Bourdieu's theory of taste: a grumbling abrégé
This post meticulously unpacks Pierre Bourdieu's dense theory of taste, explaining how class predicts, and is predicted by, cultural preferences in everything from beer to books. It critically examines Bourdieu's notoriously impenetrable writing style, distilling his core ideas into seven relatable claims illustrated with comics. The author's 'grumbling abrégé' makes a complex sociological concept accessible, offering insights into social stratification and the unconscious incentives shaping our supposedly unique choices.
The Lowdown
The author embarks on a personal reflection, realizing their seemingly unique taste in beer and other cultural artifacts actually fits a pattern: highbrow or lowbrow, but never middlebrow. This self-discovery leads to an engagement with Pierre Bourdieu's 1979 work, Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste, a book famously difficult to read due to its labyrinthine structure and dense prose.
Key takeaways from the author's deconstruction of Bourdieu's theory include:
- Critique of Style: Bourdieu's writing is characterized by excessively long, complex sentences, obscure terminology, and disorganized presentation, which the author argues is an unjustified barrier to understanding.
- Seven Core Claims: The article distills Bourdieu's theory into a linear, digestible argument:
- Class predicts taste: Different social classes exhibit distinct cultural preferences.
- Taste predicts class: One's tastes offer strong indicators of their social class.
- Consequences of taste: Exhibiting certain tastes influences social acceptance and opportunities.
- Response to incentives: Individuals adapt their tastes, often unconsciously, to align with social benefits.
- Unconscious adaptation: This alignment happens not through deliberate calculation, but subconscious inference.
- Difficulty of acquiring 'right' tastes: True belonging to a cultural group requires deep, often implicit, knowledge that is hard for outsiders to fake.
- Taste entrenches class: Early exposure to upper-class culture creates a feedback loop, perpetuating social stratification.
- Legitimate Culture: Bourdieu posits that institutions define 'legitimate' culture (e.g., classical music, avant-garde art), favoring those with prior exposure and subtly excluding others, though the author questions its contemporary relevance.
- Legitimate Language Analogy: The author draws a parallel to 'legitimate' language dialects, noting how schools often devalue working-class speech patterns, mirroring Bourdieu's cultural dynamics.
- Abstraction vs. Omnivores: While Bourdieu suggested upper-class taste favors the abstract, the author notes a modern trend towards 'cultural omnivores' who appreciate a wide range of tastes, suggesting an evolution in distinction strategies.
Ultimately, the author finds Bourdieu's ideas compelling and profound, particularly his critique of social injustice, despite the significant effort required to extract them from their academic casing. The piece serves as an accessible entry point to a foundational sociological theory, promising further explorations in a series.