Reading

Dwight Macdonald’s A Theory of Mass

Culture.
INTRODUCTION TO UNIT 2

For this unit we will be reading articles and viewing websites for comparative purposes. We
are going to look for similarities and differences in the various texts, selecting two for further
comparison. Our aim is to discover more about the prize phenomenon through putting
different texts in conversation with each other.
Please read “Analyzing the Rhetorical Strategies used in a Website” and
“How to Write a Comparative Analysis” (both in IVLE).
A Reading Dwight Macdonald’s article

As you can derive from the heading of Macdonald’s article, he is trying to come up with a
theory of what mass culture is. Using the guiding questions below, you must summarize
his “theory of mass culture”.

If – for your comparative paper - you decide to use Macdonald’s chapter, it is important
that you are comfortable with his key terms and ideas.
The next step is to select a prize. This could entail focusing on or working through the
prize website. Using your skill to read the rhetorical strategies contained in the website,
you need to determine to what extent this prize or award conforms to or contradicts
Macdonald’s definition of mass culture.
Finally, you need to write up your response in an argument. You need to write a thesis
statement which presents your main claim and how you intend to argue for it. You need
to develop your argument through various steps, and reach a conclusion which
responds to your thesis.

1 In his introductory paragraph, Macdonald creates a context for his thesis. He

refers to basic terms and definitions that constitute the grounds for this article.
Discuss how he explains the difference between High, Mass and Popular Culture.

2 Read “The Nature of Mass Culture”. Identify the main idea in each of the three
paragraphs. How does each paragraph respond to the heading? Consider how
Macdonald uses imagery to communicate his attitude toward Mass Culture.

3 Under the heading “Gresham’s Law in Culture” Macdonald further develops his
definitions of High Art and Folk Art. Explain how they differ. Macdonald also
attempts to explain why kitsch is spread effectively. Summarise his explanation.
How would this impact on the prize culture? Does the prize culture “predigest”
art for us?

4 Why, according to Macdonald, can Mass Culture be described as “Homogenized

Culture”?
 5 Skip the next few headings until you get to “Division of Labor”. What does he
mean by “the more advantaged technology, the greater the division”(28)?

6 Summarise the phenomenon of “Adultized Children and Infantile Adults” (p29)

in a single sentence. Does this apply to prizes?

7 How, according to MacDonald, do a society’s “idols” impact on the attitude

toward effort and ambition (p29)?

8 How does Macdonald contrast a “mass man” (“The Problem of the Masses”) with
the individual who is part of a “folk or a people”? What function could the prize
be fulfilling in this regard?

9 The final section “The Future of Mass Culture: Darker” brings the article to a
conclusion. What is Macdonald’s conclusion? It contains a caveat for Mass
culture. What is it?

B Responding to the article

1 Summarize Macdonald’s argument on the topic of Mass Culture.

2 Consider carefully Macdonald’s definition of high, popular and mass culture.
Would you regard prizes as belonging to high, popular or mass culture? Do
different prizes belong to different categories? How similar or different are
prizes as a phenomenon? (The prize is essentially an elitist manifestation. How
true is this of prizes today?)
3 Consider again what is meant by homogenized culture. How does mass culture’s
homogenizing tendency and the prize-giving culture interact? Surely the culture
of recognizing quality (as in setting up a hierarchy of products essential to the
prize culture) goes contrary to homogenization? Or is there a same-ness in the
way prizes are run, that does not distinguish according to quality, but aspires to
novelty?
4 In the section “Division of Labor’, Macdonald makes a case for the formulaic that
underlies the mass produced. This goes contrary to High Culture’s aspirations
toward genius and that spark of difference (see the article in IVLE on Kant et al.)
How do the prize websites represent their intentions? Is there a strong sense of
the formulaic? Is there space for originality and quirkiness?
5 Do you find any appropriate ideas in “The Problem of the Masses” for
understanding how the awarding of prizes in today’s society functions?
6 How does the prize industry contribute toward a move away from or a decline
deeper into the formulaic anaesthetizing conformity that defines MacDonald’s
idea of mass culture? Can you detect a pattern of initial originality and
spontaneity that then hardens into a formulaic, cynically money-making
venture?