Popular Pleasures

<p>Today's many popular aesthetic pleasures have a very long history. Paul Duncum considers the historical critical discourses and socio-political issues raised by aesthetic pleasures in fifteen thematic chapters. Using illustrative examples from the past present and across cultures he challenges the idea of any decline of cultural standards and argues that no grounds exist for cultural pessimism. Refusing to condemn popular culture on the basis of taste he reserves critique for the socio-political ideologies aesthetics invariably serve. <p/>Art history film cultural studies and philosophical aesthetics are each employed to show that the sensory/emotional lures of today's popular culture are mostly identical to those of premodern fine art. They include the violent the horrific the sentimental the exotic the erotic and the humorous. Some of these pleasures derive from our evolutionary biology; they are all an important part of what it means to be human and central to understanding contemporary society. Examples are wide-ranging including British seaside postcards Disney films Nazi propaganda burlesque modern advertising as well as many exemplars of fine art. <p/>The book reveals fresh insights for all those studying visual culture art history aesthetics media studies and media and art education.</p>