ATS2450 Minor Essay Elaine Chan

Idealist and Materialist Concepts of Culture in the Theorisations of Culture and Society Culture has evolved through time since the 18th century; from the pre-industrial era to the industrialised society. The concept of culture is not definite as it is used as a tool to understand culture as a signifying practice of representation within the context of social power (Barker 2008, p.38). Originally, ‘culture’ was connected to cultivation of crops but later progressed into a “cultured person” (Barker 2008, p.40). The word was later in the 19th century used to refer to as the ‘whole way of life’ that is the ‘lived experience’ of distinct people or social groups (Williams 1981, p.2). Therefore, it draws on a wide range of theories from the idealist and materialist approaches on the concepts of culture. This essay aims to discuss how these two concepts of culture operate in the theorisations of culture and society.

The idealist concept views culture as the ‘informing spirit’ (Williams 1981, p.2). Williams (1981, p.2) mentioned that this view of culture is more apparent in ‘specific cultural’ activities such as language, art styles and intellectual works that manifest values into individuals. It is believed as the ‘realm of moral, spiritual and aesthetic values which exists largely independent of and above society’ (Dearman 2014, p.18). Matthew Arnold and F.R. Leavis were the critical figures of this view of culture. Arnold (1960 cited in Barker 2008, p.40) has described culture as ‘the best that has been thought and said in the world’. There is this distinction made between high and low culture, which has a selective characteristic because the idealist favours the high culture. Arnold assumed that high culture constitutes activities of ‘reading, observing, thinking’ which challenges the individual’s mind (Barker 2008, p.40), for example readings from William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. This is also due to separateness from society whereby the

References: Adorno, T.W. 1964, ‘Television and the patterns of mass culture’, in C. Greenfield (ed.), ATS2450/3450 unit reader, Monash Print & Design Gippsland, Australia, pp.30-33. Adorno, T.W. & Horkheimer, M. 1977, ‘The culture industry: Enlightenment as mass deception’, in C Barker, C. 2008, Cultural studies: theory & practice, 3rd edn, Sage Publications, London.