (p. 155)
• Political theatre (p. 161)
• 8 Social Stratification and Identity Construction (p. 165)
• 9 Autonomy of the Arts and Rejection of Instrumentality (p. 176)
• The significance of Kant (p. 178)
• Nineteenth-century aestheticism (p. 182)
• Twentieth-century elaborations (p. 184)
• Conclusion (p. 191)
• Notes (p. 196)
• References (p. 215)
• Index (p. 235`)