Kitsch and the Modern Predicament

Roger Scruton’s classic article on the perils of kitsch. It is a defence of art as moral compass fighting off a self-reinforcing feedback loop of comforting shorthand fake-emotion that, like junk food, fails to nourish. I am particularly drawn to the idea that kitsch art is herd art. Scruton’s horse is a little high but there’s a lot of good stuff here that is as relevant as ever in the era of the lolcat and ’10 things you need to know about…’.

Address of the bookmark: http://www.city-journal.org/html/9_1_urbanities_kitsch_and_the.html

I am a professional learner, employed as a Full Professor and Associate Dean, Learning & Assessment, at Athabasca University, where I research lots of things broadly in the area of learning and technology, and I teach mainly in the School of Computing & Information Systems. I am a proud Canadian, though I was born in the UK. I am married, with two grown-up children, and three growing-up grandchildren. We all live in beautiful Vancouver.

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