Journal article
Greenberg's self-negation
- Abstract:
- During the 1940s, Clement Greenberg, one of the first champions of American Abstract Expressionism, developed a critical position based on three sets of binary oppositions: high and low; abstract and literary; surface and illusion. In his 1939 essay “Avant-Garde and Kitsch”, he described how modernity had simultaneously given rise to an avant-garde, characterised by its critical treatment of artistic traditions, and a rearguard, parasitic rather than critical, that exploited existing cultural traditions for commercial or political gain. Convinced that the former was under threat from the latter (whether in the form of totalitarian propaganda in Europe, or the ubiquitous imagery of popular culture in the United States) Greenberg dismissed the rearguard as “kitsch”, a form of low culture destined for those who are “insensible to the values of genuine culture”.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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Access Document
- Files:
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(Preview, Accepted manuscript, pdf, 288.6KB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1080/17496977.2017.1333330
Authors
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Journal:
- Intellectual History Review More from this journal
- Volume:
- 27
- Issue:
- 3
- Pages:
- 419-431
- Publication date:
- 2017-06-26
- Acceptance date:
- 2017-02-06
- DOI:
- EISSN:
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1749-6985
- ISSN:
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1749-6977
- Pubs id:
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pubs:675912
- UUID:
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uuid:7a9e7ba4-9104-4cc1-93a0-6f6418aa7035
- Local pid:
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pubs:675912
- Source identifiers:
-
675912
- Deposit date:
-
2017-02-06
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- International Society for Intellectual History
- Copyright date:
- 2017
- Notes:
- © 2017 International Society for Intellectual History. This is the accepted manuscript version of the article. The final version is available online from Taylor and Francis at: https://doi.org/10.1080/17496977.2017.1333330
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