The Social Impact of the Arts

The Social Impact of the Arts, in paperback for the first time, offers an intellectual history of claims made over time for the value, function and impact of the arts in Western societies. With chapters on corruption, catharsis, education and 'art for art's sake', as well as number of other key themes, the book examines the many different ways in which writers have attempted to articulate the social impact of the arts. It also relates contemporary policy debates to a history of ideas, making a timely contribution to public debate about the value of the arts in modern societies.

ISBN 0230273513   Pages 248 ISBN13 9780230273511 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 308 Publisher Palgrave Macmillan   Published in Basingstoke Imprint Palgrave Macmillan   Height (mm) 216 Format Paperback   Width (mm) 138 Publication date 20 Oct 2010   Spine width (mm) 14 DEWEY 306.47   Academic level Professional / Scholarly DEWEY edition DC22

Introduction Towards a New Approach to Researching the Social Impacts of the Arts Corruption and Distraction Catharsis Personal Well-being Education and Self-development Moral Improvement and Civilization Political Instrument Social Stratification and Identity Construction Autonomy of the Art and Rejection of Instrumentality Conclusions References Index

'The Social Impact of the Arts: An Intellectual History starts with today's heated public debate about the 'intrinsic' and the 'instrumental' in the arts, and then locates this debate within a history of ideas that goes back over two thousand years to classical Greece -- Plato's Republic and Aristotle on catharsis. In tracing this history and revealing that there is nothing new under the sun in arguments about the arts, the authors show how the meanings of some key concepts -- among them, "the transforming power of the arts", "art for art's sake", "the arts are good for you", "the arts and cultural identities" -- have evolved over time, as parts of a very long-standing argument. The aims of this book are ambitious: to nourish public debate, to reconnect us all with a rich tradition of thinking, to show how certain ideas turned into commonplace beliefs, and in the end to encourage "a more nuanced understanding of how the arts can affect people". This is a much-needed study, believe me, and a timely one as well: an examination of what lies behind the rhetoric, it fills a surprising gap in the fast-expanding literature on cultural policy.' - Sir Christopher Frayling, Chairman, Arts Council England, and Rector, Royal College of Art 'This short book is a great read, full of fascinating material, which will provide incendiary matter for debates about the arts in society.' - Mark O'Neill, Cultural Trends 'Those new to the field will find this an enormously helpful introduction, while those who are not will often be refreshed, sometimes stimulated, and occasionally irritated. What more could one ask?' - Gary Day, THES 'Its great strength is to challenge readers to question their own beliefs and the necessarily ideological construction of debates about art and its value.' - Francois Matarasso, Arts Professional 'Belfiore and Bennett have produced an insightful study that illuminates not only what lies behind the cultural policy rhetoric, but also what connects twenty-first century cultural policy debates to two millenia of intellectual ideas.' - Nicola Goc, Media International Australia 'It is...a pity that the humanities did not take earlier and more confident steps to marshal the wide range of research already carried out into claims made for the social use of the arts into comprehensive surveys like the present, superlative, "intellectual history" by Eleanora Belfiore and Oliver Bennett... The book's compass and ambition is nothing short of humbling, ranging as it does from Plato to postmodernism, across a range of performative, literary and fine arts, both "high" and "low", and responding to a variety of claims that have been made against, as well as for, the arts... This is managed with exemplary, jargon-free clarity that sacrifices nothing of the sophistication of thought and makes the book an excellent choice for students... One hopes that undergraduate courses in all branches of historical cultural enquiry are able to find room to accommodate such wide-angle approaches to their subjects... Highly recommended to all undergraduate students of the arts." - Chris Jones, THE Textbook Guide

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