The Popular as Art? An Investigation into Form, Value, Concepts, and Justifications

This book will reconstruct and analyze the logic and frameworks surrounding positive evaluations of popular art in articles and books predominantly published in the United States and western Europe. It will also examine negative evaluations of the popular, especially those that have successfully prevented the popular from being perceived as (good) art and still provide partially effective counterarguments today. This book will examine both relevant judgments on individual works and groups of works as well as general judgments and assessments.

Chapter 1: Introduction.- Part I: Fundamental Questions.- Chapter 2: Standardization.- Chapter 3: Stimulus.- Chapter 4: Aesthetics.- Chapter 5: Defining Art.- Chapter 6: Is Art Useful?.- Chapter 7: Is Entertainment Art?.- Chapter Chapter 8: Are Events, Environments, and Star Performances Art?.- Chapter 9: The Art of the Show?.- Chapter 10: Can Works By Amateurs Be Art?.- Part II: Particular Valorisations: Popular Artifacts as Good Art.- Chapter 11: What’s Popular.- Chapter 12: The Popular and the ‘People’.- Chapter 13: Bestselling Novels: Realism.- Chapter 14: Genre Paradigms.- Chapter 15: Praise for ‘Popular’ Genres.- Chapter 16: Entertaining.- Chapter 17: Trash.- Chapter 18: Spotlight on the Star.- Chapter 19: Clichés on Display.- Chapter 20: Rock ‘n’ Roll: “Grotesque enough to sell a million”.- Chapter 21: The Modern Art of Rock.- Chapter 22: The Art of Pop Music.- Chapter 23: Images and Pop Fashion as Art.- Chapter 24: The Feeling and Mood of Recipients.- Chapter 25: Complexity and the Popular.- Chapter 26: Conclusion.

Thomas Hecken is Professor of Modern German Literature at the University of Siegen. At the University of Siegen he is also head of the sub-project Pop Aesthetics within the Collaborative Research Center 'Transformations of the Popular'. His research interests include conceptual history and aesthetic theory. Book publications include: Theorien der Populärkultur; Pop. Geschichte eines Konzepts 1955-2009; Handbuch Popkultur (as co-editor). He is also main editor of the journal 'Pop. Kultur und Kritik'.