or dunghill of the semi-cultivated if you prefer. according to this article in the globe and mail, 2003 saw a revival in the american intellectual’s anxiety over the dumbing down of culture. so far as i can see, though the “dumbing down” has never so much as slowed down to take a breather in my lifetime, the general anxiety level over it still seems to be a trickle of impotent tweed jacketed grumbling, and nothing more. no booming speeches from charismatic, literate leaders hit my ears calling moronic fat asses across the nation to action. quite the contrary is true i would say.

after all what is postmodernism, the rule of the day, if not the willful embrace of “the low” for a cheap laugh or an easily manufactured “new” quantity? in truth the only anxiety we can feel is our own, and by proxy that of those in the public eye, meaning of course those who are the common currency of the doofus culture in question. if we are still “getting dumber” and i can’t argue we are not (accept to say perhaps all high culture has ever been is an ideological embrace of those things accepted as masterful from our collective past, a sort of permanent state of looking backward, albeit with our heads tilted up a bit, which continual “progress” does not seem to nurture), then we, who are the culture, can’t very well be too concerned about it. can we? so who exactly is so anxious?

now don’t misunderstand, looking around me more often triggers a cringe than not, i enjoyed the article, and i’d like nothing more than to think we as a culture were interested in halting the downward spiral, i simply don’t think people are interested all that much.
in any case the article listed quite a few sources and i’ve gathered as many of them as i could here. they are all interesting, and well worth reading. all are certainly applicable to this question of the middlebrow, i’m just not sure one book, two blog entries, and a humor column can really signal a revival of anything, no matter how heavily you factor in the general discontent and malaise.

1) curtis white’s the middle mind, why american’s don’t think for themselves. two thoughtful synopses of the book can be found here, and here,

2) terry treachout’s post at arts journal, about last night.

3) charles paul freund’s post at reason, .

4) steve martin’s piece, posted by jmorrison on 01/01 | lost & found - ideas | | send entry