Cultural consumption in the fine and popular arts realms

In this paper we review recent sociological research dealing with the consumption of culture produced in the fine and popular arts realms. We note that most of the initial theoretical developments in the sociological study of culture consumption were first developed to explain audience segmentation in the fine arts realm under what we refer as the “cultural capital” paradigm developed by Pierre Bourdieu. This paradigm shift in its turn has led to the current dominance of the “omnivore thesis” in the sociology of taste. The consumption of popular culture on the other hand remained for a long time dominated by the Birmingham “resistance” and “subculture” paradigms developed in the 1970s. Recent research in the study of popular arts consumption has moved beyond the limitations of the subculture paradigm by way of incorporating the theoretical legacy of the cultural capital paradigm in order to account for patterns and audience and producer differentiation in the popular arts realm within “scenes.” This has brought the study of popular and fine arts culture consumption under a single conceptual framework after a long period of theoretical disengagement. University of Notre Dame, Department of Sociology, 810 Flanner Hall, Notre Dame, IN, 46556; Tel: (574) 6311855; Fax: (574) 631-9238; Email: [email protected].