Читать книгу Sociology of the Arts - Victoria D. Alexander - Страница 15

This book is about the sociology of the arts. That is evident from its title. Perhaps not clear is what I mean by art and what I mean by a sociology of it. Art is a value‐laden word, conjuring up images of the best that has been penned into words or brushed onto canvas. This book uses the term in a more mundane, and a broader, sense. Art includes the tangible, visible and/or audible products of creative endeavor; it includes not only the traditional fine arts but also the popular and folk arts.

Sociology is, among other things, the study of society, the study of human systems, the study of how people create meaning, and the study of social inequality. These aspects of sociology are central to this book. We will examine how groups of people work together to create what we call art. We will look at why some things are called “art” and some people “artists”—and why other things and people are not. We will look at the meaning of artistic objects and why interpretations of art vary. We will look at how people use artistic products, for aesthetic pleasure, certainly, but also for other reasons. And we will study the intersection of race, gender, sexuality, and class with art.