Roger Taylor. Art An Enemy of The People. 1978

Art anEnemy
PHILOSOPHY NOW
General Editor: Roy Edgley
English-speakingphilosophy sincethe SecondWorld War has been
dominated by the method of linguistic analysis,the latest phase of
the analytical movement started in the early years of the century.
That method is defined by certain doctrines about the nature and
scopeboth of philosophy and of the other subjectsfrom which it
distinguishesitself; and these doctrines reflect the fact that in this
period philosophyand other intellectualactivitieshave beenincreasingly monopolised by the universities, social institutions with a
specialrole. Though expansivein the number of practitioners,these
activitieshavecultivatedan expertisethat in characteristicways have
narrowed their field of vision. As our twentieth-centuryworld has
staggered from crisis to crisis, English-speakingphilosophy in
particular has submissively dwindled into a humble academic
specialism,on its own understanding isolated from the practical
problems facing society, and from contemporary Continental
thought.
The books in this seriesare united by nothing except discontent
with this stageof affairs. Convinced that the analytical movement
has spent its momentum, its latestphaseno doubt its last, the series
seeksin one way or another to push philosophy out of its ivory
tower.
Otherbooksin the Series:

PtllI-OSOPHY AND ITS PAST: JonathanRtu. Mit'hael
,4vers,Ada nr l|/estob_t,
R L J I . I N GI L L U S I O N S A
: n t h o n . vS k i l l e n
SARTRF: Istt,anMeszaro.s
: ot Bhaskhar
S O C I A TS
- C I E N C -A
E N D S O C I A L I D E O L O G I E SR
F R F F D O \ 4A N D I - I I I E R A T I O N B
: e n i a m i nG i b b . s
H E C E I - ' SP H E N O M E N O I . O C YR: i c h a r dN o r m u n
of thePeople
ROGERTAYLOR
University of Sussex
TFIE ITARVESTERPRESS
F i r s t p u b l i s h e di n 1 9 7 8b y
T H E H A R V E S T E R P R E S SL I M I T E D
2 Stanford Tcrrace, Hassocks,Sussex
Pu bl isher: John Snier.s
C O N TE N T S
I
29
59
Methods of Thinking and Methods of Work

2 . CorrectingMistaken Ideasabout Art and Culture
The FraudulentStatusof Art in N{arxism
I
RogcrTavlor, 1978
Brirish Librar.v Catoktguing in Publication Dara

-f
a 1 J o r ,R o e e r
A r t , a n e n e m l o f r h c p e o p l c .- . ( P h i l o s o p h yn o w ;
vol.3).
I . Aesthctics
L l-itle Il. Sclies
1 0 0 ', 1 B l J . r 9
ISBN()-E5527-9.11,9
l s l l N r ) - N i 5 l - - ( ti(-)5 I ' t r l
T ' r ' p g r r 'b1v R c d [ - i o n S e r t e r s ], { o l l r o r n . [ , o n d o n

a n c lp r i n r c i l i n [ : n g l a r r cbl v
R c c l wo o c l I l u r n I - t c l . ,T r o u b r i d g c a n d E s h e r
All rightsrcserved
A Warning of the Corrupting Influence ol Art

Culture
Popular
89
For Len Taylor, mY father
rI
I
Chapter One
METHODS OF THINKING
AND METHODS OF WORK
This book is about art and philosophy. To say this is,
ther:by, to put it beyond the reach of the masses.By 'the
mas ses' I mean the massof people in my ou'n society,as I
kno'.v it. As an academic I have little more than vague
relai ionshipswith membersof the masses.Thoservith whom
J ha ve such vague relationshipsinclude, to make the point
r i v i d , t h e p o s t m a n ,t h e m i l k m a n , t h e r e f u s ec o l l e c t o r st,h o s e
n'hc come to serviceitems like washing machines,people
rt ho work in shops,peoplewho sell vehiclesand neighbours
n'irr: work, for instance,in the building trade and the police
Iorc::. For such peoplethat this book is about art anci
I t l r i l r s o p h y .m o r e a s a m a t t e r o f I ' a c tt h a n s u r r n i s ep, u t s t h e
[ro,r< be]'oncltheir reach.T'hisis diseclncertrng.
Can an.vthin_s
ir(' {":ilte aborrt it?
I r b e g i nu i t h , t h e p r o b l e n ri s n o t c o n f i n e dt o w h a t o n e
; ; L r g . 'r vt i s ht r . a
. t t e m p ti n o n e ' sb c t o k .T h e p r O t l l e nei t x t c n dtso
l i t . ;r , r u b l i s h e rasn d t h e i r c o n c e p to f a b o o k . I r i s u n t h i n k a t r l e
iitat a publisher rvould conceir,eof a book on art ancl
i r l r i i r s o p l t ya s b e i n gm a r k e t a b l et o t h e g e n e r a rl e a d e r s h i po f
lltc ilrzr ne\\'spaper.El'en a 'coffee table' historv of art and
l r r nr e a d e r .l t
; , l r i l r s o p l i l , w o u l dn o t b e a i m e da t t h e g e n e r a S
! ' . p , ) s s i b l co n e m i g h t i n d u c er e a d e r s h i pi l ' t h e p a g e so f t t r e
irilir", lryspg
liberally interspersecl
with photographsof goodl . r r 1 fi n t m e n a n d w o m e n , i n v a r i o u s s t a t e s o f u n d r e s s ,
i l l u r - r a t i n g( h u m o u r o u s l y )p o i n t s i n t h e t e x t . P e r s o n a l l y ,I
Art an Enemy of the People
would find this desirable,and would buy many more theoretical books than I do if they were standardly presentedin this
way. However, in general, there is a reluctance in the
publishing world to mix modes like this. Books on art and
philosophy etc. constitute the holy side of the publishing
business,offering publishersa senseof recompensefor what
they are likely to regard as the dirtier side of the business.
The fact that I can countenancea mixing of modes in this
way says, indirectly, quite a lot about how art and philosophy will be approachedin this book.
The idea of bridging some cultural gap normally springs
from missionarymotives. It is for this reason that murmurs
of disapprovalwould greet this book if it was to include
titillating pictures. My intentions, however, are antimissionary.To statemy position in its most challengingform
I hold that art and philosophy are enemiesof the masses.
Therefore,it is not my intention to bring art and philosophy
to the masses,but, rather, arm the massesagainstthem. It is
for this reasonthat I would have the massesread this book.
As things stand the masses,somewhat shamefacedly,ignore
art and philosophy;I wish to stir up an arrogantawareness
of
and resistanceto theseactivities.The 'cultural' life of our
societyis a confidencetrick practisedon the masses.The
massespay in two ways. Firstly, through their pocket.sin
financingthe educationalsystemetc., which is itself ideoiogic a l l yc o m m i t t e dt o t h e ' c u l t u r a l 'l i f e , a n d , s e c o n d l yt,h r o u g h
a generalsenseof inadequacy(concealed)rvhen measuring
themselvesagainst the range of skills the social order
d e m a n d sT. h e m a s s e s h o u i di n t e r e s t h e m s e l v ei sn ' c u l t u r a l '
activitiesin order to see horv these are confidencetricks
practisedagainst themselves,and therefore, how to resist
them. This book is, then, about art and philosophy in an
unusualway.
Another barrier to reachingthoseI would reachlies in my
own position. Over a decade spent, exclusively,in the
academicworld is very poor training for communicatingwith
the masses,althoughit is very good training for a courteous
Methods of Thinking ond Methods of Work

distancingof oneselffrom others (thereby one communicates
a respect for social hierarchy). A certain sentencestructure,
vocabulary, the disposition to labour so as to make all
arguments logically watertight, these are academically
acquired traits which do not recommend one to the broad
massof people. However, to pretend to a voice, which is the
voice of the masses, or to resolve to explain oneself by
constantlymaking allowancesfor the ignoranceof others is,
in the first case,hypocrisy and, in the second,incapacitating
(and, in any case, one would probably do it all wrong).
Therefore, despite barriers, I intend to write this book as
naturally as I can, that is, without consciousaffectation. The
material to be dealt with is not easy but neither is it
impossibly difficult. Where difficulties are experienced
becauseof the style, or the words used, then I ask that the
reader should make allowsncesfor my bockground. In fact,
the languageI use is not really technical, and most difficulties, if there are any, can be cleared with the aid of a
dictionary. Where the senseof, what might seem to be,
toltuous sentenceseludesthe reader the best remedy will be
ir: read on. ln due coursethe main point will emerge.These
conrrnentsare offered in the hope that this book will prove an
ei.ceptionto rules about who reads what. This hope is not
optimisticallyentertained,but the book is written on this
b as is .
I o begin on the main substanceof this book I shall
c{)nLcrnmyself with some remarks on the world of philosophv as I have experiencedit. IvIy early training in philo:5.]i)llvgavc nle two perceptionsof the world which most
peoplewould not naturally come by, in fact the world as it
af i'cctsrnost peoplepreventsthem from theseperceptions,or
'Ihe
ctLtticroks.
first perception was that there were concepts.
Itt taci, the prevailingview of philosophythat was taught to
tlte (ihere are and have been many views as to what philo'roph!' is) was that philosophy was concerned with the
aniilysisof concepts.What did I understandby concepts?My
iicreeptionof this was not philosophicallyclear,but it was, I
think, clear enough for ordinary understanding.I could give

instancesof concepts.For instance,I would cite the concept
of truth, of meaning, of justice, of causality. All of theseare
concepts of some importance in the history of philosophy.
However, concepts are not confined to those which have
preoccupiedphilosophers.One could, for instance, sensibly
talk about the conceptof a tree, of fire, of sexualexperience.
of a book. Concepts come into the world through our
consciousnessof the world. To think of concepts, in this
way, was to give rise to the perception that the conceptswe
have of the world might not accurately reflect the world.
Most people would find it easy to suppose that how they
believedthe world to be might be other than it was, but the
idea that the materialswith which we thought, the concepts
of florvers,trees,fires, sexualexperiences,
truth, justiceetc.,
might, in thenrselves,representan inaccurateclassificationof
the world is more difficult to grasp. The real perception of
the possibilitycan, perhaps,only come, for good or ill, after
considerableimmersion in philosophicalactivity. Anyway,
this was the first perception.
The secondperception,which can be linked ro the first,
though it camewith relativeautonc)my,rvasthat valueswere
distinguishahlefrom facts. Most people operatc under rhe
s n d r h e b a d n e s so f p e o p l ea n d
a s s u m p t i o nt h a l t h e g o o d n e s a
t h e i r d e e d si s a s c e n a i na s t h e r eb e i n gp e o p l ea n d a r v o r l dt h a t
t h e y i n h a b i t .O n t h e o t h e r h a n d t h e p h i l o s o p h i c aal r g u n l e n t s
t h e y o u n g s t u d e n to f p h i l o s o p h yr v a s ,a n d s t i l l i s , a s k e c tl o
'fhe
stric'lyproduceclan uneirseatrout valucs
question was
raisedas to ht-rrvto establishvalues,anil once 1,ouraise thc
question-vourcalischou dif f icult it is to ilnswer.Nlosrpeoplc
d n n o t p o s ef h i s q u c s t i o nf o r t h e n r s c l v e sF.o r t h e r nt h e v a l u e s
of the societl,are just acceptedel,enif they dein't live up to
them.
'fhesc
t\\'(-)Jlrrceptionswere related to each other. Whcn
t a l k i n g o 1 ' v a l u e s w e a r e t a l k i n g o f c o n c e p t s .W e h a l ' e
conccptsof goodness,badness,rightness,wrongness,etc.
Perhapsthcreis nothing in the world which answersto thern.
Methods of Thinkins and Methods of Work

perhaps they are iasl concepts; things we have made up.
I do not, at this juncture, wish to persuadeanyone of this,
my purpose is different. It is, in part, to communicate to
those, who have no conception of such thoughts, something
of what it is like to be a personin the world thinking like this.
Most people can easily imagine everything that lies around
them being an illusion or part of a dream. TV is full of
dramas in which all sorts of things seem to happen to
someonewho subsequentlyturns out to have been dreaming
all along. To feel the possibility of a gap between concepts
and the world is, however, to feel scepticalabout the very
languageone speaks.Perhapslanguageitself is an illusion.
Perhapsone should be unsure of each and every word one
uses.Most peoplejust talk; the words pour out; they have
of their language activity.
and need little consciousness
of the problem of handling
Sometimesthere is an awareness
in socially acceptableways, but few people
olie's lan.guage
get to the point of doubting that languageis adequate. I
luspectthe u'ord 'language'helpsto claril'yrvhat I am saying
aboirt conceptsand values. What has to be imagined is
languagebeing a prison fronr which we cannot escape;a
lirisr-.nof illusions.f'his is a rough descriptionof what early
t'\r]osr.rre
someto pirilosophf inclucedin me. ValuesLrccante
iitir;glonc !r'as not sure of; an area of uncertainty. Every
;tr.;*rtionin tlre languagehad to be greetedrlith the question
'\\'il;rr
ciocsit mean?'. Evcn the simplestacts of iauguage
, : { r ' r i lli1l c ' tb e t a k e n o n t r u s t , b u t h a d 1 o b e q r r i z z e dt o s e ei f
;ini siguii'ic:rnce
could be wrung ttut <ti thern.
it t-srluite rvrong,I anr conl,inced,to be so sccpticaiol the
i : r t t g L u l iw: ee s p e a k .T h i s i s s o , i f o n l y b e c a u s a
c n 1 s, c c p t i c i s m
,iiror.l1
,tr. languageis voiced within the language. I1' the
itinguirgedoesnot make sense.then neitherdoeslhc attempt
ttl coirerentlystatethat this is so. Horvever,as I have said, it
i\ l'r()ltht: rightne.ss
or wrongnessof this position that I am
concernedwitli. My rnain interestis to preparethe way for
ntakirtg intelligible the significanceof my examination of
'cu
ltural' acti\,'ities.

To pursue this I need to talk next about methods for
understandingconcepts.There was a certain view about how
this was to be done, which the philosophy I was introduced to
as a student questioned. The view questioned put forward
what I shall call an abstract method. This abstract method
constituteswhat much of philosophy has been about. The
method was that of analysisand definition. First of all there
was the assumption that the totality of reality (all there is)
could be exhaustively analysed into its component parts.
When this was done the second aspect of the method took
over, namely, the task of producing definitions to cover the
individual concepts analysed. Let me give a trivial but
intelligible example. It might be asked, 'What is a motorcycle helmet?' To answer this we might say it is both a
functional object and a material object. That it is a form of
headgeardesignedto protect the motor-cycle rider in caseof
accident, and, also, a certain quantity of material substance,
e.g. glass fibre. At the functional level we might go on to
sub-dividethe ob.iectinto the outer protective shell, the inner
padding,the visor, the pressstudsetc. All of thesefunctional
items could be relatedto distinguishablequantitiesof marerial substance.The glassfibre for the outer-dome, the fibrous
and rubber substances
in the padding,the polythene,perspex
substancein the visor, the metalliccontentto the pressstuds.
This analysis could go on endlessly,although it was an
assumptionof the method being discussed,that it would be
possible to exhaustivelyanalyse all the characteristicsand
propertiesof what one analysed.From this list of properties
of motor-cycle helmetswe might try to pick out those which
are essentialto somethingbeing a motor-cyclehelmet.If this
could be decided,thesefactors,when listed,would constitute
the definition of motor-cycle helmet. The definition would
specify those conditions necessaryand sufficient for something being a motor-cycle helmet. This activity of defining
could next be applied to all the components of motor-cycle
helmets.If this task could be carriedout, it might be thought,
one would then know all there was to know about motorcycle helmets.

A great many philosophical works are composed in this
way, only their subject matter is the universe.A selectionof
philosophicalworks throughout the ageswould demonstrate
the similarity of style. The works of Aristotle, Spinoza,
Hume, Russellconstitute a representativesample.
The philosophical tradition I was exposedto, which challengedthis methodology,was one stemmingfrom the work of
the twentieth century philosopher Wittgenstein. The attack
went as follows: If you examine a concept like motor-cycle
helmetthere is a temptation to supposethat everythingcalled
a motor-cycle helmet has something in common with everything elseso called. The temptation is that of supposingthere
to be some essence,some common core. However, this
temptation is misguided becauseit fails to recognise that
conceptscome into the world at particular times (this is to say
they are not there from the beginning of time) and that
subsequently,they develop and change. If you suppose for
everyconceptthereis, thereis somecommon core, then you
are beingover logicalabout concepts,and are, consequently,
not allowing for the fact that concepts are developed by
human beingsover considerableperiodsof time.
A good analogyhereis the developmentof roads.An over
logicalviewof a country'sroad network might insistthat the
point of a road betweenA and B was to provide the quickest,
shortesiand most efficient meansof moving from the one
placeto the other. However, those who travel the road may
ieel they had good groundsto doubt this and would propose
much betterroutes.It might only be after studyingthe social
historl-and geographyof the area, in which A and B were
srtuated,that one might come to a real understandingof the
route taken by the road. Thus, one might discoverthat once
rhcrehad been an important town C betweenA and B and
that originallytherehad beentwo fairly distinctroadslinking
A to C and B to C. Subsequently,the importanceof C may
havewanedand the importanceof A and B increased,so that
the old routes A-C and B-C were combined to make the
major route A-8. A concentration on the historv and
Art on Enemy of the People
developmentof the road explainsit, whereasthe over-logical,

definitional view is, in comparison, too abstract for understanding the real processof the world. The same is true of
concepts.To insist on finding a neat definition to cover any
concept examined is to turn away from the reality of the
concept as a developing organism. The concept of motorcyclehelmet is one changingthrough time. The concept itself
emergesfrom earlier conceptsof helmets and throughout its
history it is applied to a very varied range of objects. It may
prove impossibleto find somecharacteristicwhich all motorcyclehelmetsshare,which also servesto mark them off from
all other objects. It might be suggestedthat all motor-cycle
helmetsare designedto be worn on the head whilst the wearer
ridesa motor-cycle,but then thereare other objectsso designed
which are not motor-cyclehelmets, for example,woolly hats
designed in the colours of motor-cycle manufacturers, for
trialsriders. It might be suggested
that for somethingto be a
motor-cyclehelmetit needsto be madeof somerigid material,
but thereare old fashionedmotor-cyclehelmetsmade out of
pliableleatherrvhichdo not satisfythis condition. Moreover,
evenif it waspossibleto find someconditionswhich as of now
uniquely characterised
motor-cyclehelmets,we might find,
subsequently,that the conceptdevelopedso as to meet new
social needs, and that, therefore, the definition became
inapplicable.
One of' the concepts\\rifigensteindirected the attention
t o w a r d si n t h i s w a v w a s t h e c o n c e p to f g a m e .T h i s i s a w e l l
knorvn erample in the history of recent philosophy, but
none-ihe-less
I quote tlie passage.
( ' o r r s i i l c rl r r r c r a r n p l e t l r t - ; r r o c e c d i n g rsv t -c a l l ' g n n r c s ' .I r r . r c n l r
b c i a r r i ' g a n r e cr ,a l d - g a r n c sb, a l J g a r n c s ,O l y m p i c g a m e sa n d s o o n .
\ \ ' h a t i s e ( ' ! n l l n r )1l to t l r c r r a
r l l ' l - - l ) o n ' t s a , v ':T h e r e r n u s tb e s o n i e t h i n g
e o n l l r o n , o r t h c v w o u l d n o t b c c a l l e d" g a r u e s " ' L ' t ukt t o k u n d s e e
u h c t i r e rl h c r ci s a r t v t h i n gc c ) r n r n ( it lot a l l . - [ : o r i t ' 1 ' o ul o o k a t t h e n r
l t r u w i l l n o t s c c s r t n r c l h i n gt h a t i : c o m m c ' r rt ro a i l , b L r ts i m i l a r i t i c s ,
r t ' l a i i o n s h i p sa, r r c la w h o l e s e r i e so t t h e n t a t t h a t . T o r c p e a t :d o n ' t
t h i n k , [ - r u tI o t r kl - , 1 - o o k l i r r r . r a r n l r l ca t b t ] a r d - c a r n c su. i t h t h e i r
multifarious relationships.Now pass to card-games;here you find

many correspondenceswith the first group, but many common
factors drop out, and others appear. When we pass next to ballgames,much that is common is retained,but much is lost.-Are they
all amusing?Compare chesswith noughts and crosses.Or is there
always winning and losing, or competition betweenplayers?Think
of patience.In ball gamesthere is winning and losing; but when a
child throws his ball at the wall and catchesit again, this feature has
disappeared.Look at the parts played by skill and luck; and at the
difference betweenskill in chessand skill in tennis. Think now of
here is the elementof amusementbut
gameslike ring-a-ring-a-roses;
how many other characteristicieatures have disappeared!And we
can go through the many, many other groups of gamesin the same
way; can see how similaritiescrop up and disappear.
And the resultof this examinationis: we seea complicatednetwork
o f s i m i l a r i t i e os v e r l a p p i n ga n d c r i s s - c r o s s i nsgo, m e t i m essi m i l a r i t i e os f
detail. (L. Wittgenstein,PhilosophicalInvestigations,Oxford, I 953)
In summary form, the method I was exposedto attacked

the older, more abstract methodology by directing attenrion
arvay from concepts as coherent entities and towards concepts as diverse uses of language. Questions about the
conceptof meaningor truth or gamesetc., becamequestions
'game' were
about how the words 'meaning', 'truth' and
usedin the Englishlanguage.The assumptionwas that these
rvordswor,rlddisplaya varietyof uses,so that the businessof
lnal-vsinga concept becamethat of displayingthe various
uscs of a word and its derivatives. This movement in
p h i i o s o p h yw a s k n o w n a s ' l i n g u i s t i cp h i l o s o p h y ' .I t w a s a
rnovenrentivhich tended to debunk the problems in the
ltistorv of philosophy. The history of philosophy was
thoughtto be full of knotty problemswhich only cameabout
hccausepeoplehad insistedthat questionsabout the nature
rrl conceptsreceiveneat, logically water-tightanswers.The
itirtorl,'of philosophy was the history of people inventing
sttt-'h
answers(often r,vithgreat ingenuity) and others refuting
them (rvith equal ingenuitli).
I'his, then, was something of the philosophicalclimate
(eonceivedof, that is, in theoreticalterms) when I entered
into the life of philosophy.
l0
So far the introduction to the main themesof this book has

been semi-autobiographical.This has enabled me to introduce certain ideas upon which I wish to build.
When we talk of concepts we should not divorce them
from the language we speak. Thus, to understand our
conceptsis the sameas understandingthe language.In other
words, when peopleposit abstractquestionsabout the nature
of truth or justice or freedom one should not be taken in by
the assumedcorrectnessof proceedingabstractly. Certainly,
one should not be taken in by the complex, baffling to the
uninitiated, definitional answers which are given to these
questions. Whole forms of life, distinct social groups, are
borne on the strengthof thesetheoreticalactivities.and their
real significance is not confined to the significanceof the
theoretical pronouncements. The various social groups
involved have been linked, as is every social group in a
society,to the society'spower structures.The link has often
beenone of them forging the ideologyof the society(i.e. the
set of ideas in terms of which the society is said to be
organised)which the mass of the people would do well to
avoid being organisedby.
The point I am making here is not being made abstractly
but it is very generaland, perhaps, an example is clarifying.
In our societythe conceptof a free society(which is held to
be ideal) is defined as a democraticsociety,and this latter
concept is defined as a societyin which all the people can
electwhom they like to governtheir society.This is the main
line of thought, although there are many qualificationsand
modifications built into the ideology so as to meet the
challengeof intellectuallyinspiredscepticism.It is held that
British society satisfiesthe definition of a free society and
that the people of a free society are themselvesfree. Therefore, it is held the people are neither slaves nor are they
dictatedto. The SovietUnion callsitself a democraticsociety
but, from the viewpoint of Westernideology,this is held to
be absurd as the people of the Soviet Union cannot elect
whom they like to govern the society.On the basisof these
Methods of Thinkine and Methods of Work
II
largely theoretical pronouncements many people in the

society,in so far as they bother to considerthe matter, regard
themselvesas free personsin a free society. However, these
abstract considerationsblunt one's real perceptionsof the
'freesociety and real understandingof the ways the word
dom' (the conceptof freedom) appliesto one's life. Thus, the
fact that the people can elect any government they want
(which in itself is an inaccurateway of talking about the real
situation in British society) is irrelevant if the government is
not in control of the social processeswithin the society.
Things like this can only be determinedby looking closely at
what goes on in the society. Moreover, the freedom of the
people is an empty abstraction compared with the real
'free' to the lives of
significance of applying the word
individuals. Is the individual free to determinehow much
money he earns?Is he free to determinewhat work he does?
Is he free to decideon the level of production in his place of
employment?Is he free to choosewherehe lives?Or are the
peopleas a collectiveentity able to decidethesethings, and
others, for themselves?
Abstraction in the first place needsto be challengedby the
actual usage of the language.It was in this way that the
'linguistic philosophy' movement stripped the history of
philosophyof its heavy,sonorousproblems.The importance
of this requiresemphasis.For a great number of peoplethere
is a gap betrveenwhat they would call the theoreticaland the
practical. Most peopl' feel they have some grasp of the
practicalbut believethemselvesunsuitedto the theoretical.
This divide has social consequences
in so far as successat
theoretical activity is one of the measureswhereby the
rervardsof the societyare apportioned.Despitethis, there is
a vast, popular mistrust of theoreticalactivity and theoreticians.This mistrustis, it seemsto me, healthywhere it directs
attentionback to the real processesof the world and away
trom the illusory efficiencyof abstraction.
This is not to say that theoriesabout the real processes
of
the rvorld are thereby suspect.What is the caseis not always
12
self-evidentand theories as to how it is are the means to

discoveringhow it is. Theory is suspectwhen it proceedsas a
world unto itself, yet supposesit is in a position to accurately
interpret and relate to the world. Typically, this happens
when a conceptual system or language, which derives from
human beings dealing with the world, is abstractedfrom its
sphereof employmentand thencehounded with great logical
precision for logical consequences.The inaccuracy that
creepsin stemsfrom a turning away from the real processes
of the world. Somemovementsin philosophyhavepointedto
the reality of the danger. Trivial examples of the problem
abound like the fact that it would be wrong to supposethat
becauseany number can be divided again and again (i.e.
infinitely) that, therefore, an object, whose length can be
expressedas a numerical dimension, can also be infinitely
divided.
The history of philosophyis full of more significanterrors,
which have derived from abstract methodology, like the
contention that nothing moves but only seemsto, or that
goodnessis an object existingin some non-earthlyplace, or
that god is everythingthere is and everythingrhere is is god,
or that \r'enecessarily
live in the best of all possibleworlds.
However, the dangers are not confined to philosophy.
Examples of people, societies,whole cultures falling into
them abound. There are obvious, practicalrepercussions
ol
organisingthe world in accordancewith abstractperceptions.
Thus, when an airport is situatedon availablewaste-ground,
but where the planners fail to relate its situation to the
surrounding environment,then the airport, and its consequent socialproblems,re.sultfronr its planningabstractingit
from real and surroundingsocialprocess.Or, when a planner
finds it possibleto draw a line on a map and thus builds on
the ground in accordancervith the line on the map, but fails
to observeand relate to the full social and physicalcomplexion of the area. Here, the concrete misery of possession
ordersor of, as in a recentcase,the underminingof the clay
strata and the consequentfall in the water table producing
Methods of Thinkins ond Methods of lVork
l3
subsidence,result from the abstractnessof the plan. In such a

case, the conceptualisation of the place, i.e. the ffiaP,
becomesthe basis for judgement, rather than an aid to the
location of the place as a developing,changingentity. Or, to
take another case having obvious practical implications,
when a motor-cycle licence qualifies you to drive a threewheelercar becausethe original three-wheelerswere basically
motor-cycleshaving three wheels.The concept of the threewheeleror tricycle (as it is referred to legally) being set up in
this way has preventedlegal recognition of the fact that the
three-wheeleris now basicallya car lacking the fourth wheel.
Here, rvecan seethe society'sconceptualsystemhaving a life
of its own, abstractedfrom the real processesof the society.
In the employment of abstract methodologiesit may be
that there are larger, concealed, practical implications
involved. On an abstractconsiderationof concepts,or the
language,the relationshipbetweenthem and the world is one
of their being classificationsof the world into which the
u'orlclis supposedto fit neatly. This is opposedto another
lie w of language,which seemsto me more realistic,whereby
languageis seenas the variousmethodswe have for indicatof the world
ing, pointing to, signallingtowardsthe processes
means
which can neverbe categorisedb-v
of static
{processes
p
r
o
c
e
s
s
e
s
)
.
r l c fi n i l i o n s ,s i m p l yb e c a u s e
T
h
e
abstract
theyare
going
to
an
arbitrary,
riraracterisation
be
of languageis not
rnotiveless
choiceby a culturalgror"rp.lt is going to be related
t o r h c a c t i v i t i e so f t h e g r o u p . W e m i g h t s p e c u l a t et h a t a
t'ililctionof the characterisation,
and the attendantorganisriir:principlesof a societyis one of appearingto have fixed
f rrr ()n(--c
and for all lvhat is not permanentlyfixable, namely
rt rolaiile, ongoingreality. Perhaps,then, it is not surprising
tirat the dominanceof logic, and its attendant intellectual
disciplinesand dispositions,has been rvithina cultural tradirion which has had the most significant,approximatesuccess
at fixing the rvorld in accordancewith human intentions.If
iltt abstractmethodologycomprehendsthe world as f ixed and
s,taticthen, perhaps, its adoption is part of the practical
14
project of trying to fix things so they will not need fixing

again. It is also the case that in less technological and
scientific cultural traditions (as in the East, for example) a
greaterallowanceis made for the eroding and elusiveflow of
processes.However, this is a speculationand should only be
heededif actual, historical, human processescan be followed
through in detail so as to confirm it. To insist on such a
method of proceeding is the negation of an abstract
methodology.
Language is, then, one of the ways we have of dealing
socially and individually with a changing, unfixed world.
However, languageitself is not outside the processesof the
world, but is a processin the world. lt is the implications of
this thought which 'linguistic philosophy' never digested.
The point is that if the conceptual systemis in process,then
to understandit we must be concernedwith its development.
In other words to understand the language we must be
concernedwith its history. 'Linguistic philosophy', in its
rejectionof an abstractmethodology,was contentto bring to
the fore what it was natural and what it was odd for people in
the cultural group, who concernedthemselves
with 'linguistic
philosophy', to say. In this way an attempt was made to chart
the various usesof language,as it existed, at one particular
time, for a particular socialgroup. The possiblelimitations
imposedby such restrictedsamplespassedby unnoticed. It
was assumedthat to understandthe conceptualsystem,from
this point of view, was to understandthe conceptualsystem.
Wittgensteinhad pointed to the fact that conceptsgrorv, but
neither he, nor his followers, were very keen to explore the
details of growth. To do so was to engage in historical
researchand at that point the connectionswith philosophy,
for the philosopher,would seemunderstandably
remote.The
fact that philosophy might be a bogus activity and that it
should be replacedby a study of the conceptualsystemas a
real systemwould be difficult to acknowledge,or pursue, for
those brought up within the traditions of philosophy.
Now, the idea that to understandconceptsit is necessaryto
Methodsof Thinkinsand Methodsof Work
l5
trace their development, and thus their history, might be

confused with two other forms of study about which most
peopleknow nothing. One is the history of languageas it is
conceivedby the language departments of the universities,
and the other is what is known as the history of ideas.
However, neither of these is what is meant. The former is
concernedwith the history of languageon a narrower basis
than I have in mind. Its concerns are with phonetics,
grammar and etymology and, on the whole, its grasp of
languageis over literary. It does not treat language as the
point at which a whole society's grasp of reality can be
understood.The history of ideas, on the other hand, is
concerned with explaining the intellectual theories of previous societies,rather than charting the history of the
conceptsin which the whole life of a society, including its
intellectuallife. is articulated.
The significanceof what I am advocating may not be
apparent to most people. On the whole, people are not
interestedin what 'linguisticphilosphy' might be or what the
historyof ideasis etc. Moreover, the point beingmade about
investigating
the history of the conceptualsystemmay be too
general to seem of any real importance. The potential
importanceof this line of thought will emergemore clearlyin
the chaptersto follos' which are concernedwith the concept
ot art as a processin society.This is to say the importanceis
rnorelikely to be apparentwhen a particularcaseis investigatccl. Flou'ever,at a generallevel, and presupposingvarious
tlttrughtsalready introduced,the importanceof the discussion can be approachedmore directly. The theoreticaltraditiitns.the theories,the theoreticalactivitiesof our society,all
itppearto the massof peopleas beingremotefrom their lives.
I'hisproducesa feelingof ignoranceand inadequacybut one
tiltich is easilyshruggedoff for most peopieon the grounds
Ihat the activities, from which they are debarred, are all
i;ttlter useless.There is the common feeling that they have
ier),'little to do with the real world as they experienceit.
Ihere are virtues in this commonsenseapproach, becausea
l6
great deal of theoretical activity has been committed to the

illusory validity of abstraction. However, the plain senseof
ordinary people is insufficient to guaranteethat they avoid
being deceived. The cruciar worry is that the conceptual
system, the language in which people think and conui.s..
may contain elementswhich have grown out of the society's
theoreticaland intellectual activities. There is the possibility
that, in someareas,the society'slanguagemay be inadequate
for dealing with the world, simply becauseif has grown out
of false and artificial models as to how the worid is. The
possibility of having inadequate language tools for dealing
correctly with the world, becomesmore worrying when one
reflects on the possibility that the artificial modets. out of
which the languagehas grown, D?y servethe practical needs
of powerful groupsin the societyin the *ay oi securingtheir
position againstchallenge.Thus, there is t'hepossibilltlythat
the common language used by most people ionfirms their
subservience.
To speakthe languageof the societyis already
for the massesto concedetheir inferiority. It is as an effective
protest againstthis that the working classswear profusely.
Every use of language is thereby tinged with hostillty. in
using the languagethere is conformity but in swearingan
illusion of not conforming is created.people in the ,oJi.t1,
are criticalof most thingsthat affect them but, on the whole,
the ianguagehabits of the socieryare accepteduncritically,
despitethe fact that they might inculcarenorms of proceduie
detrimentalto the generalwelfare of the people.
What I am conrending in this book is that art and
philosophy(theseacti'ities are singledout from a range
of
comparable acrir,'ities
on the basis of my familiariry with
them) give riseto conceptualpracticeswhich do run .nnt.u.u
to the interestsof most people, and that all this has been
happening without the majoriry of the people realising it.
what has to be resistedis a sorr of psychologicalcondit]oning processwhich the whole structureof sociay conspiresto
effect. It is a conditioningprocesswhich works not throueh
overt propaganda(asin China) but through the .onr.nrrr 6f
conceptualhabits.
Methods of Thinkinq and Methods of Work
t7
This is not some idle speculationabout the possibility that

our whole languagesystemis a smokescreenwhich hides our
real life from us. As suggestedearlier it would be futile to
maintain this whilst at the same time presupposing the
adequacyof a range of conceptsin maintaining it. What I am
suggestingis that limited areasof the conceptualsystemmay
work adverselyagainstpeople'sinterests.It is my contention
that the concept of art and attendant conceptswork in this
way. That this is so for any concept can only be properly
uncoveredby investigatingthe concept's social role and this
involves uncovering its historical development.These possibilities occur to me, then, as a result of what I have
'art' and its treatconcluded about the particular concept
ment in the philosophy of art (aesthetics).To understandthis
to follow the remainingchapters.
i1 is necessary
The conceptof art, which is to be explored,points to a life
lived within society into which some are obsessivelydrawn
but from which most deriveno satisfaction.The attractions
of the art life wereattractionsfelt by myself as a student,in
fact they were attractions which enabled me to commit
my'selfto the life of a student.The attraction,as I experienccd it, was one of enteringinto a superiorexistence.Superior, that is, to the eristenceof the mass of the people. The
ntass of the people were held to be besotted with the
consumersocietyand, consequently,
held to haveno capacity
Io ebjscllvslycomprehendtheir own lives. The people were
sccnas cattlein the fields,having no senseof the purposefor
rifrich they were there, or the manner in which they were
ttcirrgmanipulated.On the other hand, to be in on the artistic
Itl'eo1'the societywas to walk in the company of .seers.
-I'his
soundsa little like enteringinto religiousexperience,
but in fact the experiencewas very different. The religious
lit't',evenat its most 'stuck up', doesinvolve the adherentin
strtnepracticalcontact with others, for exampletidying the
ehurchyard with other parishioners, or transporting the
clderlyto church,or wallpaperingfor the disabled.However,
the art life encourageda superiordistancingof the adherent
l8
from others. A field was not something to enter and do

things in, but a landscape to be stood outside of and
observed.Similarly, with people at their occupations.Moreover, the life was one of sitting apart and reading, or walking
in quiet rapture through the art gallery, or giving dignified
attention in the concert hall. Much has happenedin the arts
over the last decadewhich may make this description of life
in the arts seemunrepresentative.However, the situation was
much as I have described. when I was first drawn into an
awarenessof artistic activity, and for those who know about
thesethings the experimentsof the last ten years have made
very little difference to the way the art life is lived.
For those outside of this life the value of superiority built
into it does, for the most part I suspect, pass them by
unnoticed. Yet, at the same time. there must be some
consciousnessof the fact that knowledge of the art life is
related to the social hierarchy of the society, and that not to
have knowledgeof it is always to be outside the acceptedand
establishedgroups of power and status.Though, of course,
to have the knowledge is not, thereby, to be within the
appropriate social group. It tends to be the casethat those
most actively concerned with the public affairs of groups
having considerablesocial status, have a good working
knowledgeof the arts, without being obsessively
drawn into
them, whereasit is amongstthe more passivemembersof the
group that the more obsessive
devoteeis found.
What concernedme from the very start with regard to the
art life was how to justify the feeling of superiorexistence
that r,ventwith it, and therefore, indirectly, how to explain
the feeling of not being up to the highest activitiesof the
society,felt by those outside it. It was the impossibilityof
finding a satisfactoryjustification which led to the historical
reflectionson the concept of art with which this book is
concerned.It is on this basis,as I shall try to show, that the
superiorityof the art life emergesas bogus. It is at this point
that resistanceto art can begin.
This chapterservesboth as an introductionto the methods
19
the book, and

of enquiry subsequentlyemployed throughout
proceeding
to say someto wtrat the book is about. Before
content of
and
the
iiling furttrer about both methodology
has been
what
*r,ut ir to follow I shall briefly summarise
advancedso far.
*--An
examination of the concept of art, as a social and
abstract
historical phenomenon, undermines the validity of
practice
(the
abstraction
of
ou.stions ibout the nature of art
i on. itself requiring historical investigation).The examination utro undeiminesthe art life of our society as something
*t i.r., socially discriminates between different groups of
people. The superiority of the art life of the society needs
justified, but more
ctraitengingnot only becauseit cannot be
part
the way the social
of
importintly becauseit is an integral
people.
For
the challengeto
structureoperatesagainst most
an
insistenceon a
with
be effectiveit must go hand in hand
to the world
itself
directs
concrete,historical method which
(the
processes
conceptual
real
as an interacting movement of
is opposed
way
abstraction
Iife of the world included). In this
processes
exhireal
permitted
where
and generalisationonly
is
book
this
because
It
is
bit empirically locatablesimilarity.
be
about
to
said
be
questions
it
can
that
ab.ut lh.r. sortr of
art and philosophy.
Before going on to specify the content of the following
chapters,there is one further point concerningthe methodology' which needs elaborating. In philosophy and other
acaclemicdisciplinesthe question is often raised concerning
the extentto which people determinetheir lives. Most people
uould not face this questionas a generalquestion,although
thel'might from time to time ponder as to whethertheir own
lives could have been lived differently. It is of obvious
ittrportance,in any attempt to assessthe actions of people,
rhat one has some awarenessof the different interpretations
that would arise from different beliefs about whether or not
peopledo determinetheir lives. Here, of course,one has the
'What is freenossibility of raising the abstract questions,
'Does
dom?'. and
man have free will?'.
20
However, the questioncannot be decidedabstractlyor even,

necessarily, generally. It is only by looking and seeing
whether particular people, or particular groups of people in
particular situations, do determine their lives that one can
discoverthe limited truth that those particular people did or
did not. But, it might be asked, by what criteria does one
decidewhether or not peoplehave determinedwhat they have
done? In dealing with the theoreticalproblem it is illuminating to posit a few, admittedly fanciful, cases.
Imagine the situation in which two adolescents,one male
the other female, are captured by a mad scientist and
subsequentli' forcibly injected with potent and effective
aphrodisiacs(i.e. producing overwhelmingamorous impulses). The adolescentsare then unleashed upon each other
whilst the scientist,from a concealedposition, makes his
observations.The outcome of the situation is that the
adolescents
copulate.
Secondly,imaginethe situationin which two working-class
adolescents(again one male, the other female) and both
virgins, fall in love. The boy is sensitivero working-class,
male chiding that the male asserts himself as male by
'Ihe
deflou'eringthe femalevirgin.
girl, on rhe other harrd,is
sensitiveto the sociallyinduced valuesthat a girl cheapens
herselfby allowingpre-maritalintercourse.The bol, lovesthe
girl but his object is to get her to consentto intercourseas
quickl"""
as possible,whereasthe girl, in loving the boy, rvishes
to have intercoursewith him, but wishes for marriage to
'fhe
precedeit.
outcome is that one night, when darkness
falls on the local golf course,the boy rapesthe girl.
Comparing thesetrvo fictional situationsit would be, for
most people,non-controversial
to assertthat in the first case
the adolescents
did not determinewhat they did, whereasin
the second case what they did was a mixture of their
determiningand beingdetermined.It is not necessary
to posit
criteriafor whateverit is that has deterrninedthe actions;the
casesare selfexplanatoryonce looked at. Of course,the first
caseis much simpler than the second.This is becauseit is
Methodsof Thinking andMethods of Work
2l
far-fetched,whereas,the secondcaseis, as our world goes,a

possiblesituation. Clearly, in the first case,consciousdetermination of the copulation by the individuals involved has been
6y-passed.The exampledoes not clarify in any way how this
might be possible.It simply assertsthat this is the case,and in
order to enter into the spirit of the exampleit is necessaryto
creditthe possibility. In the secondcase,we find the individuals manipulating each other and the environment in order to
achievewhat they seek.The girl's going out with the boy is a
decisionto act in accordancewith the love she feelsfor him. It
is also a decisionto act in accordancewith the plan to marry
him. The girl, one can imagine, actively enters into heavy
petting as something which is in accordancewith her own
impulses.She wants the boy to make love to her, which, of
course,he does; shegetswhat shewantsthough not in the way
that she wants. Similarly, the boy wants to make love to the
girl, and does,but not as he would want to. He takes her by
force, at the point at which sheconcedesto the social requirevirginityuntil marriage.The individualsare
rnentof preserving
in their situationfacing its problems,both as they are set by
actingon them throughthe
t hemselves,
and by socialpressures
\\at' the individuaishave respondedto thesepressures.The
itrilividuals
movethroughtheir problemsdeterminingthe resolutionof themand, thereby,determiningthingsfor eachother.
No abstracttheory of freedomis requiredto recognisethe
ilitl'crencebetweenthesetwo situations,and to see that a
i-irtlerentrange of conceptsis required in order to see and
,.1,.:.cribe
the difference.In the secondcase,as it is e'nvisaged,
'"\(r see the outcome results from a processin which the
i i r i i i v i d u a l sd e t e r m i n ea n d a r e d e t e r m i n e d T
. h e o u t c o m ei s
rhr-way theseelementsfuse.To understandthe situationit is
:)ceessary
to seethe olltcomeas a resultof a processin which
llic individualsmake their reality, but make it as a response
lu various influences.It is becausethe situation is like this
that it seemsto be a situation with life breathed into it,
rrhereasthe first caseis in comparisonseeminglymechanical.
()l'course. the first situationis very sketchilypresentedand
22
as it stands it seems, perhaps, that the individuals blindly

copulate. On the other hand, a more human face would have
to be given to the situation if it was necessaryto describe
individuals seeking satisfactory copulation with each other,
and solving problems so as to achieve this.
Whether or not, in any analysis we conduct, we locate
human beingsmaking their reality is an empirical matter (i.e.
a matter of how things are or are not). Moreover, the extent
to which individuals are to be found determining their lives is
again an empirical matter; there may be, in any given social
situation, more or less external factors influencing or determining the outcome. However, what is important, from the
standpoint of proposing a method of enquiry, is that the
situations,in which peopleare to be found actively determining their reality, should be articulated in accordance with
their activity as determining agents. This is easy enough to
say but more difficult to understand with regard to its
implications. In fact, the implications carry all the way back
to ideas broached earlier about essences
and processes.The
point is that where people can be credited with a determining
role then the situations they are passing through, are ones
they are making, and outcomes of the making process are
continuously being modified by the way the individual relates
himself to them. There are no static moments, no essential
slices,life is, for those determiningit. continuous process.
There is no completion, no having fixed things without
continuing and withdrawable acceptancethat things are
fixed.
This. no doubt, soundsvery enigmaticand again illustraiions are helpful. The world of advertisementstends to
inducethe ideathat a certainfeelingof styleand mood could
be what one constantly and continuousiy wouid feel if only
one possessed
the requisiteobjects advertised.However, a
moment's reflection, on the acquisition and ownership of
advertisedob_iects
ceinvincinglyshows that those objects can
nevcr be enjoyed as they seemto be in the advertiser'simage
of them. The situation when one possessesan object is
Methods of Thinkins and Methods of llork
23
continuous and not static. The rest of one's life takes one
away from the static contemplation of the objects. The
meaning the objects have for one is transformed by the actual
experienceswhich take place around them (e.g. the site of a
major family quarrel, the room in which one spent an
evening of terror believing there was a marauder outside).
Moreover, the objects themselvesare changing. Gradually
they losetheir lustre and a constantstrugglehas to be entered
into in order to preservethem in their original state.None of
thesetransformative factors are included in the advertiser's
imageof life with those objects; one is supposedto enjoy the
eternal smile, the eternal feeling of being cool.
However, life goes on, its various bits interact and
connect, and one is at the centre of one's life experience
continuously shapingand having before one the continuous,
undeniablepossibility of being able to shapeit differently. It
is this senseof the fluidity, in the existenceof those who are
involved in determiningtheir lives, which has to be rendered
in any account of those lives. Where such an account is
appropriate the lives cannot be presentedas a finality or as
conforming to an essence,but the fluid, ongoing, open
textureof the lives needsto be gesturedto. In this way the
lives do not appear as conforming to a neat, manageable
lormula but appear rather as the necessary,rather sprawling
af l'airs that they are: interconnecting process constantly
being affirmed and rejectedfrom a range of possibleproces>es.The family could have bought a new car, but it decided
on a swimming pool instead.The family besidethe pool is
not the finality'aquatic sun worshippers'.It is the group that
knorvsit pays for its choiceby limitations on its freedom of
:iction. The possiblecar is now not possible.The illusory
cssencethat went with it cannot even now be sought. The
i.rreeze
besidethe pool is invariably chilly, the water constantly needscleansing,the water antics increasinglybecome
staleas they fit into the habitual family patterns, and all of
this,as complexas it is, hasto relateto all the other moments
ttt the lives involved. Thus. the husband feels doomed to
24
continue in a job, which bores him, to repay his loan, which

financed the pool plus all the other similar loans that his
dedication to the job has secured. The wife's irritability
increasesas the thoughtlessabandon, which the enjoyment
of the pool is meant to induce, leads to wet, muddy feet
tramping all over the house,which other conceptsof how the
family's existence should be has kept the wife cleaning
throughout the day. Such lives sprawl, open-endedin many
directions, and it is this untidy, inexhaustible set of interconnections that an account of people making their lives
must get to.
With this said, I can return to the project of specifyingthe
structure of this book as it is to unfold. What is to follow is
meant as falling under the methodological recommendation
with which this chapter is, in part, concerned.However, this
is not always carried through to the letter. The amount of
detail which has to be included in order to do justice to
people's determining their reality is clearly immense. The
chapterto follow, which is concernedwith the falseness
of an
abstractunderstandingof art and which, to counteractthis,
producesa sketch of the history of the concept, is, when
compared with the full possibilitiesof parriculariry and
specificity, very general in character. However, a huge
volume would have beennecessary
to presentthe arguments
otherwise,and apart from feelingill-equippedto do this, to
have done so would have unduly increasedthe difficultiesof
reachingthe requiredaudience.At the samerime the validity
of the, by comparison,generalanalysis,conductedneedsto
be measuredagainstwhat is knorvn at a more particularand
specificlevel.Should the analysisnot measureup to the way
particular lives rverelived within their group settings,then
the analysiswould be inadequate.lt is, of course,my view
that thisis not so.
The chapteron the conceptof art makes much of connections betweenart and the bourgeoisieand tliis requiressome
advanceexplanation.To begin with the term 'bourgeoisie'is
not usedby the averageperson. It is a term used more now
t<
than it was, but for most people it is regarded as a piece of

'bread', meaning money,
jargon usedby revolutionaries,like
jargon
used by hippies. Setting aside
is regardedas a pieceof
these associationsand limitations on use, the term, in the
context of this book, is used to mean those various historical
groups who have used capital to secure private profit and
who have, for the most part, achieved this by securing for
themselvesownership of the society's various means of
production. The term is used not only to apply to those who
own the means of production, for the purposes of the
production of private profit, but also to those closelyrelated
to such a social group in the society's power structure, and
whose net social activity adds up to assistingand preserving
such a social structure. This might seem to some people
revolutionary talk, but, in fact, nothing of this sort has been
advanced.If most people stop to think for a moment it will
becomeobvious to them that their lives are neither seriously
employedin making large profits out of personalcapital, nor
in securing ownership of and profiting thereby from the
njeans of production (e.g. ICI, Watney Mann etc.). To
i-ealise
this is to realisethat theremust be otherswho do, even
if they are not personallyknown to one, and that there must
bc still otherscloselydependentfor power and prestigeon the
ticlf'areof this group. Despitethesedisavowals,the chapter
,ur the conceptof art will seemMarxist in characterto those
have any conceptof such matters.However, my views
"ilro
:-\iithc:conceptof art are not Marxist and it is the function of
t i i e t h i r d c h a p t e rt o d e m o n s t r a t e
this.
In terms of the readershipin which I am interestedthe
i tlird chaptermust be the most uninterestingof the book as it
:', concernedwith trying to understandingthe practice of
\iarxist writers on art. The point of trying to achievethis
t-tnderstanding
my own analysisfrom the
is to disassociate
\{arxist label and also to show how Marxist conceptionsof,
and usesof, art are paradoxicallybourgeoisin character.If
this chapterhasany chanceof appealingto the broad massof
thc people it is to those people, living in societieswhich
-l
26
regard themselvesas Marxist, that it is directed. Such people

are as much duped and adversely served by being measured
socially through their acceptance,or otherwise, of the ideology of art as are their Western counterparts. The people in
Marxist societies are assured that they are saved from the
corruption of bourgeois art by a truly revolutionary,
working-class art. The point I shall make in contradistinction is that this latter notion is a contradiction in
terms, becausethe very conceptof art is a bourgeoisclassificatory practice.
The final chapter of the book is intended as a detailed
study of how, in our society, something becomesart. It is
concernedto show how jazz as a form of musical activity
existingoutsideof artistic activity is gradually suckedinto the
sphereof art and is as a consequencekilled off as the thing it
was. As such this chapter acts as a warning to the whole
rhythm and bluesmovementand its various off-shoots. More
than this though, the analysisis intended as exemplifying the
methods which have been the subject matter of these introductory remarks.Thus, a detailedattempt is made to show
how the questionas to whetheror not jazz is art, is in no way
settled by theoretical, abstract considerations, but results
from the interconnectingof complicated social processes,
processeswhich can be significantly linked to the general
remarksmadeabout particularsocialprocesses
in the second
chapter.Crudely put, the point made is that as jazz becomes
part of bourgeois experienceso it becomes art, and as it
becomesart so it becomesdetached from the interest and
desiresof the broad massof the people,whereasbefore this
transformationtook place this was not so. It is on the basis
of this chapterthat the idea of a revolt againstart, which gets
its credencefrom earlierchapters,gains its impetus.
As a sort of footnote to this chapterI should like to point
out that the ideas contained in it are not peculiar to myself.
There are other sources for acquiring them, although the
other contexts,as I am aware of them, are not written with
the masesin mind as readers.Two books I would particularly
27
.ae,rmrrrdin this connectionare K. Marx GermanIdeology

j. p. SarrreTheProblemof Method. PersonallyI have
^"J
thesetwo booksmore than most'
iiofi,.a from
Chapter Two
CORRECTING
MISTAKEN IDEAS
A B O I J TA R T A N D C U L T U R E
We can imagine in a couple of hundred years from now a
situation in which people still continue to engagein the
culturai,artisticlife. It is a feature of this kind of life as we
know it at presentthat it concernsitself with the history of
cultural activities.If the future situationwas comparablewe
would find that the people living then would have formed
some conceptionof twentieth century art. Suppose,then,
that they arrived at their view of the art of our period after
havingaskedthemselves
what twentieth century works there
*'ere that were distinctiveof the period and, further, what
u o i k s t h e r ew e r e t h a t t h e y l i k e d . S u p p o s et h e y c a m e t o t h e
f lilou ing rather startling conclusions.They decided that
R lritl. l'ttr our society,constitLltes
the great arti.sts,rvriters.
prrctsand composerse.g. Picasso,George Bernard Shaw,
.lo:cplrConrad, Walt Whitnlan, Elgar, etc. are not to be so
rcsarclcdby'thern"They hold, let us suppose,that the great
u o r k s o f a r t o f t h e t w e n t i e t hc e n t u r yc o n s i s to f t h i n g s l i k e
,"rlan.i\.
gasometers,farm machineryand washingmachines,
iinil lhar the reverednamesin the world of the arts include
[:lvis Presley, Ivor Novello, Barbara Cartland, Patience
)trong. Ben Travers,the Osmonds etc. Most people in our
societ)'now, whether interestedin the arts or not, will
rtcognisethat some reversalof the normal ordering system
uoulcl have taken place for this eventualityto come about.
1'his projected future is, of course, artillcally conceived.
30
Art an Enemyof thePeople
The process,whereby something is establishedas a work of

art, or someoneis establishedas an important name in the
arts, doesnot dependon people consciouslygetting together,
at a particular time, and asking themselvesif certain works,
and people, measureup to certain standards.Within our own
society there exist traditional assumptions about which
objects are art objects, and which persons are accounted
great artists. Thesetraditional assumptionsconstitutea more
or lesscommonly shared knowledge. The educationalforms
of the societyensuretirat most peopleknow that Shakespeare
is a great writer, and Chopin a great composer. The possession of a more detailed knowledge about what works of art
and artists there are dependslargely, for the individual, on
whether or not his social background is one of engagement
with the arts (if so the family is likely to be well to do, of
some social status, more bourgeois than not) and depends,
also. on the extent to which the individual has succeeded
within the educational forms of the society. Having had the
appropriateeducationalsuccess,or having the appropriate
social background, meansthat you will know Duchamp is a
famous twentieth century artist, Bermejo a competent
fifleenth centurySpanishpainter, John Cagea controversial
twentieth century musical personality. Most of those, for
whom this book is intended,will not know this.
Somettring to remember, therefore, is the formative
influenceof traditionalassumptions.The predictedfuture is
artificial because it neglects to locate these traditional
assumptionsat work in the society. The people to come
would not have to wake up one morning and decide what
was, and what was not, the artistic achievementsof the
twentiethcentury. The questionwould alreadybe settled.It
might be possibleto alter or modify thesetraditionsto some
extent (after all a senseof history is transmittedby passing
through societiesand this cannot be solelya passiveprocess;
somethinghappensto traditions on route) but it would be
impossible to ignore them altogether. We cannot, now,
decide afresh what constitutes the art of the eiehteenth
Correcting Mistqken ldeqs obout Art
qnd Culture
3l
nenrurv.becausethis is already decided,and so would be the

for people of the twentv-second
;;;;; ihe twentieth centurv
century'
the future
However, supposingthese suppositions about
the people
or
not
whether
wonder
pass,
we
might
did come to
twentieth
of
the
art
the
about
mistake
a
made
il .o.. had
were' or
we
that
suppose
we
might
,.ntury. Alternatively,
we
might
how
case
latter
In
the
mistaken.
was,
oui toli.tv
go
as
might
possible
explanation
A
mistake?
explain this
is
art
what
about
assumptions
traditi,onal
The
iotto*r,
natu.attv are influential. People in the society are instructed
in itt.r. t.uditions just as they are taught other traditions of
ih. ,ociety e.g. the history of the society'swars and battles.
Thesetraditions though are acted upon' and the contemporary additions to the traditions, which are passed on to
,u"br.qu.nt generationsas part of the overall, ongoing tradition, are made. However, additions to the tradition are not
achievedas one might supposenew membersof MENSA (the
ciub for people of high IQ scores),or new members of the
black belt classin judo, are added. The processinvolved, in
art, is not one of a sifting by experts,but one of innumerable
social arrangementsinteracting with each other' The additions are not simply the result of rational deliberation.ln
contemporarysociety,the social processesinvolved constior industriesof the society.
lute one of the businesses
\\Ie might compare, here, the way in which something
becr)mesestablishedas a wclrk of art, or the way someone
becomesestablished
as a greatartist, or greatcritic, with the
wa-v in which a commercial product establishesitself as
successful.
For instance,the pre-packed,slicedloaf which we
itli eat would generallybe accounted inferior to the cottage
industry-typeloaf, which thesedays is not generallyavaili.rl)le.The modern loaf has replacedthe apparently more
dcsired,olcler loaf, not on the basis of its acknowledged
sttperiorityas bread,but as the resultof various other social
l'actors,includinghighly competitivepricing, superiordistribution services.the thinnessof the slicesand the economy
32
Art an Enemy of the people
therein, the addition of preservativesavoiding stalenessetc.

It might be true that people would have preferred the older
loaf to have had all the advantagesof the modern loaf, but,
quite apart from their preferences, what they put up with is
something with these advantages,looking like bread, but
tasting very unlike it. In other words, many factors explain
the successof the modern loaf, but one factor is not part of
the explanation, namely, people having rationally decided
which bread they liked consuming the most.
We might suggestthat extensionsto the art tradition are
the outcome of a certain classsituation in the society, rather
than somethingspringing from rational deliberation. Within
contemporary society the sustainingof the art tradition and
growth within it, stem from social processeswithin uppermiddle-class or bourgeois society. For example, in the
schools the 'cultural' values which the educational system
tries to inculcateare not those of the majority of the pupils,
or of their social background. The 'cultural' experience
commendedto the pupils is 'high-culture'.,High-culture'is,
as something actively accepted and welcomed, an integrar
part of bourgeoislife. Its obvious, typical, social contexts
include Covent Garden, The National Film Theatre, Royal
FestivalHall, The Old Vic, The Tate Gallery, SadlersWells;
contextsin which artistic, 'high-cultural' eventstake place.
Its lessobviouscontextsincludeprivateBond Streetgalleries,
establishedpublishinghouses,prestigeart schools,literature
departmentsof universities,so called 'quality newspapers',
businesses
etc. It seemsclearthat althoughtheselists are only
the tips of very considerableicebergsof exclusivesocial
activity, they do signify whole worlds of social experience
with which most peoplehavehad very little direct or intimate
acquaintance.At this point we might try to explain our
mistakeconcerningart, rememberingthat, for the moment,
it is being assumedthat those fictional people of the future
might be right. We might say rhar the mental set (i.e. frame
of mind) of the predominatingclassin the artistic area (the
bourgeoisie)preventsit from seeing what is of true value.
Correcting Mistoken ldeos about Art ond Culture
33
preposterous.Analogously, it is argued
This suggestionis not
that it is because of their
establishment
nv the cultural
prefer, whateverit is that
working-class
the
that
Uackground
a T.V. production of
T.V.
to
say,
prefer
the
on
rhey do
'high-cultural' drama,
(a
rather
obscure,
Godot
lltaiting for
written by SamuelBeckett)' In other words it is argued that a
working-classaudiencecannot tell the differencebetweenthe
sood and the bad and this is becauseof their socially induced
irur. of mind. The claim is that their classposition is their
limitation. Well, for the sake of argument, the argument
could be turned around. We might add weight to this
argument by saying the involved, special languagein which
the world of art is discussedis a smoke-screenconferring a
specialmystique,or aura, about this aspectof bourgeoislife.
'art'. The language
The classspeaksof its preferencebeing
itself confersa specialstatuson what is enjoyed.
N{any people, in the history of writing about art, have
'folstoy,
the Russianwriter, conclucometo this conclusion.
ded this. (Tolstoy, What is Art.)For him, the art of his own
socictl'rvasonly the art of, what he called,the upper classes.
He disparagedthis art and made a distinctionbetweenit and
reul urt (realart beingthat which was not acceptedin his own
socicrl'asart). ln fact it is tempting, in explainingthe alleged
nristakcon the basis of class bias, to try to resurrect a
r a l e g o r yo f ' r e a l a r t ' w h i c h i s n o t t h e a c c e p t e da r t o f t h e
rocielv.However,what I wish to bring out is that, though we
Itaveuircol'r-red
some of the factors necessaryto an understattdingof the concept of art, in treating the discrepant
rlr)nr.rrpls
clf art, between the tu'entieth century and the
i\\ L'l1l\'-sr'cond
century,as indicatinga mistake,we have gone
1.\r'i)ng
at a rne{hodologicallevel. The allegedmistake could
;lirt c\lst, becausethereis no categoryof true art apart from
I ltt' rstablishedcategory.
I o try to bring out the implications of this I refer to
'itrnclhirrgMarx wrote in his early work the Economic and
I'lttlosophit.al Munuscripts of I B44.
34

Religion, family, state, law, morality, science,art, etc., are only particular modes of production, and fall under its general law. The
positive transcendenceof private property, as the appropriation of
human life, is therefore the positive transcendenceof all estrangement-that is to say, the return of man from religion, family, state,
etc., to his human i.e. social existence.(pp. 102-3LawrenceWishart
London 59 edition.)
Commentators on what Marx meant, in his various writings, think it obvious that, in this passage,Marx was not
foreseeing a future in which art would no longer exist
(perhapshad been abolished)as he certainly was foreseeing
a future in which religion, the insular family, the State and
Law would not exist. This interpretation of Marx is quite
correct. For Marx art is a universal, perennial feature of
hunran reality, whereasthe State is, in comparison, temporary. Art is a basic categoryof a human world, for Marx like.
say, language.
It is my suggestionthat to understandthe conceptof art it
needsto be treated as Marx treats religion, State and Law. It
is my view that Marx's own treatment of art is methodologically unsound. Marx deals with the State, for example,in an
anti-essentialistmanner; his method is historical. For Marx
'the State'
is a phrase used to refer to an assortmentof
institutions within society. These institutions are held tcr
conform to certainassertions
about them, such as their being
controlledby the ruling classand their not emerginguntil the
divisionof societyinto distinctsocialclasses,and their acting
in the interestsof the establishedsocial order. These are
empiricallyobservedfacts about how the institutionsof the
State were created,and how they have functioned historically. However, thesefacts about the Stateare not presentec
by Marx as accidentalfacts, or facts that could have easily
beenotheru,ise.They are part of a story in which institutions
constitute some of the charactersand, like charactersin
stories,their developmentgrows naturally, not accidentally,
out of the total, natural and social situation. However, the
remarksMarx madeabout the Stateare not remarksto which
Correcting Mistaken ldeas about Art and Culture
35
there can be no exceptions:they are not part of a useless

attempt to define what the State is, or to distil some essence
out of the notion. The State, then, as an historical phenomenon, can, depending upon social circumstances,come and
go. It is not a basic fact of human life without which human
life would be unimaginable. The State is historical; it has a
clearly detectablebeginning, and it is possiblethat the social
need for it could lapse into disuse.To understandthe State,
for Marx, one has to follow the story of its development'
When we turn to Marx's treatment of art the historical
method, he uses elsewhere,disappears. Art is, for Marx,
some fundamental human dimension. This commitment to
art, as somethingbasicand universal,leadsMarx to positions
at odds with the facts. I shall have more to say about this in
the next chapter.
Somethingwhich pavesthe way for an historical treatment
'art', is to draw attention to a distinction
of the concept
berweenthe categoryof art and, what might appear to be'
anothercategorywith which it could be confused.It is quite
clear that the enormous number of people, who have no
interestedin music (e.g.
interestin the arts, are nevertheless
(T.V.
plays),
cinema (Jsws),dancing(BallRadio 1), drama
(thrillers
and romances)etc. This
rcom and Disco), novels
general
category of activities
ii'i of activities indicates a
rvhichincludesvariousthings but, also, excludesothers' For
irrstance,
it excludesfootball and darts. but includesmusicals
painting.
This generalcategoryis not the categor!'of art,
and
althoughthe categoryof art lieswithin it. thus, for music, we
cr;uldgive the exampleof Bach'sPartitas,for drama Shakesp'lare'splays, for cinemaLes Biches etc. We have, then, a
gc'ne'ral
categorywithin which reside various, distinct subcaiegories.I{aving clalified this much, we might go on to
questionwhetherthe claims that art is universaland perennial are invalidlv deduced from the belief that this more
generalcategoryis universal.Horvever, even this belief is far
from certain, for though we might feel confident that, in
most societiesthere have been, we could identify people
36
engagingin dancing, making music and painting, this is not

necessarilythe samething as being able to identify the more
general category. To identify the more generalcategory, we
should need to be satisfiedthat the societiesbeing investigated did, in fact, divide their worlds up in this way. No matter
how the problem is solved,it is clear that, in our own society,
we do have a senseof the general category as distinct from
the category of art.
If art is a sub-categoryof this more generalcategory, why
is this?It seemsobviousfrom the waysthesenotionsare used
that the distinction has to do with different sensesof value. If
one is the kind of person who finds it natural to say of a
novel one has particularly enjoyed that it is a work of arr,
then, within a standardsetting,one is sayingthat the novel is
of greater value than other novels, from which the art
categorisation has been withheld. The sub-category ort,
within the more generalcategory,is kept alive, as a distinct
form of socialeristence,by thosewho believeits activitiesare
superiorto other activitieswithin the generalcategory.BLlt,
are thesebeliefscorrect?We are, then, back rvith the earlier
questionin a different form. Earlier we were asking whether
or not what is pickedout as art, in our societ-v,
might be the
\\'rongcollectionof things, now we are asking whether ir is
t r u et o s a yt h a t w h a t i s a r t i s s u p e r i o rt o w h a t i s o f t h e g e n e r . a l
category, but not art. In the history of rvriting about art
innumerabletheorieshave beenput forward to try to establish ar"tas superioractiviry.Sometimesthe attempt has bcen
made to shorv that concernwith art is superior to concern
with things that rvould not fall within the generalcategor),,
for erample science,at other tirnes the attempt has beerr
made to shorvthere is a cultural divide within the generai
categoryberweenwhat is high and superior,and what is low
and inferior. For the most part, thesetheorjeshave attempted to do thesethingsby producinga definition ol'art which,
of itself,would mean that art was superior.The trouble with
the theorising has been that there have been a mass of
contradictory theories. For every theory proposed there
Correcting Mistoken ldeas qbout Art and Culture
37
have been developmentswithin art which have produced

counter-examples, and there have subsequently been
counter-theoriesand new theories proposed. The net outcome of all this activity has not been a gradual approach
towards the truth of the matter, but rather a source of
employment for critics, aestheticians,philosophersand the
literary establishment. In other words, the question of
understanding the belief in the superiority of art and, by
implication, the question as to whether a societycould be
mistaken as to what rvas and was not art, are not questions
on which the theorisingwithin art throws much light. If, on
the other hand, we take on a social,historicalperspective,in
terms of artistic activity as a whole, we begin to uncover a
startlingexplanation.
Before actually moving into the historical material I will
set out, in a formal way, the pattern of the historical
erplanation to be offered. This might seem to make for
complicationbut, when followed,it doeshelp to
unnecessary
keep the overali strategy in view, which might otherwise
ilisappear.The pattern of the explanationto be offered is,
then. as follorvs:
ln our culture (tvpe of society)there is a headingA (the
concept A), whrch heads the grouping a-h (the grouping
a - h i s n o l r i g i d l ys e t ,a s t h e r ei s s o m ed i s p u t e ,i n t h e c u l t u r e ,
; i r l o l r ' h e r h eor r n o t i a n d j a r e o f t h e g r o u p i n g ) .M o r e o v e r ,
n c have another heading B, rvhich heads the grouping
r-.-rand another heading C, heading the grouping s-v. ln
r i r r .c u l l u r ei t i s h c l d t h a t A , B a n d C a r e m u t u a l l ye x c l u s i v e
, r a t e g o r i e sI n
. e a r l i e r s o c i e t i e s i,n t h e e i g h t e e n t hc e n t u r y ,
,re l'ind in operation some headings,which as words have
iristcrical links with some of the words for the headings
lri our ow'n culture. Two such headingsI will call A1 and
( ' t ; t h i s i s t o a l l o w t h a t , a s h e a d i n g s t, h e r e m a y b e d i f f e r cnces betweenthem and our own headings,but to allow
that as words, there are links. In fact the things grouped,
under these headings,are to some extent discrepantwith
o u r o w n g r o u p s .T h u s A 1 h e a d sa - f a n d C 1 t - v . W h e n w e
38
go back to the medieval or ancient worlds we can find

conceptualstructurescorresponding,roughly, to the following descriptions. Thus, there are headings having historical word-links with our heading A, which head distinct and
mutually exclusive categories. We find, what we might
call ,{2 and A3 headings co-existing though in opposition
to each other. 42 heads a-c and p and
and s-v and x,
whereas,{3 heads d-g and k-o and y and z. The range of
terms a-z are, at least, word-linked throughout the range
of periods.The obvious question,to which such discovered
structureslead, is 'Are A, Al, A2 and A3 identical?,.Now,
this question cannot be settled by ascertainingmere formal
correspondences,
or, if it could, it would be obvious that ,A'1,
A2 and ,A3 are not identical with A. When concepts are
formalised, as hasjust been done, one must be careful not to
forget that thesegroupingsare lived. To rememberthis is to
know that identity encompasses
change.Thus, a person in
growing older is the same person though changed.This is
becausea personis an identifiable processrather than a fixed
essence,
which hasalwaysto be the same.However,to admit
that the groupings are lived does not entail that organic
connections(as they might be called) establishidentity. An
organism can split so as to abolish itself and so produce
independentorganisms,or an organismcan keep its identity
rvhilstproducingoffspringa.sdoesthe mother with her child.
The questionof identity of conceptualpracticesis very much
the questionof whethersocialgroups could, without serious
disorientation,slip into the conceptualpracticesof other
socialgroups. What, then, would make the headingsdifferent would not be formal discrepancy,but rather the impossibility of living one network of conceptual relations as
another. Where thereis no way of living one's own network
inside the network of a discrepantculture, then there we
touch the limits of our conceptuallife.
In appropriate historical circumstances,a culture may
absorba netrvork,which is in fact alien, by a transformation
of it. where there are no appropriate historical circumstances
Correcting Mistaken Ideos about Art and Culture
39
a culture may be content to exhibit the discrepantnetwork as

alien. On this basis we probably believe(or would probably
believe if we thought about it) that we could slip into the
Ancient Greek world and yet retain our conceptualidentity,
whereas.we would be more hesitantabout our capacityto do
this in uncontaminated, aboriginal society (especiallyif we
knew something about the way in which the aborigines
divided up their world). The historical data, therefore, needs
to be set out clearly, that is, free from the historical
transformations that may have taken place (transformations
which of themselvescan make divergentdata appearsimilar).
Subsequently,one has to decidewhether or not one network
of categories(one processof classification)could be lived as
another. In this way it is possible to pronounce on ihe
identity or otherwise of classificatory processesas given
through the historical perspective.What, then, of the data?
It has been shown that it is only in the seventeenthand
eighteenth centuries that the modern system of the arts
'The Modern System of the
emerges.E.g. P.O. Kristeller
Arts' A study in the History of Aesthetics. Journol of the
History of ldeos, Vol. XII (Oct l95l) and Vol. XIII (January
1952).In the ancientworld there were two categorieswhich
modern scholarship calls the liberol arts and the imitotive
arts. Arranged under the heading, rhe liberol arls were the
activitiesgrammar, rhetoric,dialectic,arithmetic,geometry,
astronomy,music,medicineand architecture,whereasunder
the heading of the imitative orls were included the activities
of poetry, sculpture,music,sophistry,the useof mirrors and
magic tricks. In fact, for the ancient world any activity that
was covered by a set of rules for doing it was known as an
art. It is fairly obvious,therefore,that words, in the ancient
'art' are doing a
rvorld, that can be linked to our word
job
different
to that done by our word. Of course, in
ordinary languagemany activities,which requiregreat skill if
they are to be done well, and especiallyso if somehigh degree
of manual dexterity is called for, are referred to as arts.
However, this notion is not identical with the notion of
40
art given to us by the high-culture of the society.The ancient

world's notion of art is not confined to activitiesrequiring a
high order of manual skill and there are, obviously, enormous divergenciesbetween their concept and our 'highculture'notion of art (this latter notion is, of course,the one
with which this discussionis concerned).
The modern concept of art is also noticeably absent
throughout the Middle Ages. Kristeller,in his article makes
the point clear,
The very concept of 'art' retainedthe same comprehensivemeaning
in antiquity, and the same connotation that it was
it had possessed
teachable.And the term artista coined in the Middle Ages indicated
either the craftsman or the student of the liberal arts. Neither for
Dante nor for Aquinas has the term Art the meaning rve associate
with it, and ir has been emphasisedor admitted that for Aquinas
shoe-makingand cooking, juggling, grammar and arithmetic are no
l e s sa n d i n n o o t h e r s e n s eo r l e s t h a n p a i n t i n g a n d s c u l p t u r e ,p o e t r t '
and music, u'hich latter are never grouped together, not even as
i m i t a t i v ea r t s .
Medievaltheoriesabout the world were heavilydependant

upon the authorityof the Ancients(althoughancienttheories
were transformedto fit the medieval senseof spirituality).
One important sourcefor what medievaltheoristsv,'antedto
say about art was Cicero's pupil Marius Victorinus. In
Victorinus, the broad conceptof art indicatedby the Kristeller quotationsis in operation. For him the classifyingof
preciousstonesand the scienceof population statisticsare
br:th arts. In the Middle Ages, there are theoriesabout what
modern scholarshipcallsbeauty (decor, pulchrum etc.), but
our conceptof art is not the sameas thesemediel'alconcepts.
These so called conceptsof beauty, in the main, concern
someoneor somethingbeing in accordancervith one's or its
nature. Thus, for everythingthere is, it is held that there is
some essenceit has, or some function it is to fulfil, and the
more the propertiesof the thing, or person,contributeto this
fulfilnrent of its nature so the concepts of decor and
pulc'hrum apply. This has little to do with any modern
4I
concept of beauty and even less to do with the vast variety

within the modern concept of art.
It is Kristeller's contention that the same holds for the
Renaissance.Though Leonardo gives us something looking
iit . tt"t. modern system of the arts this is only so with
important reservations. For instance, architecture is not
listed by him as an art, whilst he treats painting and
mathematics as activities of the same kind. For another
Renaissancefigure, Castiglione,there was no real distinction
between poetry, music and painting on the one hand and
fencing, hotte riding, classical learning, the collecting of
coins and medals and natural curiositieson the other'
The evidence, here, for the systems of classification
employed by previous societiesis only of limited value, in so
far as it is mainly derived from theoretical sources' The
assumptionbehind the evidenceis that the pronouncements
by such figuresas Leonardo and Castiglione,do tell us how
period classified
the peoplein Europeduring the Renaissance
their lvorld. However,the actualdata (i'e. the living community) is not availableand, therefore,the businessof finding
nui, u'well as we are able' is heavilirdependanton such
sources.Despitethis it should not be forgotten that what is
attemptsat theorisingabout
at'ailableare contemporaneotls
a society'spractices,and they are as likely to be at variance
rrith what goeson as are our own theoreticalwritings about
t)Llro\\'1 activities.There are, of course,certaincross-checks
t l r a t c a n b e m a d e .F o r i n s t a n c e f, r o m w h a t w e k n o w o f t h e
trrstor-vof archeologywe can be certain that lvithin the
torlds we have beendescribing,we would find no buildings
ttrlfilling identical functions to the large contemporar-vart
r:alleryor concerthall, and from what rveknow of the history
ot'political institutionswe know u'e would not find' in these
earliersocieties,departmentsof governmentdevotedto the
promotion of the arts. Moreover' the educationalprocesses
of thesesocietieshave no institutionalisedmeansfor making
our educationaldivision betrveenthe arts and the sciences.
fhe societiesinvolved do not have our conceptsfor making
42
the distinction,and, consequently,they have no problem

comparableto our own, of bridgingthe gap.
It is Kristeller'sview that the ground is preparedfor the
modernsystemof the artsby the emancipation
of the natural
sciences.
Kristellersays,
A point by point examination of the claim of the ancients and
moderns in the various fields led to the insight that in certain fields,
where everything depends upon mathematical carculation and the
accumulation of knowledge, the progressof the moderns over the
ancientscan be clearly demonstrated, whereas in certain other fields
which depend upon individual talent and on the taste of the critic
the relative merits of the ancient and moderns cannot be so .teariy
establishedbut may be subject to controversy.
Thus the ground is prepared for the first time for a clear
distinction betweenthe arts and the sciences,a distinction absenr
from ancient, medievaror Renaissancediscussionsof such subiects
even f hough the same words were used.
The generalpoint is, then, that the conceptualsystemas it

concernsart from the seventeenthcentury onwards is of a
piece, but is decreasinglylocatable the further back we go
fronr the seventeenthcentury. There is, naturally enough, an
organicconnectionbetweenwhat Kristellercalls the modern
systemof the arts and what precedesit, but this, in itself,
fails to guaranteeidentity,becausewhat has to be exploredis
what is being done with a conceptual system, what its
function is, and the characterof its grip on socialconsciousness.What is clear,at this point, is that thereis an historical
divide around the seventeenthcentury betweenwhat went
before and what comes after. From the seventeenthcentury
onwards European society increasingly classifiesunder the
heading 'art' the activities which our own society would
recogniseas falling under that heading.Before this time the
systemof classificationis clearlydifferent.
What then explainsthis historical division? I suggestthe
historical explanationresidesin those factors which give rise
to the modern period. Theseincludethe growing dominance
of the bourgeoisieover against the landed aristocracvand
CorrectingMistaken ldeos about Art and Culture

court circles,the emergenceof scienceand also, importantly,
the link between the two. It is this complex, which breaks
down the older, conceptualhabits, and givesrise to new and
distinct forms of life. The emergenceof the scientificattitude
and the emergenceof the new economic system were very
intertwined. The early, primary centre of the new scientific
mode, The Dutch Republic, was also the early centre of
bourgeois,mercantileactivity, and both were interconnected
theoretically and practically. Both these enterprisescame
under similar repressivepressurefrom the old, social order.
This social order adapted or transformed itself and its
conceptualhabits so as to meet the challenge.As one part of
the old form of life had been transformed by the bourgeoisie
(i.e. what has come to be scientific activities) so the aristocracy turned to other parts of the old life form, which had
been less uniquely molested, and turned them into distinct
and new forms of life, which were distinct and new in so far
;rsthey were set against,and in opposition to, the distinct life
style of the bourgeoisie.Art was the invention of the
aristocracy.
Adkins Richardsonsummarisesthe point,
It can be argued to considerableeffect that the very notion of
a b s o l u t es t a n d a r d so f d e c o r u mi n l i f e w a s a l r e a d ya r e s p o n s et o t h e
i n c t t r s i o n -osf a ' p a t e n t n o b i l i t y ' ( d r a w n f r o m t h e w e a l t h y m i d d l e
c l a s s )u p o n t h e a n c i e n tp r i v i l e g e so f t h e n o b i l i t l ' o f g e n t l eb j r t h . ( J .
Adkins Richarclson'lllustration ancl Art', it British Journul of
Aesthetics.l9il\
-l-his
point is very much basedon the evidenceassembledin
,{rnold Hauser's large The Social Hi.story of Art (London,
1962).
The contrastbetweenthe older forms of life and the newly
cmergingforms is made by Adkins Richardsonin discussing
Leonardo.
For him the suggestionthat a panel painting by a routinely competent artisan might not be art would have been meaningless.Such
44

transcendent,exclusive concepts of value did not exist for the
Quattrocento ... Art was invented by a later industrial age.
The significance of the new art concept was that of

elevating part of the old form of life into an object of
irrational reverence.This is to say, a whole set of 'wordgames', a whole vocabulary to talk about something called
'art', was developed, whereby
what was distinctive of the
aristocratic life was held up as being of objectively superior
status. To enter into this form of life was to be concerned
with elevatedand superior activity. In fact this was not the
case,but this was the ideologicalpoint. The scientificlife was
concernedwith the advancementof knowledge, but in opposition to this the artistic life, as it was now conceivedof,
contestedfor the statusof a form of knowledge.Thus, the
early theoriesof art (art in the modern sense)coupled art
with truth, and the truth which art was directedto celebrate
in order to be art, was very concreteand very much known,
namely, the old cosmologicaland social order, which the
growing dominanceof bourgeoistrendswas threateningand
rvould soon overthrow.
At this point, art as a conceptwas reasonablycoherentand
cohesivedespite(a) it beingthe casethat what passedfor art
was that which correspondedu,ith a false and socially
r e d u n d a n vt i e w o f t h e w o r l d , a n d d e s p i t e( b ) t h e f a c t t h a t t h e
label 'art' w'asoffered as an objectiveand verifiablenteasure
-fhe
of worth when it was nothingof thc sort.
established
i d e o l o g yo f a n u n d e r s i e g e ,d i v i d e da m o n g s ri t s e l f ( e . g . t h e
gap betw'eentown, the court and country) and, therefore,
warring feudalorder presenteditself,and the societyat large,
w i t h a r t i s t i ca c t i v i t ya s o f t h e h i g h e : . tm
, o s t a b s o l u t ef o r m o f
'fhe
social and individual aspiration.
revolutionary class,
through whose activily came about the normalisation of
bourgeois social relations (e.g. wage labour, the labour
market, the ownership of the means of production) and
which containspersonshavingstatuson the basisof the older
feudal set-up,in its aspirationto be the ruling classhas the
Correcting Mistaken ldeas obout Art and Culture
45
aspiration to take over the life of the ruling class.However,

as the life of the ruling classwas lived in opposition to the life
of a growing, dominant bourgeoisie,so the life of the ruling
class could not be assimilated in its particularity by the
ascendantclass.Therefore, the general desireby the revolutionary classfor art becomesthe concreteproject of elevating
certain bourgeois practices to the status of art, and transforming (if only by means of theoretical activity - altering
the theoriesabout the nature of art) aristocratic instancesof
art into manageable,bourgeoisproportions.
This movement is reflected in changes which occur in
aesthetic theory during the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries.The theories,which accommodatethe art concept
to the generalmental set of the bourgeoisie,are those which
ntake beauty (as a concepthaving particular relevanceto art)
a matter of taste,i.e. a matter of how human beingshappen
to be constituted.Thus, beauty is no longer thought of in
rermsof truth (i.e. the extentto which the work of art reflects
or representsthe establishedsocial structure) but is thought
of in terms of the presenceor absenceof a psychological
rcsponse,often identifiedin the theoriesas pleosure.If art is
lir<lughtof as some abstractcategory,in need of theoretical
iicfinition, then the varioustheories,in the history of aesthelics, are simply assessedfrom the point of view of their
.idequacy,but in n'rongly'concentratingon art as an abstract
r.rrr-lblem,
we miss the practicalstrategybehind the formula-fhe
tion of suchtheories.
i n s i s t e n c eo n a r t a s b e i n g u l t i rnatell'a matter of taste.rathe'rthan an accuraterepresentai i l r r o f a c e r t a i ns o c i a lo r d e r , i s t h e m o v e r e q u i r e dt o a l l o w ,
inro the categoryof art, the degreeof flexibilitywherebythe
trorrrgeoisie,
as the ruling class,can assimilateit. Bourgeois
n . r i r r t i r r gw.l i t i n g e t c . . d o n o l c o t r n ta \ a r t o n a r i s t o c r a t i c
; r i t e r i a ,b u t t h e i ' d o a s t h e b o u r g e o i s i a
es s i m i l a t a
end trans1r-rrm
the lile style of the aristocracy.Such is the fundamentul, practicaloppositionbetrveenthe theoristsHume, Burke,
l)ubos and Bonhourson the one hand and Boileau,Reynolds
;rnd Shaftesburyon the other. From this point onwards the
46
developmentof art is tied to the development of the bourgeoisie.This latter developmentis not a smooth progression,
but, in itself, encompassesmany revolutionary changes
connected with technological revolutions and the way they
are experienced socially; this complex movement is deeply
embeddedin the unfolding of the category of art.
A theory of taste, a matter of the occurrence or nonoccurrenceof pleasure,does not hold a dominant position
for long. As bourgeois social relations become the normal
form of social relations, so the degreeof leverageagainstthe
aristocratic theories of art becomes unnecessary.What is
subsequentlyrequired are theories to add authority to the
particular, evolving, mental set of the new ruling class.
Crudely speaking, this takes two basic forms (l) the insistence on form and the knowledge of form and (2) the
insistence on individualism, basically Romanticism. The
primary theory of taste does not disappear altogether. It
remains as a way of explaining interest in art for those not
activelyobsessed
by the category.Up to a point it is the way
the more scientificallyoriented membersof the bourgeoisie
scientifically (psychologically)account for the life form in
which they participateto a limited degree.It is the tolerated,
non-revolutionary, bourgeois opposition to the actual
historical characterof bourgeoissociety which createsthe
authoritativejustificationsfor the bourgeois'cultural'life as
a high ideal.
The bourgeoisieas a wholc is not fulfilled by the product'fhe
gror.r,thof appliecl
ive processesof Capitalist societl'.
science,the increasein mechanisation,the objective ol'
production beingthe accumulationof profits, the fragmentation and dehumanisingaspectsof the production process
(both for wage earnersand those who own the means of
production, including those who assistthem) all add up,
within the bourgeoisieitself, to an impulse to deny, escape
from, or compensatefor the economic base upon which
bourgeois,material securityis dependent.The legacyof the
older form of societyis one of the possibilitl'of a great and
Correcting Mistaken Ideas about Art and Culture
47
absolute,spiritual fulfilment through the social organisation

of the society.This is not to say such fulfilment was possible
within the older society, but its ideology offered this as the
point of such a society. This is an active tradition within
bourgeois society and one which, quite apart from the sense
of unfulfilment offered by the base of the society, is one the
societywould like to squarewith that base, as to do so would
be to propagandise for social cohesivenessand pulling
together. In other words, the social need to make something
out of the 'cultural life' is not some mythical quality of
human-ness expressing itself in the midst of bourgeois
dehumanisation, but rather the expression of culturally
conditioned expectations.Art, as we know it now, is the
result of thesevarious processesworking themselvesout.
As experiencedin contemporary society art is a form of
life, a conceptualsystem,which is lived within the bourgeois
setting. It is from this setting that the art processemanates,
and its life-enhancingripples do not extend far beyond the
'I'here
are institutional attempts
interestsof this social class.
to enrol other sectionsof the society in the form of life, but
they are resisted. This resistance may be interpreted as
proletarian resistance. The concept of art is not just a
heading, but something which enters into and structures
judgement.To sayof somethingthat it is a work of art is not
merely to say it is, for instance, of the form music and
therefore art, for we know the mass area of musical con:'umption,in our society,hasnothing to do with the sphereof
art. It is the social area, in which the instanceis taken up,
that conf'ersthe statusof art upon the instance.Once taken
up and establishedsomethingrenrainsas an instanceof art
becauseit is established,becauseit constitutes part of the
traditionsof the category.The judgementthat somethingis
art assignsa value to it. The value is offered in bourgeois
practice as being objectively determinable,and the constant
search for definitional theories has been the attempt to
rationalisethis judgement. However, thesejudgementsare
without rationale.At best. the theoriesconstructirrational
48
reverencefor activities which suit bourgeois needs, but not

the universal ones the theories make out they do. Art is a
fetish. As this is so, so mystification becomespart of the
conceptof art. From outsidethe form of life, one can say art
is nothing over and above what the bourgeoisieclassifiesas
art, that is its meaning, but, from inside the category,such a
thought is intolerablebecauseit dismantlesthe beliefsthat go
with entering into the activities of the category. The beliefs
posit the objective superiority of those things singled out as
art and, thereby, the superiority of the form of life which
celebratesthem, and the social group which is implicated. It
is out of this sort of logical mystification that the categoryof
art emergedin the first place, that is, as an attempt on the
part of the old order in society to make out its life was
sonrehowcommitted to a superior form of knowledge.
Therefore, we can say that art is a highly specific form of
life, which is identifiable only within specific historical
settings.This is to deny that art is universallydistributed.
Although this is an alarmingconclusionto thosebrought up
on art as a kind of universalreligion into which all sensitive
humans enter in one form or another, it is, nevertheless,
a
conclusion which accords well with anthropological data
(data on alien and primitive cultures).
For instance,though Aborigines regard the activity of
paintingon tree bark as l'ery important, the-vdo this as part
of ritualistic procedures ingrained in their mythological
practices.The finrshedobjectsare not for public exhibition,
but are buriedin a secretplaceand taken out inl'requentlyby
a selectand initiatedgroup. When taken out they form part
of the religiouspracticesof the society,and are not used in
waysakin to paintingsin art gallenes(e.g. for the contemplation of their formal properties,or for a contemplationof
man's expressivefunction). To take another case:Eskinto
carving, which has been representedin art galleriesof the
world in recent years as the Art oJ'the Eskimo, was not
produced for visual contemplation.The carvingswere done
largel.r'during the long Winter nights, and when finished
49
were simply discarded. Without fully entering into the

Eskimo's world, and so understanding his activity, it is
nonethelessclear that the object of the carving was not the
creationof an object to contemplate,rather the object of the
activity was carving. Apparently, contemporary Eskimos
were surprisedto find that our culture was interestedin their
finished objects and that there was a market for them in our
art gallery set-ups.However, the fact that the carvings were
worth money to the Eskimos was quite sufficient for them to
turn themselvesinto primitive artists, despite the fact that in
their own culture no such concept was workable.
Works of art, therefore, are identifiable as such simply
becausethe social processes,within the form of life that art
is, have fixed onto them the label'art'. That this is the sole
ground for something being art is demonstratedby the fact
that to be acceptedwithin the appropriate social area guaranteesthat somethingis art, and by the fact that the reasonsfor
and explanationsof acceptancehave, over the centuries,been
so diverse that acceptancecannot be anything other than
arbitrary. In simpler languagemy point is that art, now, is
nothing over and above what the bourgeoisie (highbourgeoisie,reallyin the sub classof the class,the group that
rnanufactures
the ideologyof the class)callsart, and that for
this classto call somethingart is to have fixed on labelsof
ralue, which cannot be justified, though the affixing of the
labelscan be explained.
It is a featureof the kind of historicalanalysisI have been
sketching in that it does not provide the grounds for a
distinctionbetweenfalseart and real art. ln other words, to
ra!,3S has been said in the history of aesthetics,that one's
rociety'sart is only the art of the upper classes,and that real
iirt is somethingelse,is to misunderstandthe concept. Art
is nothing over and abovewhat has been sociallyestablished
as art. What is called art in our societyis art regardlessof
rvhatfuture societies
call art and, therefore,the supposition,
at the beginningof this chapter,that our societymight have
got the art-list wrong assumes, wrongly, that there is
50
something to get right or wrong. The only mistake that can

be made is one of not knowing the conventionsof the society
(i.e. not knowing what the society calls art). The reason for
this is that the concept of art cannot be understood as an
abstraction, becauseit is without significancedivorced from
an evolving set of social institutions. Art is, then, an open
concept,but if we are to understandit we must saymore than
this becausewhat has to be explained is on what basis the
concept gets set up, and what social processesdetermine its
development.It is necessaryto investigatethe social significanceof the categoryas a whole as distinct from investigating
the social significanceof particular works of art.
In terms of the possibilitiescontained within the project of
such an investigation, what has been attempted in this
chapter is very slim. A detailedhistorical investigationalong
the lines proposed would be an immense task, involving a
relating of the particular moments in history of the arts, and
theoriesof the arts, to the individuals, social groups and
general historical and social circumstancesinvolved. However,to pursuethis (evengiventhe staminaand interestto do
so) would be to try the patienceof the intendedreadership
beyond what is reasonable.For instance,one small part of
the task would be to achievea detailedunderstandingof the
social, economic and various personal formulations of
theoriesof art in Britain in the eighteenthcentury.However,
to do this for thosenot interestedin art at all, and to do so on
the basisof wishing to confirm them in this lack of interest
would come closeto perversion.I doubt one would follow
such an account without having a positive interest in the
categoryto be elucidated.What has beengiven, then, is the
barestsketchof a possiblehistoricalanalysis,but this in itself
is enough to indicate (a) a justifiable alternative to the
establishmentorthodoxy about art and (b) the startling
untruthscontainedwithin the ideologyof art. The possibility
of an alternativeperspectiveis the hardestthing to encourage
in popular consciousness,
and for this the more straightforward the treatment of the subject matter the better. The
Correcting Mistaken ldeas about Art snd Culture
5l
one context where, in this book, a more detailed (socially,

historically, personally) approach has been attempted
concernsthe final chapter. This is appropriate becausethe
social circumstancesdiscussedthere are, because of their
proximity to our own times and becauseof their relatedness
to ordinary, social experience, easily made accessibleto
general, social interest. All that is required for the completion of this chapteris an underlining of the practical implications of holding the thesis about art which has been
broached.
analysisis
The most obviousimplication,of the suggested
'cultural' life of the society,there is
that for thoseoutsidethe
no need to look upon it as some high ideal from which,
through lack of talent, intelligence or sensitivity, one is
debarred,nor is there any need to feel shame-faced,apologebecauseof one's ignorance.Thereis no high
tic or aggressive
ideal,thereis only the life styleof thosesocialgroupshaving
the greatestfinancial resourceswithin the society.To be of
this group is, in the standardcase,to find no difficulty in
fitting into this life-style,regardless,that is, of one's talent,
intelligenceand sensitivity.For those outside this form of
life, who stop to think abr:utthe centralactivitiesof the form
of life, it must seem that the fact of their going on is
unimportant, and in terms of their central activitiesthis is
true. Peopleshould, in the interestsof peopleknowing how
the world is constructed,know that it is a possibletruth,
borneout by an historicalanalysis,that the ailegedsuperiori t y o f t h e ' c u l t u r a l ' l i f e i s a d e c e p t i o np r a c t i s e db y a c l a s s
but once this
both upon itself and againstother socialclasses,
possibilitl'has been registeredit might seemthat this is tire
end of the matter; this is to say it might seemthat little of
practicalsignificancefollows from the discovery.However,
there are many practicalimplicationswhich only come into
viervwhen one turns away from the centralactivitiesof the
practiceand looks at the generalproliferation of it.
For instance,our society'seducationalsystem has considerableinfluenceon the lives of all of us. It is something
52
Art qn Enemy of the People
which to greater or lesserdegreeall members of the society

are compelledto enter. In fact the educational systemis the
most obvious, straightforward area of coercion practised
upon individuals in the society.Moreover, successor failure
in this system correlatesclosely with the social hierarchy.
Thus, thosehaving a dominant classposition in the hierarchy
tend, for the most part, to succeedin the system, whereas
those having more servile positions tend, comparatively, to
fail, and, of course, to succeedin the system is to securea
reasonablydominant position in the hierarchy.The skills and
interests,which the educationalprocessis there to induce are
heavily dependentupon the characterof the 'cultural' life.
For instance,the languagemost people naturally speak is
very different from the languageforms which the educational
system would implant. The recommended language forms
are modelledon the traditionsof literary 'printable' English.
Thereis, then, a pronounceddifferencebetweenthe ordinary
practicesof the language group and the linguistic skills
requiredfor success
within the educationalprocess.Further,
rvithin the context of being taught English at school, much
time is spent studyingthe recognised'high-art' literatureof
European and American bourgeoissociety, and moreover,
the history of Westerncivilisationis very much conductedin
ternrsof its so-called'cultural' achievements.The ordinarllanguage,of the people,servesperfectlywell for the purposes
o { ' c o m m u n i c a t i o nb, u t i t i s n o t o n e ' s a b i l i t y t o u s et h i s t h a t
t h e e d u c a t i o n asl y s t e ms e e k st o t e s t . T h e ' h i g h - c u l t u r a ll' i f e
of the socielyis not onc.of the fornrs of life that the mass of
the people live. yet to succeededucationallycon.siderable
knou'ledgeof it is required.
Moreover,to what extentdo people,as a whole, believein
the goals of the educationalprocess.It is clear that parents
urge their children to do well at school, to compete with
olhers and gain success,but this is not becauseof a deep
ingrained appreciationof the 'cultural' life. The parents'
desire for the child's educationalsuccessis tied to seeking
social successfor the child. As far as it goesthis is rational
53
becauseeducationalsuccessis a means to social successand

financial security. However, the divergence,betweenthe life
lived and the life recommended,leads in so many casesto
self-deception.Thus, without any real commitment to the
'cultural'life of the societythe adult urges the child to adopt
'good English' etc. This urging is not
the standards of
'good
accompaniedby an unveiling of the mystification of
English'. In other words, the child is not told that the skills
requiredare just someof the tricks neededto get on, and that
they should be learnt as tricks but not believed in. The
standardsrecommendedare offered as establishedabsolutes,
despitethe fact that the concernedparent is often unhappy
with those standards himself and fails (unknowingly) to
operate in accordance with them. The failure is readily
'cultural' life.
apparent to those deeply entrenchedin the
Of course,the various public institutionsconcernedwith
verbal communication(newspapers,radio-stationsetc.) do
'highnot, even for the most part, operate rvith literary,
cultural' language forms. Despite this the language, as
recommendedwithin education,takes as its paradigm the
'high-cultural' language. For instance, the 'high culture'
radio channel, Radio 3, consistentlyuses announcerswho
' g o o d E n g l i s h 'l a n g u a g ef o r m s . I t i s
o p e r a t ew i t h ' e d u c a t e d ' ,
this languageform that the schoolsteach.It is for this reason
lhat the educationalsystemdisparagesthe languageforms of
Radio I and the popular press.The popularity of Radio 1,
and the popular press,is related to the fact that, although
their languageforms are not thoseof thc'massof the people,
rhel' do, nevertheless,representa concessionto the mass
ianguageand at the same time a slipping away from the
cducational paradigrn. If the people were to reject the
paradigmas a paradigm,but to acceptthe acquisitionof the
tricks, for operating in accordancewith the paradigm, as
usefulwithin the presentsocialcontext,the variousforms of
in could be
self-deception
and the knots peopletie themseives
avoided.The acquisitionof knowledgeabout the processes
at work, and a constant application of this knowledgeto
54
one's practical reality is required, therefore, so as to avoid

acting in accordancewith false conceptionsof oneself.
People do feel some hostility towards art, and do show
somerecognitionof its being a confidencetrick, but theseare
attitudes struck in responseto the antics of modern art.
However, this criticism is misplacedbecausemuch of modern
art has been itself a send-up of the 'high-cultural' life. The
publicisedcasesof vast surnsof money being spenton objects
and entertainments,which to the generalpublic seemto have
required little or no effort in their production, are common
place. The generalreaction to them is one of disparagment
and disbelief.The general public's thin knowledgeof the
history of art convincesit that, although, for the most part,
art is uninteresting,it has, in its production, required the
exerciseof skill and effort. Compared with this the production of modern art (or what is seenas being modern art) is
viewedas beingcompletelyunjustifiable.In other words, the
peculiar nature of modern art is rejected,.by the general
public, on the basisof giving grudgingacceptancero the art
tradition" Somepoint can be seenin the older art becauseof
the work that rvent into it, rvhereasnothing can be seenin
modern art becauseit fails to satisfya work-ethiccriterion.
However,the significanceand statusofthe art tradition go
far bel'ond ar)yrhingrhat can be justified by rhe amounr of
u o r k e . r p e n d e di n i t s p r o d u c t i o n , a n d t h e m e a n i n g a n c i
significancc'of modern arr goes be!'ond w,hat c;ln be
explainedas the resultof a rveirdform ot laziness.It is rvithin
the modern art ntc)vemenf
that recclgnitionof the real, social
significanceof art hasoften beenformulated.It is this which
e x p l a i n st h e p e c r r l i a r i t oy f m u c h o f t h e w o r k . I t h a s b e e n a
perceptioncf rnodernart that art is just ',vhatis called art,
a n d t h a t t o p r o d u c e a w o r k o 1 ' a r t i t i s s u f f i c i e n tt o g e t
whateverit is, that you have produced,acceptedas arr. fhe
idea that a rvork of art is something produced through a
lonely, private struggle,at the cost of considerablepersonal
suffering,is a Romanticicleacastof{'in nruchcontemporary
art practice. It is refiected that something becomes art
Correcting Mistaken ldeas about Art ond Culture
55
through a collective conspiracy (i.e. not through personal

agony) and that to secureone's statusas an artist is a matter
of setting about stagemanaging the conspiracy. The object
produced has been largely an irrelevant consideration, the
social context in which it has appeared the all important
consideration. Some artists have resorted to finding old
objects,like lavatory bowls, signingtheir nameson them and
entering them for exhibition. In so far as the art context has
not thrown these things out they have, over the years,
become a firm part of the art category, constituting a
significant trend in art history. In many casesthe intention
behind offering these objects has been to attack the art
establishmentby reducingthe activitiesof art to transparent
absurdity. If anything whatsoevercan be art, then art cannot
be anything over and above what is called art. If social
practice designatessomething as art then art it is. These
tendenciesin contemporary art have not undermined the art
category;it continuesto thrive. Contemporary art is not,
then, to be welcomedas an effectivechallengeto the life of
art, but at the same time it is not to be attacked on the
-qroundsof its not measuringup to the true standardsof art.
To attack movementsin contemporaryart, on thesegrounds,
is to fall for the ideologyof art (an ideologywhich does not
measureup to the actual practiceof art).
Falling for the ideologyof art can happenin anotherway.
lt is a featureof the ideologyof 'high-culture',particularlyin
this century,to assertthat art is a universal,huntan category.
C)ne instance of this, already mentioned, is the way the
activitiesof primitive people have been brought under the
conceptof art, despitethe absenceof analogousconceptsin
the primitiv'e'sw'orld. In this way' objects previouslyclassiiied in civilised European society as museum pieces,and
therebyof ethnographicalinterest,have been transferredto
the context ol the art gallery.The socialsignificanceof this
hasbeento raisethe socialstatusof thosepracticeswhich, in
this way, have beenbrought under the conceptof art. What
were the curiosities of savagery become the profound
56
interpretations of the universe by the primitive mind. Now

this commitment. within art, to the universality of art, works
in another direction. Becauseart is thought to be found
universally, so it is thought that its appeal should be universal. To be an artist is to want to say somethingmeaningful to
all men. This view is part of the ideology of art. However, it
is a glaringly obvious fact about art that it is an activity for a
small coterie, and does not have universal appeal. Given the
ideology, there is somethinggalling about the fact that there
are other activities in the society which have considerable
appeal for the generalpublic.
A telling example of this is popular music which reaches
the universalaudience.Only the voice of art is held to be able
to do this legitimately:that popular music doesit is explained
away on the basisof its not doing so legitimately.It is said it
does so by encouraging unsophisticated and unintelligent
people in 'cheap sensationalism'and stupidity. This is how
insultingthe ideologyof art becomestowardsthe massof the
people. Despite this attack on popular 'culture', and for
many different reasons, we find certain groups within the
general art world attracted to aspects of this popular
'culture'. As this attractiontakes on various forms of social
practice,so questionsare raisedas to the art-statusof those
'culture' for which
aspectsof the popular, more universal
attractionis felt. In other words, as the bourgeoisiebecomes
interestedin certain of these activitiesso the activitiesare
brought under the conceptof art. Tlie socialclasscould not
allow itself to be interestedin anything lessthan art, so what
it is interestedin must be art, and where the interest is in
aspectsof popular culture the art classificationseems to
c o i n c i d ew i t h t h e a s p e c t os f s a t i s f y i n gt h e i d e o l o g yo f a r t ( i . e .
beingof universalappeal).This situation,however,doesnot
a
remain static and so the assimilationinto art encompasses
the
For
instance,
during
60s
transformationof the activity.
those aspectsof popular music rooted in the traditions of
rock music becameof real interestto a young, intellectual,
middle-classpublic. As this happenedso ert, as an accolade,
Correcting Mistoken ldeas about Art ond Culture
57
became tenuously attached to certain forms of this music,

but at the same time a transformation occurred whereby the
category of 'progressive rock' came into being. As this
happenedso 'progressiverock' establisheditself as a minority interest, and it was within this category that the status of
rock as an art form was entertained.This, then, was a raid
into popular culture by the art world involving a carrying off
of certain of its activities and changing them in the process.
The borderlinesbetween these various activities are not yet
clearly drawn and many individuals straddle them all, but,
despite this, it is quite obvious that the progressiverock
group is more bourgeoisthan not (though it tends to be a
young, seeminglyrebellious,bourgeoisgroup), that it is more
at home with the value 'art' than other groupsin the society,
and that it seesits activitiesas forming part of universalart
(on a par with the so called'art activitiesof primitive people'
and so called 'medieval art' and modern European art and
c o n t e m p o r a r ya r l e t c . ) .
This raiding of popular culture, stemmingas it does Irom
the impulsein art to be universal,has a deceptiveattraction
for those whose activitiesare ransacked.Art is a badge of
successwithin the society,and to have it conferredon one's
activities,rvhenthis is not normal, is to be inclinedto bask in
the value of the arvard,despitethe fact that the total, social
significanceof the processof awarding, in the society, is
s o c i a l l yd i s c r i m i r r a t o r ay g a i n s tt h e m a s s o f t h e p e o p l e .T o
a c c e p t h e a u ' a r d .a s h i g h c o m m e n d a t i o ni,s t o a c c e p t ,a l l h e
s a m e t i m e , t h a t o n e ' s o w n l i f e s t y l e i s i n { ' e r i o r .l t i s a l s o
possiblethat if the award is taken too seriouslyit can suck the
iife out of what were previouslyvital activities.
I think jazzis one importalrt area wherethis has happened
a n d , i n c h a p t e rf o u r , I t r y t o s h o u ' h o u ' t h i sh a s t a k e n p l a c e .
'fhough
it is controversialto say so I think the Beatlesis
another case in point. Their early activities rvere firmly
r o o t e di n p o p u l a rc u l t u r e ,b u t t h e m o r e t h e 6 0 su n f o l d e dt h e
more they became cult figures for the young, self-styled
politicos of the student bourgeosie.T'he more they became
58
Art an Enemy of the PeoPIe
this the less they became the idols of the hard-core teenage
audience.It was the art processthat gave the membersof the
group the idealsof fulfilling themselvesas creativemusicians
by enteringprogressivemusic as individuals. They could have
gone on making popular music, and entertainingthe people
in the process,as did Elvis Presley and Cliff Richard (two
people who for different reasonsavoided flirting with the art
process).The generallife and vitality of the Beatlespheno'high
menon disappeared during the entanglement with
culture', though some of it has returned with Wings. For the
cultural establishmentthe Beatles high moment was Sgt.
Pepper (the moment when they clearly stepped over into
progressive,art music) but I suspectthe material that the
mass of the people really like is earlier.
This attack on art, or this attempt to exposeits mystifying
face, is not intended to stop people putting paint on two
dimensional surfaces,or making music, or dancing, or using
language to create fictions. It is the organisational forms
surroundingtheseactivitieswhich are beingsubjectto critical
examination, and what is being said is that art, as one of
these organisationalforms, is socially pernicious. However,
thereis no recommendationfor an organisedpolicy of revolt.
The practicalimplicationsof the analysisare to give people
the conceptual tools with which to duck the restrictive
implicationsof the organisedcategory of art. My belief is
'the people'
that to be on the side of the people (not that
constitutean homogenousentity) is to give practicalhelp for
avoiding organisedpolicies, and one does not do this by
organisingeverybody.The revolt againstart is achievedwhen
its conceptual bewitchment is exorcised. Organisational
forms are unavoidablebut so is the practice of avoiding
them, and the latter requiresits scienceas much as does the
former.
Chopter Three
THE FRAUDULENTSTATUS
OF ART IN MARXISM
To those who feel the given, total structure of our society
works againstthem Marxism has an obvious potential attraction. Marxism is not one, but many things, but what, in the
Western context, it is normally thought of as being is a
poiitical theory about the injurious nature of capitalist
societyand how it is to be overthrown. In its simplest, most
generalform the policy for changeencompasses
the organisation of thosewho do not own the meansof production, and
who, as a consequence,suffer, so as to disappropriatethose
who do. When this is achieved,the objective is to establish
the meansof production as belongingto everyoneand, as a
consequence,to establish a classless, non-hierarchical
society.In this way the fragmentation and consequentdebilitation of man, which occursin class-based
societies,is to be
replacedby the full potentialitiesof rounded, humanised,
social man.
Within Marxism there have been numerous theories
(reflectingboth splitswithin Marxism and Marxism's need to
respondto changingcircumstances)
about how this wresting
of power from the dominant, bourgeois class is to be
accomplished.It has been,and is, held that a well-developed
capitalist society, experiencing frequent economic depression, would be the only suitable context for making revolution. It has been,and is, held that to achievea socialistworld
it is, in the first place, necessar).to exert pressure on
60
Art an Enemy o-f the People
advancedcapitalisteconomiesby fermenting Marxist revolution in the under-developedThird World. It is argued that

socialismcan only be constructedby a violent, revolutionary
overthrow of the existing power-structure, but, in other
quarters, it is argued that the Marxist society can be built
through the participation of organised, Marxist, political
parties in the so-called democratic processesof capitalist
societies.It is argued by some that the revolution must be a
spontaneousuprising by the workers coinciding with appropriate economic circumstances,whereas others think that
through the organised,terrorist activitiesof minority, Marxist groups the general social revolution can be engineered.
Theseviews,plus many others,all relateto beliefsabout the
presenceor absencewithin class-based,
capitalistsocietyof
forms of resistanceto any attempt to change the powers tr u c tu r e .
In this large debateabout taclics and strategyit is a basic
belief that the people mus-rbecome aware of their class
subordination,sceir astheir histoncalniissionto changethis
and then sc'taboilt organisrngthenrselves
to changethis. This
en masle conrnritrttc'r'rt
to ()rganisingand shapingthe u'orld.
so as to transttrrnrsociet-v,
is secn as a long standin_e
social
comnritment,
extenclsl'ar treyond the revolutionary
"r'hich
t r a n s i ' o r r n a t i oann d d e e pi n t o m a n ' s f u t u r e a s a s o c i a lL l e i n g .
I'hc idc-ais Ihat, in thc nervll'formed society',t]resatist'action
of rnan'sunpreclictable
and grcr*'ingneccisrvill be takcn care
of by a strongconimitmentcn evervoilc'51;;111
lo organising
a n d r u n n i n gt h e p r t t d u c t i v e
l i f e r r f i i r e s o c i e t y I. n t h i - .r v a l r t i s
t h o u g h t t h a t t h c p e o p l e w i l l b e a c t i v e l yi n c o n t r t r l o f t h e
u'hole lii'e of the societ1,.!n ofher words, u'hat in presenf
socicti'is held to be the peoplecontrollingthe society,namely
t h e p e o p l eh a v i n gs o r n ed e t e r n r i n i n g
r o l e i n t h e p o i i t i c a ll i f e
of the society, is, n'ithin the envisagedsc,cialistsocie',y,
r i e w e da s a m i n o r c l e t e r m i n i nign f l u e n c ec o m p a r e dw i t h t h e
peoplecontrollingthe whole life of the societl',invcrlving,as
it does,the existenceof industrialco-operatives
and agricultural communes.
The Fraudulent Status of Art in Marxism
61
These notions of societiesin rvhich the people, en masse,

organiseand run the whole life of the society involve, at a
concretelevel, an organisationalframework of representative
committees(allied to generalassemblies)which are differentiated in their functions by the level of generalityrequired for
their planning. In addition to the people'sparticipation in the
decision-makingprocesses
of the societyit is assumedthat
there is a collective responsibilityto engagein the physical
processesof production, so that the whole productive life
from planning to executioncan be said to be a collective
achievement.
These,then, are some of the responsesdemandedof the
people, by Marxism, if they are to bring about a socialist
transformationof the society.Now it might be objected,and
has been, that peoplein advancedcapitalisrsociefies,if not
people in general, would not wi-chto participatein these
forms of organisationand the relolutionary processes
they
imply. This is ro say, even if ir was ro be certainthat things
would in fact lvork out as envisaged,it is arguablethat the
massof the peoplewould not rvishto be involved.Often this
scepticismabout tire appetitesof peoplefor socialislsociety
is founded on beliefs about hurnan nature. However, the
norn-,al Marxist cc)unteris to say that such beliefs are
Linernpiricii.l,
or unscienlific,being prejudiccsinducedb1,the
rcleologyof bourgcois society. lv{arxism accepts that in
bourgeois SOciet],'
tnen, aS a ntatter of f'aCt, nright at a
s u p e r f i c i a l ,c o n s c i o u sl e v c l , n o t w i s i r t o b e i n v o l v e d i n
l\4ar.ristsocietl',bui this is put dorvn ro the way,bourgcois
societyw{rrps what is human in man. The idea is that, in
b o u r g e o i s o c i e t y ',h u r n a n 'm a n g o e su n d e r g r o u n dw h i i s t h i s
false, bourgeois sclf appears to predominate. However,
'hurnan'
n t a ni s t h e r ca l i a l o r r g t, h o u g hs u p p r e s s e a
dn
, d when
the socialand economicconditionsare ripe, then submerged
rnan rvill have to a-ssert
himself, simply becausethis is rvhat
he reallyis.'Humanised'peopleare thosewho wish to and do
enter into coliectivi.sed
creative,productiveactivity as a way
of respondingto and satisfying their multifarious needs.
62
Theseneedsare not multifarious in the sameway as they are

supposed to be in capitalist society. In capitalist society
people appear to want a vast range of consumergoods (e.g.
hi-fi, cine cameras, electric toothbrushes, motorised lawn
mowers, electric whisks etc.) and appear to want them in
their latest, most fashionableform, regardlessof what they
possess already. Marxists see these needs as artificially
induced by the profiteering impulse of capitalist society and
as not being real, human needs.Despite this, real needs are
still held to be multifarious becausethe real world, which sets
man the problem of surviving, is always changing and the
means people invent to deal with the real, changing world
create, in their own right, new needs(e.g. machines require
the organisation of machine maintenance).
'Real' people, 'human' people, as opposed to socially
warped and distorted people, are said in Marxist theory to
have a real need to enter into the collective production and
reproduction of the material iife, where both the planning
and executionof this is somethingin which they are implicated. Marx himself did not see this commitment to the
production of the material life as endless(for Marx there was
the possibility of social, creative, productive activity outside
the production of the material life) but since Marx, apart
from the odd Marxist theorist like Marcuse, Marxism has
and
beenlessutopian. The ideahas beenthat the collectivised
production
itself
a
means
to
life
is
in
of the
democratised
This
is,
of
course,
somenecessaryand satisfyingactivity.
thing which anyone reading this book can consider for
himself, although to conclude that this envisagedlife might
be necessarybut not satisfying would be explainedaway by
Marxism as resulting from the distorting influence of bourgeoissociety.
However, the considerationsin Marxism which give rise to
the notion of 'human' peopleare a clumsy mixture of a priori
philosophising(the kind of thing attacked in the first chapter) and historical insight. On the one hand, an attempt is
made to distinguish between men and animals in order to
TheFraudulent Statusof Art in Marxism
63
discover an essential difference and, thus, uncover what is

essentialto being man. This distinction is framed by Marx in
terms of a distinction between creative and instinctual activity. Men are said to conceiveof things in their minds before
they do them, whereasanimals are said simply to do things.
This Marxist claim is compounded out of the legacy of
Romanticism (man's distinguishing characteristicbeing his
appetite for creativity), an artificial model of the mind at
work (people do things intentionally without having to think
their actions in their minds first) and a very incomplete
knowledge of animals (for instance, chimpanzeescan make
plans which are carried out subsequentlybut not immediately). (J. Goodall In the Shadow of Man.) As Marxism
locates'human' man as creativeman so it locateshim in his
actual historical circumstances.Thus, creativeman is seenas
necessaryfor the kind of human developmentthere has been.
What human beings have done would make no senseunless
man's activities are and have been creative. Moreover, it is
reflected upon that this creative development is historically
inseparablefrom its social expression.The perceptibledeveIopment is not the result of accumulative,separate,individual development, but rather the result of people acting
together; a social creativity. However, as the historical
analysis shows, this social creativity is not a creativity in
which all equally participate. It is a feature of this historical,
social creativity that it has used the social dimension as a
material in its own right. For instance,the production of
distinguishableeconomicclasseshas beenone way that social
creativity has utilised social existenceso as to produce the
means to life plus, for certain social groups, something in
addition to this. The natureof the analysishas beenthen that
peopleare essentiallycreative,that their creativity has always
had to contend with the production of the material life, that
this creativity has been a socialcreativity, and that it has used
the social to the detriment of full, social participation in the
creativeessenceof 'human' man. The claim on the future is
one of demandinga restorationof the 'human' to all men. In
64
standard versionsof the analysisthis is possiblebecausethe

inadequateproduction methods, which in previous societies
have been the major factor in explaining the creativeuse of
the social as a negation of full social creativity, have been
overcome (as an achievementof human creativity) by the
industrial potential of capitalist society. The only thing
which standsin the way of democratised,collectivecreativity,
in capitalistsociety, is the redundant, social power structure.
Man is creative certainly, and judging by the ri'chnessof
human developmentand the progressiveside to this development, there is a difference in degreebetweenthe creativity of
man and that of other species.Moreover, historically speaking, this creativity has been social in character and it has,
obviouslyenough,beenexercisedon the problem of producing the necessarymaterial life. However, none of these
considerationsshow why collective,organised,creative,Froductive activity should appear as a desirable, satisfying,
social objective.The fact that human creativity has taken
social forms and the fact that it has been necessaryto
sustainingthe species(and may continue to be) saysnothing
about how all men can seethis as their intentionalfulfilment.
A necessary
activity that you do not control turned into one
t h a t y o u d o i s n o t t o d i s c o u n tt h e p o s s i b i l i t yt h a t y o u w i l l
continue to sceit as a necessaryevil. That you cannot help
dealingwith the world creativeiyis not to say that you want
io e.rerciseyour creativity in a collective. That human
creativit;-/zaserpresseditself through collectivecooperation
or, at Ieast,through degreesof socialcooperation,is not to
say that this rs human fulfilment. The appeal, then, of the
collt"ctivelyorganised,creative and productive life is not
logicallyguaranteedby someconceptof what man is, nor is it
s o m e t h i n gt h a t t h e h i s r o r yo f m a n d e m a n d sa s a n e m p i r i c a l
truth.
So N{arxismhas the attraction of seekingthe abolition of
the social injusticesof capitalistsociety,but it is not just a
negation;it is a potential,whole life, in its own right, and the
attractionsof this are part of the way peoplemight consider
TheFraudulent Stqtusof Art in Morxism
65
committing themselvesto Marxism. However, to consider

Marxism in this way is to concentrateon it as a theory, and it
is just this that Marxism itself points to as one-sided.
Marxism is not just a theory it is a practice. To say it is a
practice is not to say, as is often supposed,that it demands
practice, but is to say that it is in fact a collection of diverse
and different practices all informed by slightly different
interpretations of what Marxist theory is. Marxism, as a
number of actual repercussionsin the world, is a number of
very well known things. In its least effective form it is the
diverse,bickering organisationsin advancedcapitalist societies. Thesehave somesmall working-classbacking, but on the
whole are organisations run by discontented, bourgeois
intellectuals, who are committed to organising the world
differently.
In the Third World Marxism is a number of things. It is
terrorism, bombs, sporadic violence,guerilla warfare as well
as being infiltration by the larger Communist powers, involving, as it does, things like liaisonsbetweenlocal capitalists
and Moscow so as to expelthe influenceof American capital.
Marxism is, also, and this is the major thing that it is, the
history of the various societiesreferred to as Communist
both by themselves
and by Western,capitalistsocieties.The
reality of Marxism in the world is, then, many sided.
To reiterate.It is the fashionablepreoccupationwith leftist
thoughts,which hasbeen,in different forms, a constantC20
interestof Westernstudentgroupsand intellectuals,
culminating during the past ten yearsin a very explicit identification
with Marxisni (this has led to a sizeableincreasein the
publishing of books about Marxism-another side ro what
has happened).The practiceof this has involvedmarchesjn
the nrajor cities,streetrioting, a life of small group meetings
listening to guest speakers,discussingworld issues and
making local plans, attemptsto be part of local industrial
unrest and the production of different, alternative newspapers and pamphletsetc. It, Marxism, is the languagein
which atrocities perpetratedby some human beings upon
66
others in forging a socialist Vietnam or Cuba are explained

and justified. It is also the reality of their doings in the world
and the highly disciplined societies which emerge from the
ashesof the old. Marxism is the whole history of the Soviet
Union and Communist China. This includes, as everyone
knows, massivebloodshed and human suffering, as well as
the production of highly organisedsocietiesin which most of
a person'slife is spent in work (whether collectivisedor not).
It, Marxism, includes also the reality of the interaction
between these societiesand others which, to pick out on
purpose the horrendousevents,led in the Soviet case,to the
organised struggle against Nazi Germany, and, in the
Chinesecase,to the activemilitary involvement in Korea. All
of this plus much, much more constitutesthe practical reality
of Marxism in the world.
I do not list these things in a pro-Western capitalistic or
pro-liberal, bourgeoisand anti-Communist spirit. My point
is that thesethings are part of Marxism, just as the American
destructionof Vietnam and race riots in American cities are
part of capitalism and its liberal, political, public relations
system. Marxists hammer away at the gap between theory
and practicein the liberal society,but faced with the practice
of Marxism they disown it as not being in accordancewith
Marxist theory. However, Marxist theory is a practice,not in
the sensethat it urgespeopleto changethe world and not just
think about it, but in the sensethat it is a set of living beliefs
held by thosewho are activein the world, and who are active
simply becausethey are in the world. That a theory is the key
to problems has to be measuredby the serious attempts
which have been made to use it to solvethem. If the results
are not in accordancewith the theory then the theory cannot
be the key to the cipher. In fact, the theory may be one
elementin the general,socialproblematic (perhapsan insoluble problematic at the level of organised, social policies
which are to be adheredto by the whole society).
Of course, Nlarxism as theory is not one simple thing used
TheFraudulent Statusof Art in Mqrxism
67
in different ways but a number of related practices.In the

European and Western context Marxist theory exists as
strenuous theorising whereas,by comparison, in the Third
World Marxist theory is often little more than ready-made
slogans through which exploitation and human misery can
seemto be understood and can be begun to be resisted.This
difference is related to a real difference between existent
Marxist systemsin these different areas of the world. In
EasternEurope we find very bureaucratic,highly centralised,
industrial societies,which have been describedby scornful
Western Marxists as systems of State Capitalism. In the
Marxist, Oriental, Asian context, however, we find largely
agricultural societies,having strong industrial aspirations,
organised along the lines of a cooperative feudalism. In
neither case do we find societiescoinciding with what is
generally regarded to have been Marx's aspirations for
socialist societies.ln the Soviet context the bureaucratic.
hierarchical nature of the society is at odds with Marx's
conception o1' a grass-roots, democratised socialism.
Whereas,the enormous uphill strugglebeing wagedin China
against material hardship does not square with Marx's
conceptionof modern socialismbeingborne on the wings of
rhe capitalistsociety'spotentialityfor plenty.
What I reallv want to suggest, here, is that European
i\'larxismand the Vlarrism of the under-developedworld are
both at varriancewith the embryonic conception of the
\larxist society,that they are both at variance with each
other, and that they grow out of historically separate
cultures. It is this last fact which determinesthe kind of
societieswhich have ariserr, and their theories, and the
function of theorieswithin them, rather than the body of
To be
Marxist theoryitselfdeterminingthe kinds of societies.
specific,it is my viervthat Marxism in Europe is much more a
transformationof bourgeoisculturesthan a repudiationof
them. This is despitethe languageforms in which European
Marxism discussesthe world, which appear to dedicate
I\{arxists to a repudiation of bourgeois society.
68
In the Third World the social traditions and problems as

things to inherit and transform are very different. The
societies,in the first place, are not bourgeoisand the pressing
problern is one of accelerating the process whereby such
societiesenter the modern world e.g. the acquisition of the
technology of bourgeois society. Where, in terms of the
Marxist labels worn by these different societies,one would
expectunity one finds discord and this is best understoodas a
function of the divergentcultural settingsin which the social
changeshave taken place. In bourgeois society the Marxist
demand for change is very much in accord with the ideal
aspirations of bourgeois society itself. In bourgeois society
there is a split betweenthe material life of the societyand the
theory of the society.The theory expoundsa societywhich is
not materially graspingand profiteering but, on the contrary,
a society which eradicatesmaterial deprivation whilst at the
sametime advancing the people as sensitisedhuman beings.
The theories of education in bourgeois society are constructed on this basis.On the whole this is also the promise of
Marxism in the European and Westerncontext, whether in
terms of Marxist groups in the West, or East European,
Marxist societies.
The hypothesisI wish to suggestis that it is from amongst
the intellectual ideologists o1' bourgeois society. from
amongst,in fact, the more passivememirerscrf the bourgeoisie,that the European,Western,N{arxisttheorl,and practice
emerges.It is hard to find a principallVlarxistin this tradition
rvho does not have a clear bourgeoispeCrgreeand who has
not enteredinto the social forms of bourgeois,intellectual
life (the areaof tlrc 'high' idealsol' bourgeoissociety).i\Iarx,
h i m s e l f ,i s , o f c o u r s e ,a v e r y c l e a r c a s eo f t h i s . T h i s g r o u p
along w'ith thoservho constitutethe icleolo_eists
of bourgeois
s o c i e t yc o n s t i t u t ea f o r r n a l , a u t h o r i t a r i a nf o r c e w i l h i n t h i s
kind ol'society.This group insistson bourgeoissocieryliving
up to its ideolcrgy,and it regardswith scathingcontempt the
anarchic,individualismand generaldisregardfor the historical continuity of the culture, which the commercial life of
TheFraudulentStatusof Art in Marxism
69
bourgeois society produces as an unintended set of consequences.Therefore, bourgeois society creates social forms
which concern themselveswith the problem of justifying
(theoretically)bourgeoissociety.The passivityof thesesocial
forms via the status quo, apart from reinforcing it, is not
inherentin them. My suggestionis that, in the East European
context, thesesocial forms have grown up so as to predominate and havein the processoustedthe systemof private capital
whether in rhe form of the individual or the private
corporation. The societiesof Eastern Europe are those in
which, through a rigid, socialhierarchy,the ideologistsof the
society have, in practice, the control over the economic life
and cultural continuity of societieswhich have evolvedfrom
in the serviceof
the potentialitiesof commercialism(societies
private profit) inlo societieswhich, at least superficially,
'higher' ideals of bourgeois society.
appear to satisfy the
Even the idealof a democraticsocietyis retained,despitethe
East European societiesfailing to realiseit just as much as
Westerncapitalistsocieties,which also, in theory and in a
semblanceof practiceare committed to it, fail in its realisation.
One of the 'hi-sh'idealsof bourgeoissocietyis the preser'cultural' life oi'the
vation of and enrolmentof peoplein the
society.Art, along u,ith rvork, constitutesthe crucial spectrum of valueswitirin this form ol' -society.This is hou' the
valuesystemis realisedtheoretically.Work is the ethic of the
wherebyeachconlributesto the rvelfareof everyone
societ5',
else,and art is for the fulfilrnent of matt beyond the realm
of necessity.That the society cloes not work like this is
irrelevantto the donrinanceof the theorl' u,ithin the society.
T h i s c o m m i t m e n tt o t h e ' h i g h c u l t u r a l ' l i l e i s . o f c o r l r s e ,
incompatible with an awarenessof it as a recent, local,
of the precedingchapter)and
historicalproduct(thesubstance
manipulatorof classantagonism.
Norv, Marrism as a vision of a positive life (the main
atfractionof Marrist societyt>ncethe hindrancesof capitalist
society have been left behind) offers the ethic of social
70
contributory work and fulfilment beyond this through participation in man's creativity. It is this which is at the heart of
the Marxist theory of what it is to be human. When one
examinesMarxism to find a positive content for this general
idea of participation in human creativity, one finds that it is
someidea of art which is meant. To be crude about it the best
Marxism as theory can offer people, apart from socially
useful work with a communisedmeansof production, is art.
In other words it is to protect and preservethe life forms of
bourgeoissocietythat the active and powerful ideologistsof
East European Marxist societieshave organised,at the cost
of enormous human suffering, the people. Through these
forms of organisationthe contradictory, debilitating effects
on the bourgeois ideals, allorved by the system of private
capital, are avoided. Within the Western context it is virtually the samepositivelife that Marxist groups, when straining
theoretically to grasp the future, offer. The position is
different in China and related societies.and the reason for
this is that the forms of life of bourgeoissocietyhave not
developedthere.TLreforms of life of bourgeoissocietygrou
up in Europeansocietyand concernother societiesonly in so
far as they are actively Europeanised. The forms of life,
which are to be protected,or made general,socialreality, by
an organisationalstraighteningof the contradictionsin Capitalist society,are not sought our in all their muhiplicity by
those concerned.lt is the solid middle of the idealisedlife
forms which is sought, and not the contentiousand unsettling edges.Thus, the socialimpulse,in connectionwith art,
is not to secureas a general,socialreality the avant-gardelife
of art and its constantrel'olutionaryfervour, but to promote
as general, social experiencethe solid, historically wellfounded, traditions and centre of what bourgeois society
regardsas art.
This hypothesisabout Europeanand WesternMarxism is
vital io understandinghow it is that Marxism is so muddled
and so ahistoricalin its treatmentof art, particularlyso in its
diversetheoreticalwritingson the history and nature of art.
TheFroudulent Statusof Art in Morxism
7l
The connectionhere works, of course, the other way round;

what Marxism saysand does about art, in so far as this is a
sizeablearea of Marxist activity, revealswhat Marxism is. It
is worth tracing this through in some detail so as to expose
Marxism's very assuredassumptionthat it graspsreality very
concretelyas the fraud it is.
There is a well-known passagein Marx's own writings,
which subsequentMarxists writing on art have constantly
returned to, in which the central contradiction in Marxist
aestheticsappearsat the outset. The passagetaken from the
Introduction to Marx's Grundrisseis in itself pretty silly and
it is surprising that so many Marxist theorists have found it
so informative. What Marx wrote is as follows.
But the difficulty is not in grasping the idea that Greek art and
eposare bound up with certain forms of social development.lt lies
rather in understandingwhy they still constitute for us a source of
aestheticenjoyment and in certain respectsprevail as the standard
and model beyond attainment.
A man cannot becomea child again unlesshe becomeschildish.
But does he not enjoy the artlessways of the child, and must he not
striveto reproduceits truth on a higher plane?Is not the characterof
every epoch revived, perfectly true to nature, in the child's nature?
Why should the chitdhood of human society,where it had obtained
its most beautiful development,not exert an eternalcharm as an age
that rvill never return? There are ill-bred children and precocious
c h i l d r e n .M a n y o f t h e a n c i e n tn a t i o n sb e l o n gt o t h e l a t t e rc l a s s .T h e
Greskswere normal children. The charm their art has for us doesnot
conflict u'ith the primitive characterol the socialorder from which it
h a d s p r u n g .I t i s r a t h e rt h e p r o d u c to f t h e l a t t e r ,a n d i s d u e r a t h e rt o
t h e f a c t t h a t t h e i m t n a t u r es o c i a l c o n d i t i o n su n d e r r v h i c h t h e a r t
arose and under rvhich alone it could appear can never relurn.
Concealedfrom view in this passageis the Marxist attitude

to contemporaryart which, with variations, runs through
Marxist aesthetics.The point is that despiteMarxism wishing
'high' ideals of bourgeoissociety
to produce as reality the
(e.g. sociallycontributory work, sensitisedman through the
'higher'activitiesof art etc., the democraticsocietyand man
as free) it does this through a repudiation of the reality of
72
bourgeois society. The paraphernalia for doing this include

an attack on bourgeois self-indulgenceand, through the
illumination of historical materialism, an unveiling of the
mystifying ideologiesof bourgeoissociety. As shown, in the
last chapter, it is not possible to intelligently enter into the
life of art without entering into the value system it implies.
The art label is awarded as a meritorious badge and it
signifiesthe highestachievementof which man is capable.To
seethewith a cold Marxist fury at the injusticesand general
banality (as they are seen)of actual bourgeoissocietyis to be
predisposedto reject an art that caters for bourgeois selfindulgenceand bourgeoisillusions. However, art, this bourgeois life-form, is for the Marxist the 'high' ideal that the
whole efforts of a societyconspireto produce.Therefore,in
contemporaryart, only that u,hichis judged to revealsociety
and aid the process of revolutionary reorganisation can
match the 'high' ideal.
But, of course,the'high' idealrvhictrart is, is simplythe set
of social practicesof bourgeoissociety;the wholc of these
practicescannot be thrown away without dispensingaltogetherwith the 'high' ideal.Moreover,the life form is rooted
in its past accretionsand thesedo not seemto have the same
immediate,political significancevrsd vis revolutionarypractice as do the contentporaryproductsof bourgeois'culture'.
The life is entered into therefore, except in so far as it
pressinglyand immediately conflicts rvith the theory for
change.To excludecertain practiceson thesegrounds is to
p r o v i d e t h e c r i t e r i o n r v h e r e b yc o n t e n l p o r a r yp r a c t i c e sc a n
a c q u i r et h e b a d g eo f m e r i t . T h e y a c q u i r ei t i n v i r r u eo f t h e i r
cutting through the laygp5of mystification.I-Iow,'ever,
if this
standardis appliedto what passesfor the total history of art,
the accretionsof historv u'ould have to be excluded,since
they w'ould be .iudgeclto have been const;"uctedout of
implicit beliefs in previousmystifying ideologies.To throw
so much away on the basisof this criterion is unthinkablein
so far as a purposeof the whole exerciseis not the destruction
o f a r t , b u t i t s p r o p e r c u l t i v a t i o ni n t h e s e r v i c eo 1 ' h u m a n i t v .
TheFraudulentStatusof Art in Marxism
t5
Therefore, a double standard is required wherebythat which

excludescontemporary practicesas art is not applied to the
history of art.
It is at this juncture that we can understand how Marx
came to pose the question about the nature of Greek art. In
terms of a concealedattitude about how to sift what was of
value in contemporary art, Greek art could not count as
valuable,but as the tradition in which Marx's whole intellectual life was embeddedheld Greek art to be of great value,
then Marx had to find a way of explaining its enduring
significance. The explanation given is silly becauseit purports to explain not just Karl Marx's idiosyncratic way of
respondingto Greek art but the generalattraction, within the
culture, of theseGreek practices,which the modern evolutions of Europeancivilisationhad made into art. For anyone
who knows anything about the way modern European
'culture' has respondedto these Greek practicesit is very
obvious that the responseis not in terms of an appreciation
o f t h e n a i v ec h i l d h o o do f m a n k i n d .
So, at the outset of Marxism, we have a discrepancy
betweenwhat is demandedof presentart and how art's past
is treated.For thesetwo areasthe value art is establishedon
different bases.Marx's own explanation for the enduring
value of Greek art does not becomean orthodoxy, but it is
symptomatic of the numerous bits of fudging that go on
within Marxism to keepthe art of the past intact. At no point
does Marrism investigatethe historical nature of art as
conceptualpractice.The pretensionsto a historicalmatc'rialist anal-vsis
of art are continedto explainingindividualrvorks
of art, or forms and genresof art, as the product of historicai
circumstances.The origins and growth of the conceptual
practiceare not looked at, although on acceptingthc' bourgeois myth about art as a universalphenomenonMarxism
has provided accounts,on this basis, of the origins and
history of art. Intermingledwith thesewe find definitionai
attenlptsto say what art is. In other rvords the bourgeois,
theoretical practice in connection with art continues
74
Art an Enemy of the PeoPle
unabated in the context of European and Western Marxism.

The discrepancy, already noted in Marx's writings,
reappearsas a conflict in practice during the period of the
Russianrevolution. There is a partial recognition by certain
individuals at this time that art far from being a universal,
essentialpractice is a solidly upper-classbourgeois practice.
The traditions for thinking in this way had been founded
earlierby peoplelike Belinsky, Chernyshevsky,Dobrolyubov
and Tolstoy, and were taken up in the revolution by
Bogdanov, Mayakovsky, Meyerhold and the Proletkult
'In the name of our
movement. Bogdanov wrote at the time,
future we are burning Raphael, destroyingthe museumsand
trampling on the flowers of art.' (Quoted in H. Arvon's
Marxist EstheticsCornell University Press, 19'73.)And this
indicatesthe iconoclasticurgesof the group, though not its
actual achievements.At the same time as having these
extremely hostile attitudes towards what passed for art,
peoplein thesegroupshad positiveattitudestowards certain
projects.Bogdanovwishedto seethe creationof a proletarian literature. Mayakovsky wanted to smash bourgeoisart
but set up an oral art involving the recitationof poems and
songs.Meyerhold was involved as director of the theatrical
sectionof the PeoplesCommissariatfor Popular Culture and
initiatedthe actingof propagandaplays,in which the actors
were describedas 'shock troops' in their service of the
of
revolution.Holever, thesepeoplewere not representative
towards
the generaland dominant attitude of the revolution
art, and they were eventuallysilencedor crushed by the
dominant trend; their actualsignificanceI will return to in a
moment in discussingBrecht. The official and prevailing
attitude is well indicated by a variety of quotations from
Lenin.
First of all L.eninattackingthe Proletkult movement.
lf rvedo not clearlyunderstandthat a proletarianculture can be built
only'on the basisof a preciseknowledgeof the culture createdby the
entireevolution of humanity and by the integrationof this culture, if
TheFroudulent Statusof Art in Marxism
'15
we do not understand that, we cannot fulfil our task. Proletarian

culture is not something that suddenly surfaceswithout our having
any idea of where it comesfrom, it is not the invention of the people
who claim to be specialistsin proletarian culture. All of that is
preposterous.... All the culture thot Capitalism has left us must be
carefully preserved [my italics] and it is on this basis that Socialism
must be built, otherwiseit will be impossiblefor us to createthe life
of communist society. And this science,this techniqueand this art
are in the hands and minds of specialists.(Quoted in H. Arvon's
Marxist Esthetics)
Here. then, we have Lenin insistingon the preservationof

the existing establishedbourgeois culture in the face of an
apparentlyanti-art movement.Elsewhere,however,we find
him clingingto the sameattitude only this time in opposition
to avant-garde,bourgeoismodernism.
We are too great iconoclastsin painting. The beautiful must be
preserved.taken as an e:iample,as the point of departureeven if it is
'old'. Why tLrrn
o u r b a c k so n r v h a t i s t r u l y b e a u t i f u l ,a b a n d o ni t a s
thc-point of departure for further der,elopmentsolelv becauseit is
'old'? Why worship
t h e n e w a s a g o d c o m p e l l i n gs u b m i s s i o nm e r e l y
b e c a u s ei t i s ' n e w ' ? N o n s e n s e B
! o s h a n d n o n s e n s e !l { e r e m u c h i s
pure hypocrisy and of course unconscious deference to the art
f a s h i o n sr u l i n g t h e W e s t . W e a r e g o o d r e v o l u t i o n a r i ebs u t s o m e h o w
w e f c c l o b l i g e dt o p r o v e t h a t w e a r e a l s o u p t o t h e m a r k i n m o d e r n
c u l t u r c lI , h o w e r e r ,m a k e b o l d t o d e c l a r em y s e l l a ' b a r b a r i a n 'I.t i s
b e y o n d m e t o c o n s i d e rt h e p r o d u c t s o f e x p r e s s i o n i s mf,u t u r i s m ,
c u b i s n ra n d o t h e r ' i s m s ' t h e h i g h e s tn r a n i f e s t a t i o o
n f a r t i s t i cg e n i u s .
I d o n o t u n d e r s t a n dt h e m . I e x p e r i e n c en o j o y f r o m t h e m . ( V .
Lenin, (ln Literoture and Art)
Despite the referenceto barbarism Lenin is clearly no

barbarian.Like the rest of the BolsheviksLenin is a highly
'cultured'
individual.What he is settlingfor is solid, conservative, bourgeois art, rvhereasthe unsettling, constant,
pseudo-revolutionary
movementsof modern art are cast off.
Howel'er, Lenin's commitment to the revolutionary programmes means the issuing of specific directivesto the
contemporaryart life, of which the above is only a negative
76
instance.More positive instancesare as follows.

... Art belongstothepeople. Its roots should be deeplyimplanted in
the very thick of the labouring masses.It should be understoodand
l o v e d b y t h e s em a s s e s . . .I t m u s t s t i r t o a c t i v i t y a n d d e v e l o pt h e a r t
instinctswithin them. Should we serveexquisitesweetcake to a small
minority while the worker and peasantmassesare in need of black
bread?...
... For art to get closerto the peopleand the peopleto art we must
start by raising general educational and cultural standards. (Both
frorn Lenin's On Lilerature and Artl
This may soundlike a revolutionaryprogrammebut in fact

when consideredit fully accordswith the ideologyof art. At
the ideologicallevelart is held to be a universalactivity which
because it deals in fundamental human matters should
concerneveryone.To insist,therefore,on a processof social
organisationto make this so is not to challengethe bourgeois
v a l u e ' a r t ' b u t r a t h e r t o i n s i s to n r e a l i t y c o n f ' o r m i n gt o t h e
value. The doctrine of Socialist Realisrnwhich the Soviet
Union adopts as the standardu'hich Soviet art must attain
insists,at the sametime as insistingon art aiding the process
of revolution, on it universalisingthe valuesof the society.
S o c i a l i s tR e a l i s n r. . . d e n r a n d so f t h e a r tj s t a t r u t h f t r l , h i s t o r i c a l l y
e o n c r c l er e p r c s c ' n t a t i oonf r e a l i t v i r t i t s r c v o l r . r t i o n a rdi e v e l o p r n c n t .
N l c r r e o v eh
r ,e m u s t c o n t r i b u i et o t h e i d e o l o g i c atlr a n s f o r n t a t i o na n d
t h e e c l L r c a t i oonf t h e w o r k e r i n t h e s p i r i t o f s o c i a l i s m .( Q r i o t e d i n
An'or.r's Mar.rist Esthet it's)
T h i s s l a t e m e n lt' r o m t h e F i r s t C o n q r e s so f S o v i e tW r i t e r s
1 9 3 4 b c c o m e st h e d o m i n a n t t h e r n e f o r t h c -a r t s i n S o v i e t
s o c i e t yu n d e r t h e ' c u l t u r a l ' d i c t a t o r s h i po f Z h d a n o v . F o r
i n s t a n c ea, s t a t e m e nbt y t h e 1 9 4 6C e n t r a lC o m m i t t e eo f t h e
C o m r n u n i s tP a r t y o f t h e S o r i e t U n i o n i l l u s t r a t e tsh e p o i n t .
-I'he
s t r e n g t h o f S o ri e t l i t e r a t u r e , r v h i c h i s t h e m o s t a d v a n c c d
l i t c r a t r . r ri e
n t h e w o r l d , l i e si n t h e f a c t t h a t i t i s a l i t e r a t u r ew h i c h h a s
anrl can havc no other intereststhan the interestsol the people, the
i n t e r c s t so f t h e S t a t e .T h e f u n c t i o n o f S o v i e tl i t e r a t u r ei s t o a i d t h e
The Fraudulent Status of Art in Marxism
7',7
State in properl]'educatingyoung people, in answeringtheir needs,

in teachingthe new generationto be strong. That is why everything
'Art for
that tends to foster an absenceof ideology, apoliticalism,
Arts' sake' is foreign to Soviet literature and is harmful to the
interestsof the people and the Soviet State. (Quoted in Arvon's
Marxist Esthetics)
Despitethesestrongsoundingstatementsa living relationship with the art of the past is preservedin Sovietsociety(the
heritage of 'serious' music, classicalballet, collectionsof
paintingsetc.) though such art has nothing to do with the
standardsof SocialistRealism,and further, and more importantly, the contemporaryart which passesthe standardsis
solidlysetin the forms and genresof solid bourgeoisart. This
latter point is so if only becauseany hint of modernismor
avant-gardismin art is prohibited. In fact, the chargeagainst
Soviet art as made by Western Marxists and endorsed by
discontented
East EuropeanMarxists(e.g.Lukacs)is that far
l"rorn being revolutionary it is decadent, bourgeois art.
H o w e v e r ,t h o s er v h om a k e t h i s a t t a c k i n s o f a r a s t h e y h a l e
somes!'mpathl'for the rnoremodernistfeaturesof bourgeois
in Westernart) are seenfrom
aft (i.e. rnoderndevelopments
i h e S o v i e ts i c l ea s s u p p o r t i n gw h a t i s d e c a d e n itn b o u r g e o i s
a l t . T h e v a r ( ' s e e n .i n o t h e r w o r d s , a s s u p p o r t i n ga r t I ' o r m s
u h i e hh a v cg i v e nL r pa n l ' p r e t e n s i o ntso s a t i s l ' iyn r e a Ip r a c t i c e
t h c ' h i g h ' i d e a l sr " r fa r t i d e o l o g y( i . c . .t h e g r a n d b o u r g e o i s
t h e o r yo f a r i ) . B o t h g r o u p sa r e , t h e n . c o r n p r e h e n d ebdy t h e
i;pectrllfflof bourgeoisart.
f h i s l a t t e rp o i n t i s j L r s ta s t r u e o f t l r c ' r sveo i c e si n V l a r r i s r n
'fltis
* t r o , o n t h e s u r f a c e ,a p p e a rt o b e a n t i - n r t .
is brought
o u t q u i r e c l e a l l y b y P i s c a t o ra n d B r e c h t i n G e r r n a n l , 'F. o r
I)iscatorif was supposedto be the caseihat art was of ncr
a()nsequence.
What was sltpposedto be of importance\r'asto
p
i
'
l i t i c aal c t i v i l 1o, n i n i p r o v i s e ds f a g e si n u o r k i n g c n g a g ei n
i:lassdistricts ot' Bc'rlin. l-hc cclntradictiorr.s
in this projcet
were ver,v clearly pointed to at the tirne in the German
C'onrmunistParty's paper Red Flog.
78

One readsin the program ... that it is not art but propaganda ... the
aim is to expresson the stagethe proletarian and Communist idea
for propagandisticand educationalpurposes.There is not supposed
to be any'estheticpleasure'.But in that casethe word theatershould
not be used: it should be called by its rightful name-propaganda.
The word theater implies art, artistic creation ... Art is too sacreda
thing for its name to be applied to vulgar propaganda ... What the
worker needsin our day is a vigorousart ... it matters little if this art
is of bourgeoisorigin so long as it is art. (Quoted in Arvon's Marxist
Esthetics)
The point is that Piscator, despitehis anti-art sounding

theory, choseto work, to practise,in theatre.Significantly
Red Flag in pointing to the contradiction identifies itself as
orthodox Marxist in its approbation of 'culture'. Brecht's
intentionsare siniilar to Piscator's.For him the function of
theatreis to do away with personalinvolvementon the part
of the audiencein the personaldrama on the stage.Theatreis
to be epic theatrewhich through the tableauxform seeksto
teach. At the level of teaching the theatie is supposedto be
givenover to the proletariat.This latter airn (the main aim) is
ironic given the subsequentfate of Brecht's plays (their
continuous performance in Western bourgeois theatre).
Horvever,Brechtchoosesto teachthrough theatre,this is the
areaof his Marxist practice,and questioningconcerningthe
practical efficacy of using the theatrical form is never
concretelyentertained.Brechtis first and foremosta man of
t h e t h e a t r er l h o w o u l d I i k e t o s e ei t ( h i s b o u r g e o i sc o n r e x t )
usedfor endsrvhichare, in a theatricalsense,pro-proletarian
but in reality are simply 'fulfilment' of the avant-gardeend
of the art spectrum.That art is of great coltcernto Brecht is
e v i d e n ti n h i s o p p o s i t i o nt o Z h d a n o va n d t h e p o s i t i o ni n t h e
Soviet Union.
l r l i s n o t c a p a b i eo f t u r n i n g a r t i s t i ci d e a sd r e a n r e du p i n o f f i c e s
irrlo rr'or(.so.f art ...
. . . C ) n l vb o o t s c a n b e m a d e t o m e a s u r L 'M
. o r e o l e r , t h e t u s t eo f
many people who are highly educated fronr the political point ot'
TheFraudulentStatusof Art in Morxism
79
view is pervertedand therefore of no importance whatsoever.(Mv

italics and again quoted in Arvon)
In statementslike theseBrecht comes clean and shows art

is for him a value in its own right quite apart from the
proletariat (importantly the proletariat never sought out
Brecht as their mentor). In this way rather than distinguishing himself from other Marxists he identifies himself as being
one. For instance,if we turn to another shade of Marxism,
Trotsky, we get the samephenomenon.
The products of artistic excellencemust be evaluated first and
foremost on the basisof their own laws, that is to say the laws of art.
(Trotsky, Literature and Revolution)
The refusal to relinquish art as a universal, ahistorical

value comes out in its clearestform in the detailed attempts
within Marxist theoreticalwriting to formulate a theory of
art. Two such theoriesI will briefly examineso as to bring
out the unacceptablecontradictions.The first is Lukacs's
and the secondVasquez'sin his recentbook Art and Society
(Vasquez'stheory grows out of Lukacs but he does claim to
transcendcertain limitations as he seesthem in Lukacs's
t heories).
Luckacs,like many other influential figuresin the formation of a Marxist aesthetics(e.g. Adorno, Benjamin,
\{arcuse)came from a rvealthy,privileged,bourgeoisbackg r o u n d .H i s f a m i l y i n B u d a p e sw
t a s a J e w i s h ,c a p i t a l i sot n e ,
ancllong before his conversionto Marxism his life was given
ovsl 1s the arts, greatlyinfluencedas he was b1'writers like
Shelley,Keats,Baudelaireand Ibsen.Given that he becomes
a convincedadherentto the theory of historicalmaterialism
it is obligatory upon Lukacs, in so far as his interest is in
aes(hetics,to give some account of the history of art.
Hower,'er,on examiningthis account it appearsmuch more
apriori and definitional than empirical and historical. The
originsof art are locatedfor Lukacsjust wherethe bourgeois
80
theory of art locates them. They are connected with the

developmentof rhythm, symmetry and decoration. We are
told that the making of useful tools causedjoy in the creators
and that this joy contained the seeds of pleasure in the
aestheticsense.There is no anthropological substantiationof
this, and no sense of the enormity of identifying prehistorical joy as embryonic aesthetic response (a notion
understood by Lukacs through the bourgeois refinementsof
his own social situation). However. for Lukacs what he
choosesto identify as decorativeart is distinguished,by him,
from aestheticworks (art proper!) on the grounds that the
lalter contains an ethical, human content, whereas the
former does not. There is no attempt, here, to locate these
divergentclassificationssocially; the investigationis quite
different. The guiding principle of the investigationis what
Lukacs already, before he starts, considersart to be. It is for
this reason that Lukacs's account of the nature of arl
constantlymovesthrough stagesrvhereit has to be distinguishedfrom some other thing (e.g. religion, science,ethics)
rvhere the distinctionsare made on the basis of handy,
definitional decisionsrather than observeddissimilarityof
social process.Thus, art is not religion becausereligion is
primarily 'other worldly' whereas art is primarily 'this
rvorldly'; and art is not sciencebecausescienceis objective
and detached,u'hereasart is subjectiveand concernednot
r','ithestablishinggeneralisations
but with showing how thc.
particular and general fit together; and art is not ethics
becauseethicsis concernedto instructin what is good for rhe
sakeof producingthe good, whc'reas
art is concernedwith an
equal presentatioltof the good and bad so that they may be
recognisedfor what they are. ln none of this is contactmade
rvith reality. Theseare just theoriesand definitional games,
and the iife of religion, art, science,ethicsnevercomesinto
view. When the levelof detail is reachedit is the detail of the
acaclemic
and scholar(the novels.the poems,their forms and
c o n t e n t s )a n d n o t t h e d e t a i lo f t h e a r t l i f e b e i n gl i v e d .
In Lukacs rvhatwe get in the final analysisis a normative
TheFrqudulent Statusof Art in Marxism
8l
commitment to a realist theory of art (a compound of

Socialist Realism and Critical Realism) and an attempt to
show that ort proper is what is in conformity with this theory.
There is some historical recognition of art not always having
been a clearly separable phenomenon, that it has been
entangledwith religion for instance(the bourgeoistheory of
religiousart), and that it only becomesseparatedclearly from
the Rennaissanceonwards, but this does not give rise to
questionsabout the relationshipbetweenwhat exists socially
and what existentsystemsof classificationthere are. It is the
theory of realism which predominates and structureswhatever fundamental questioning takes place, and this theory
despite all the finessing that goes into its construction
(reflection,speciality,type etc.) producesa senseof what art
is which has been, and is, at variance with different versions
of what constitute art within Marxism alone, quite apart
from theoriesof art outside this tradition. Moreover, the
theory fails to uniquely characteriseart. In distinguishing
betweenart and scienceLukacs says,
Art createsthe u'orlciof men alwaysand exclusively... In every facet
of the reflection(contrary to scientificreflection) man is presentas a
d e t c r m i n a n t ;i n a r t t h e w o r l d o u t s i d e o f m a n o n l y o c c u r s a s a
m e d i a t i n g e l e m e n t o f h u m a n c o n c e r n sa n d f e e l i n g s .( G . L u k a c s
S p e c i a l i r ya, s a C a t e g o r yo f A e s t h e t i c st r a n s l a t e di n B . K i r a l y f a l v i
of Gyorgy Lukacs, Princeton University Press, 1975)
The.4esthetics
It seemsthat for I-ukacsthe aim of scienceis to find the

universal(althoughit works through hypothesesand approxirnations), whereas art is concerned to explore how the
and that which is individual (somethingmini-seneralisations
mally interpretedand minimaliy understood)interconnect.
All of this is vague but the point seemsto be that art is
concerned with what is human, and how that which is
particular-humanis caughtup in and relatedto varioussocial
However, to limit one's contrasts
and materialaggregations.
ol' rvays of understandingthe world to the neat divide
in an extremely
characterised
betweenart and science(science
I
82
positivistic spirit) is artificial and certainly much too easy.

What about historical materialism itself? This is to say
historical materialismis not just a philosophical theory, not
just a piece of ontology, it is a methodology. Would not an
historical materialistanalysisof a slice of the world not meet
the conditions which are supposed to distinguish art from
other modes of interpretation? Certainly Sartre has conducted studies which are not regarded as part of his artistic
output, but which would appear to satisfy Lukacs' requirements for art (e.g. Sartre on Genet). It is true that Lukacs
also seesart as being in somesensemimetic but this in itself is
insufficient for 'true' art without the addition of the realisr
condition. As Kiralyfalvi says of Lukacs' theory,
... true art makes it possiblefor man to gain a broader and deeper
consciousness
of his development,purting the perspectiveof his life
into a clearerfocus so that he knows where he comes from and whar
direction he is going, and creating in him a .moral readiness,to
participareposirivelyin socieryand Iife. (B. Kiralyfalvi Aestheticsof
Gyorgy Lukacs p.144)
What then makesart important, or makes art arl, is that

the possibility of this sort of insight is opened up by the
work. I cannot seethat this condition is not met by other
products, which (products)are not regardedby Lukacs, or
anyone else,as art. The only possibility of some uniquely
distinguishingcondition left in Lukacs' analysisis that only in
the mimetic form can theseinsightsproduceprofound effecrs
in human beings. Whether or not such a psychological
responseis what Lukacs regards as stemming from the
mimetic form, it is certainlythe casethat he thinks works of
art are important becauseof their capacity to produce the
efficaciousinsight. However, as we shall see when, in a
moment, we turn to this aspectof Lukacs'stheoriesany sense
of the empirical has been abandonedby him for the private
convictionsof the aesthete.
Not only does Lukacs' theory inadequatelydistinguishart
from other enterprisesbut it also has to be stretchedverv
TheFraudulent Statusof Art in Morxism
83
hard to apply to the acknowledgedrange of art forms e.g.

music, dancing, pottery. Music, for example, gets in on the
grounds of its being concernedwith the reflection of man's
inner feelings. In other words, the outer world is left
untouched though the inner world is portrayed. To this
extent the condition of realism is satisfied. However, the
inclusion of music is half-hearted as is demonstratedby the
fact that modern writers like Kafka and Beckett do not for
Lukacs produce true works of art becauseof, in his view,
their extreme subjectivism.It is difficult to seewhy what is a
fault in literature can be the one quality which makes music,
'true' art. In fact on analysismusic
as an art form, capableof
does have for Lukacs a lesserplace. He seesit as having a
lesser effect on the way a person lives his life than does
literature, but this view is totally unsubstantiatedin fact, and
as a matter of fact is false. For evidenceof this one needs
only to turn to the next chapter and survey the details which
are includedon the lives of jazz musicians.
It is ju.st vzhereLukacs' theoriestouch ground that it is
possibleto see how theoreticaland how out of touch they
are. Thus in writing about the effects of art, in order to
justify the value of art, we get passagessuch as the following.
That moving and shaking effect, that convulsion which is provided
by tragcdy,comedy.the novel, the good painting, the good statueand
the musical creation, that purging of our passions, causesus to
beconte'better human beings than \r'e were, to develop in us the
readinessfor the morally good. (Lukacs, tlrt as Super'structure,
L l u n . e a r l '1. 9 5 5 .T r a n s l a t e di n K i r a l y f a l v i P ' I l 8 ' )
remains
T h c e t t e c to f t h e a r t w o r k u p o n m a n a f t e r t h e e x p e r i e n c e
almtrstcompletelyimperceptible,and only a whole seriesof similar
expcrienceswill reveal visible attitudinal, cultural, etc., changes,
frequently, of course,a singleart work may bring about a complete
lurnabout in a man's life. (Lukacs, The Peculiarity of Aesthetics,
B e r l i n , 1 9 6 3 .K i r a l y f a l v i p . 1 2 0 . )
to art is not beingapproached

It is obviousthat the response
84
as a genuine, social datum. As a matter of fact are people,

who have been frequently exposedto the kind of realist art
Lukacs recommends,better or morally improved people in
Lukacs' understanding of that notion? If so a sizeable
number of intransigent, Western bourgeoisiewould satisfy
the condition of having been frequently exposed to the
requisite objects.
The significant fact about Lukacs is that he enters Marxism as a way of fulfilling what his commitment to the
ideology of art demandsof him. However, once inside the
movementhe seeksto retain his senseof art (an historically
conditionedsense)againstthe unexpectedadversepull of the
movementonceit hasbuilt up its own unpredictablemomentum. This is the function of Critical Realism which allows
Lukacs to retain rnore of the solid centre of bourgeoisart
than is possiblewith a strict adherenceto SocialistRealism
plus the respect, which goes with it, for the art of the
n o n - i m m c d i a tpea s t .
Vasquezfinds Lukacs' insistenceon realism ,ir closedand
normativeaesthetic'(rlhich it is) and proposesinsteada rnore
generaltheory, based on Marx's Economic qnd philosophir:
Manuscripts, as constituting a more satisfactory Marxist
f h e o r l , o f a r t . T h c -b a s i so f t h i s t h e o r f i s t h e v i c . r vr h a t m a n ' - s
essence
is creativity(a vieu discussedearlier)and rhat rvhen
t h i s c r e a t i v i t yi s e x e r c i s e df o r i t s e l f ( i . e . f o r t h e i o y o 1 '
creafil'it,v)and not fr)r soffienecessaryutilitarian end, thclr
we have art. Thus scientific activity and purelv practical
a c t i ' i t i e sa r e e . r c l u d e df r o m t h e r a n g e o f a r t i s r i ca c t i v i t i e s ,
u,hereasthe useof human creativityfor the mere purposeof
d o i n g , r v h a t i s c a l l e d , h u m a n i s i n gt h e w o r l d ( a f f i r m i n g
o n e s e l fa s a h u n r a nb e i n g )t a k e so n e i n t o t h e a r e ao f a r t .
Sinceman is essentiallya creativebeing, hc createsu,orks of art t,.t
feel his affirmarion, his creativity,that is, his humanity. (A.S.
Vasquez,Arl ancl Society, Nc.w york, 1973,p.44)
Thc sirnilarir_v'bcrwee
an
rt and labor thus lies in their sharecl
r e l a t i o n s h i pt o t h e h u m a n e s s e n c et;h a t i s , t h e v a r e b r : t t r c r e a t i ' e
TheFroudulentStatusof Art in Morxism
85
activitiesby meansof which man producesobjects that expresshim,

that speak for and about him. (ibid., p.63)
The usefulnessof a work of art is determined not only by its
capacity to satisfy a determinate material need, but by its capacity to
satisfy the general need that man feels to humanize everything he
comesin contact with, to affirm his essenceand to recognisehimself
in the objective world he has created.(ibid., p.65)
This is a very generaltheory of art and the main trouble

with it lies in this generality.The generalityallows Vasquezto
estabiishthe connectionwith the Econornic and Philosophic
Manuscripts and, in terms of some pre-establishedsenseof
what art is in Vasquez'smind, the theory doesnot obviously
conflict with anything. However, insufficient thought has
been given to what the theory might include. The scant
;"ecognitionthat what human beingsengagein beyond art are
activitiesof practical necessitydoes lessthan justice to the
richnessof human activity (for instance,how are games,or
sport excludedby the theory?). Moreover, certain activities
w i t h i n a r t , w h i c h d o n o t f i t V a s q u e z ' ss e n s eo f a r t , a r e
rubbed out as not being in accordancewith the theory and
thereforerubbedout as art, when in fact it is an avant-gardist
prejudicewhich preventsVasquezfrom seeingthenras fitting
t h e t h e o r y . 1 1i : ; V a s q L r e zc' so n t e n t i o n ,a n d a n a v a n t - g a r d i s t
contention,that sclmework (especiallvin the area of painti n g ) i s p h o t o g r a p h i ca n d i s c o n c e r n e dm e r e l yt o i n r i t a t et h e
rvorld and, therefore, on the general theory not art. The
p o i n t n i a d ei s t h a t i t d o e sn o l s p r i n g f r o n r l n i l n ' s c r e a t i v i t y :
i n r i t a t i o i ri s n o t c r e a t i o n . ' f o a r g u e i n t h i s r v s y s t r o r v s
entrenchmeiil.in narrow', empiricist thcories of mind and
s h o u ' sa, l s o ,n o r e c o g n i t i o no f r e c e n tw o r k i n a r t h i s t o r y( e . g .
Coinbricl-r's.4rr und Illusictn).It is fairl,v obvious, il' one
p a u s c si o t h i n k , t h a t t h e r ec a n b e n o s u c ht h i n g i n p a i n t i n ga s
I'rom reality. One cannot observethe world,
straightcop-v-ing
decide hon' it is and thereby kno,uvexactly what has to be
done to the two-dinrensionalsurface (tlre painting in the
m a k i n g )t o p r o d u c ca l i k e n e s s( a n y k i n d o f l i k e n e s sp, h o t o graphicor not). The problernof producing a likenessis that
86
of working out what one has to put down in two dimensions

that will produce a senseof equivalenceto what one has
observedin the sceneto be painted. This problem cannot be
solvedwithout resortingto invention. If 'creativeman' is not
some bogus, precious concept it must apply surely to inventive activities of this sort.
Vasquezknows, quite apart from his generaltheory, what
he regardsas art. His concept of art embracesthe history of
art, the period of bourgeoisart covered by Lukacs' Critical
Realism and modern art (recent Western, bourgeois art).
Vasquezis then a Western Marxist who is prepared to lend
his'enlightened'voiceto the Marxist strugglein the Western
hemisphere(e.g. Cuba). The theory of art is secondary, the
lived concept of art primary. This is brought out very clearly
in another context where Vasquezseemsto seefor a moment
that popular culture satisfiesthe generaltheory of art. So he
allowsit is art, which is surprisingin so far as the culture in
which it is produceddoes not so regard it, but as he allows
t h i s s o h e w i t h d r a w si t . I t i s a r t , b u t n o t ' t r u e ' a r t , a n d t h i s
comes from the theorist who claims that aesthetictheory
must be againstnormativismand the layingdown of rules for
creativity.
. . . u n d e r c a p i t a l i s t c o n c l i t i o n st h e u t i l i z a t i o n o f m a s s m e a n s o l
d i s t r i b u t i o n r e s u l t si n t h s d i s t r i b u t i o n n o t o t - g r e a t a r t , b u t o l
i n f c - r i o r ,b a n a l , r o u t i n e a r t n h i c h c o r r e s p o n d rl r r t h e t a s t e so f t h e
e n r p t ) . h o l l o u a r r d d ! ' p e r s o n a l i z em
(ibid.. p.241\
d a s sr n a n
This art he calls massart and it is identified as foilows,

'I'hese
p r o d u c i sa r e i n t h e l i t e r a r y f i e l C , s t o r i c so i ' r h e T r u e C o n l ' e s s i o n : r; ' a r i e t y ,p o p u l a rr o n t a n t i cf i c t i o n o f e v e r ys ( ) r t( i n c l u d i n gr a i l i o
a n d t c l e v i s i o ns e r i a l s a
) nd the greal majorrtvof crjmeand detecLive
n o i e l s ; i n n r u s i ct h e g r e a t m a j o r i t t ' o f p o p u l a r s o n g s :a n d i n i i l m t h e
grcirt majoriiy of conrnrercialfilrns. (ibid., p.21a)
The experiences
associatedwith the consumptionof this
rnaterialand the kind of individuals(most of the people in
the society)u'ho have thern are describedb-vVasquezin the
followins rvav.
TheFroudulentStatusof Art in Marxism
87
In this type of pseudo-artfeelingsare stifledand the most profound

passions
Massart is nothingbut falseor falsifiedart,
arecheapened.
a banalart or a caricatureof true art, an art producedentirelyto the
measureof the hollow and depersonalizedpeople to whom it
itself. (ibid., p.244\
addresses
This then is the 'culturally enlightened' Marxist's assessment of the masses(the notion with which this book began).
The view is that they need to be raised up to a form of society
'true' art is the fulfilment of the human
in which after work
being. Vasquezrefers approvingly to Marx on this point.
Whether consideringAeschylus,Goethe, or Balzac, Marx regarded
their creationsas sublime expressionsof the universalhumanity the
proletariat is called on to realize ... (ibid., p.274)
I have tried to show that this is one of the main theoretical

objectivesof European-inspiredMarxism and that this is as
much a preservationas a destructionof bourgeoissociety. It
is to achievethis that the massesare encouragedto organise,
struggle,suffer, die and kill. I hope they have betterthings to
do. Marxism is a false liberation from the moral straightjacket of bourgeois society just as, in the next chapter, the
notion that art isjozz too is a falseliberation. Your liberation
dependson havingno more to do with this moral codethan is
necessaryto keep your eye on it, like rvatchingout for the
traffic policewho alsoappear,in their unmarkedvehicles,as
being at one with the masses.
Chopter Four
A W A R N I N GO F T H E
C O R R U P T I N GI N F L U E N C E
OF ART ON
POPULAR CULTURE
If art is an historically localised set of social processesand
not a basic human orientationthen the statusof jazz as art
will dependupon its being located within thesesocial processes.Less generally,if art is a form of life sustainedand lived
out by various societiesthat either were part of or grew out of
the generalseventeenth
century European situation, and if
proliferation
of and changesin this form of
throughout the
life stratasat the top of the socialhierarchiesinvolved(all the
societiesinvolved being hierarchical)were and are responsiblefor the sustainingand living out of the form of life, then
the statusof jazz as art will concernlocatablesocialprocesses
within these stratas. As jazz. is the creation of coloured
people,in the Southern Statesduring the early part of this
centuryand the latter quarterof the last, it did not begin its
life within the higher social straias, or where there were
connections they were remote from these higher stratas'
concern with the art continuum. lf, therefore, jazz has
as a recognisedart form, or if,
subsequently
beenestablished
as seems more in keeping with the facts, inconclusive
attemptshavebeenmadeto establishjazz as such,then there
should be locatablesocialtracesof the attemptedprocessof
integrationwithin the appropriatesocialstrata.At a superficial level (the level of critical activity) thesetracesare easily
uncovered. A consciousnessof jazz. as a possible art form
emergesin the 1930sand is generatedby the criticalactivities
90
of some European intelligentsia, localised mainly in France,

Britain and Scandinavia. There is at this time a similar
though distinguishableprocess at work in the States, i.e.
orchestral iazz. Gradually this consciousness spreads to
encompassAmerican critics, jazz men and a jazz public (the
latter categoryis by the time of this spreada non-proletarian,
intellectual,ambiguously bourgeois, anti-bourgeoisgroupthough there are fluctuationsin this e.g. Bop audiencesin the
Statesand Trad audiencesin Europe during the 50s).
It would not be difficult, therefore, to make plausible the
argumentthat acceptancein the appropriate socialarea was a
sufficient condition for jazz being a legitimate art form. In
constructing this argument one could set up amusing contrasts betweenthose committed to jazz as an art form, and,
therefore, to the importance of discrimination (paradigm
casebeing the intellectual,jazz critic and musicologist)and
many of those within jazz, particularly jazz musicians,who,
becausenot obsessedby the spectre of the art category,
appal, or, at least, surprise, Lhejazz critic with their lack of
discrimination. For example, Charlie Parker very much
enjoyed the piece of music Slow Boat to China.
To detail this case,however, is not my primary intention.
My interest is more in the fact that jazz writing (the major
area where notions of jazz are made articulate)is a misinterpretationof jazz, becauseit seeksto relatejazzto an illusory
conceptof art as universal.In other words, jazz is misinterpreted becauseit is seenthrough the ideological function of
the art concept,whereasjazzhas enteredwithin the boundaries of art becausethis seeingof it through the ideological
function has been socially realised.
To begin with let me briefly indicate the way in which
jazz is related to the art category as far as the most musicological or intellectual jazz critics are concerned. To this
end I would like to draw attention to the writing of Hodier
(A. Hodier, Jozz lts Evolution and Essence), Newton
(F. Newton, The Jazz Life) and Marothy (J. Marothy,
Music and the Bourgeois. Music and the Proletorian.
A Warning on the Corruptive Influence of Art
9l
Hodier is a French intellectual and musicologist, Newton,

who is apparently E. Hobsbawn in disguise, disclaims any
proficiency as a musicologist, but brings to jazz writing an
informed sociologicalsense,and Marothy is an Hungarian,
orthodox Marxist and musicologist.
There are real differencesbetweenthesewriters concerning
the particular forms of jazz they wish to most highly
recommendor prescribe.Hodier believesthe history of jazz
has produced a classicalperiod of jazz (for Hodier the period
between 1935-45)and that jazz before and since has been
inferior. Newton, on the other hand, is prepared to accept
the whole of what passesin contemporaryjazz circlesf or real
1azz, whereas,Marothy is committed to reol jazz (i.e. noncommercial jazz) which affirms collectiveexperienceover
against bourgeois ego-centredness.In Western jazz terms
(passtermsreally)this position leavesMarothy a 'trad fan';
one who is very much opposedto modern developmentsin
jazz. Despitethesedifferencesthere is somethingwhich links
thesethree writers. None of them believesthat the achievementsof jazz measureup to what they would considerto be
the great achievements
of compositionalart-music.They all
have great enthusiasmfor jazz, and find in it values far
above, as they would considerthem, the valuesof popular,
eommercialmusic, for which they all expressa disdainful
loathing.Nell'ton,for instance,saw 50s rock n' roll as music
f'or moronic masses.In fact, compared with 'high-culture'
music both Neu'ton and Marothy find in jazz refreshing
rlualities. For Neu'ton, jazz, has been a democratic, antisrrobbishactivity, and for l\{arothy jazz.hasbeenthe healthy
voice of the revolutionary proletariat, as opposed to the
d e c a d e n vt o i c eo f a m o r i b u n d b o u r g e o i s i e .
D e s p i t et h e s ec o n c e s s i o ntso t h e v a l u e o f j a z z , w h e n i t
c o m e st o t h e p o i n t o { ' s u p p o s i ntgh a t a b s o l u t ej u d g e m e n t sa r e
pt'rssibleall three critics see the lazz tradition as having
produced nothing equal to what they regard as the great
achievements
of art music. Marothy believesthat the kind of
jttzz,of which he approves,is a proletarianfolk music, which
92
might subsequentlybe utilised by somegreat post-revolutionary composerfor the endsof 'true' art. Newton, also, finds it
meaningful to classify jazz by means of the folk category.
For Newton, jazz is an urban, folk music, which, surprisingly has beenable to maintain itself despitethe commercialization of most forms of life within capitalist society. For all
three critics (two of whom, Hodier and Newton, are highly
esteemedin jazz circles)jazz has failed, or simply has not
produced great works of art, but in a scaleof value which has
'high' art-musicat the top, and commercial,pop-musicat the
bottom (all three are committed to this scale)jazzis very high
up the scale.
The positioning of jazz, in the most intellectual of critical
writing, correspondsclosely to the general position of jazz
within the culture. Within jazz itself, from the 1940s
onwards, practitionersof jazz, writers on jazz, who deal with
the subjectin a more anecdotalway than Hodier etc., (e.g.
Nat Hentoff,) and many jazz fans have been convinced that
jazz is a new art form, created in America, mainly, though
not exclusively,by negroes, and that lazzmen have an
identity as artists. (Hodier etc., allow that most jazz musicians have greatertechnicaldexterity than high-brow musicians.apart possiblyfrom keyboard players.)However, this
internal convictiondoes not quite equal the generalinstitutional position of' jazz. A few examplesillustrate this. For
instance,the bulk of BBC's jazzprogrammesoccur on Radio
2late at night, indicatingboth that they are not programnes
for the massof Radio I and 2's audience,and that they are
not for the Radio 3 audience.Radio 3 doesput out a few jazz
programmes,Jazz in Britain and Jazz.Record Requestsbut
they are very much squeezedinto minority slots. This is no
conspiracyagainstjazz on the part of the BBC, but reflects
their Audience ResearchDepartment'sfindings on the jazz
public. Thus, the main bulk of peopleinterestedin 'serious
music'are not very interestedin jazz, and the sameis true of
the audiencefor 'light music'and pop. The jazz audiencehas
some respect for 'serious music', and on the whole is
disdainful about commercial,pop music.
A Worningon the Corruptive Influence of Art
93
The complex of attitudes surrounding jazz then, places it

on the borders of art music. A situation like this is, of course,
fluid, but for the last fifteen years the jazz situation has
remained rather static as major social changeshave gone on
apace without them taking up the jazz experience.In the 50s
things were different, becausea young, middle-classstudent
'purist' interest in jazz. At
audiencedevelopeda short-lived
that point, jazzwas enteringthe art category at some speed,
as is evidencedby the number of serious books published
about jazz at that time. However, when the student bourgeoisieof the 60s turned away from jaz.z to developments
within pop music, jazz ceasedto develop in any major social
sense,though this does not reflect on changeswithin jazz
stylesduring this time. Jazz is today dealt with occasionally
in a serious,intellectualway by the more serious,intellectual
papers,but when this happensit happensas part of a column
pop music. ln other words,
devotednormally to progressive,
it is not a standard, regular feature of the art world. but it ls
on thebordersof it. The depictionof jazz as a folk music by
intellectualcritics is a positive'indication of its position. By
s a y i n g ' f o l k m u s i c ' t h e c r i t i c i s s a fi n g ' t h i s i s a m u s i cI s t a n d
outsideof, it is not the music of m1' socialgroup, but it is a
musicthat grows authenticallvout of real, socialexperience
and is, therefore,valuable'.Of course,the critic qualifiesthe
n o t i o n o f ' f o l k ' b y w o r d sl i k e ' u r b a n ' o r ' p r o l e t a r i a n ' .
N{y interest,as it rvasstatedearlier,can now be presented
more accurately.It is an interestin the misinterpretations
of
iazz which have resultedfrom the actual bringing of it into
ihe fringes of art by means of r,'ariousperceptionsof it
ihrough the ideologicalfunction of the conceptof art (i.e. art
as a universalactivit]').One of rny main complaintsrvill be
that the applicationof art, as a univer-.alcategory,to jazz.has
blunted a perceptionof jat.z as particularity.
94
In order to explore this theme I shall begin by concentrating

on the origins of jazz. Jazz, as Newton is eagerto point out,
is not a definable entity; it is an organic entity which has
different, though related, significancesat different times. A
concrete point of departure on the beginningsof lazz is A
Pictorial History of Jazz by Keepnews and Grauer Jr. On
looking through the early photographs one notices changes
taking place in the style of the photography. The very earliest
photographs fulfil the minimal function of the photograph.
The membersof the bands are assembledso that they can all
be seen.They carry their instruments.In many casesthey
wear uniformi the uniform of the band. The individuals are
all assembled
on the basisof them beingmembersof a band.
The individualband memberslook as though they have been
made uncomfortable by being photographed; clearly, the
photographis not being usedb-vthem (individualby individual) for exhibitionist,self-advertisement.
The photographs
could almost be photographsof convicts,i.e. photographsof
those who would prefer not to be photographed.Despite
this, the photographsprobablyoriginatefrom the musicians'
desireto be photographed.Photographyis itself new and its
applicationto colouredpeoplerare. Even in 1939photographic servicesfor colouredpeoplein the South were poor as is
evidencedin the rvell known letters from Bunk Johnson to
FreciericRamsey.lr, on his inability to send Ramseyphorog r a p h so f h i m s e l f - ' l ' m p r e t t y s u r e t h a t y o u a l l k n o w j u s r
ho*, everythingis down South rvith the poor colored matn.
The servicehere is really poor for colored people.'
Horvever,a band as a whole is a larger economicpossibili t y ' t h a na n i n d i v i d u a l .a n d N e w O r l e a n s ,i n t h e l a s t c e n t u r - v ,
afforded color:redpeople-qreaterfreedom than most orher
areas in the South. To be photographed itself conferred
sfatus.Slaveryis only 30 yearsbehind the recordingof these
assemblies.
The band givesthe negro statusin his own eyes.
l-he band is to be identifiedwith the liberationof the negro,
a l t h o u g ht h i s v a l u ei s d o u b l e - c ' d g eTd h. e b a n d ' sd r e s ss t y l ei s
military and bandsand music were an important part of the
A Warningon the Corruptive Influence of Art
95
liberating armies. The musicians' instruments are in all

probability instruments left over from disbanded military
bands. They have, then, a symbolic significance,as well as
and as signs
conferring statusas piecesof property possessed,
photographs
personal
skill
These
or expertise.
conceal a
of
shyness,a lack of social confidence in the photographic
situation, but also a preparednessto stand and be photographed becauseof what the band and being a member of it
signified.
As jazz spreads,so as to take in wider audiences,so the
style of the photographsin the Keepnewsand Grauer pictorial history change.The main bulk of the examples,in the
changedstyle, occur in the eariy 20s, but the style can be
found severalyearseither side of this period. This second
batch of photographstestify to the musiciansas socially
acceptableperformers of some accornplishment.The air of
social acceptabilitvis induced by a consciousphotographic
style.The bandsare posed.It is no longer sufficientto have
everyonepresent and so make surethat they calr be seen.The
content of the photograph is now carefully arranged.The
whole effect is one of neatness,precision plus shades of
'fhe
dignity.
ensembleis chic. The fashionablestyle of the
20s, involving a preferencefor whole shapesbounded by
cic'arcontours,all slightlyeraggeratedbv a penchantfor the
s l e n d e r i, n v a d e st h e p h o t o g r a p h i cp r e s e n t a t i o nT. h e p e r f o r mers, then, are presentedrvithin the framervorkof what is
f a s h i o n a b l eo, f w h a t i s o f t h e m o m e n t .f r o r t h i s r e a s o n ,t h e y
are prescntedas acceptableand desirable.The.vare part of
the sc'ene.Where the photographsare of colouredmusicians
this is to
the,vare presentedas membersof the chic r:nsemble,
say that the clean. conceptualcontour <tf bond bounds the
presentalion o1' the performers. In these photographic
we are not treatedto off-duty poses,the performers
sessions
renrainpart ol'a fashronable
decor.Ti-reyare surroundedby a
galazyof glearling instruments;they are the playersof these
i r r . s t r u m e n tTs h. e k i n d o f p l a y i n gw h i c h r e s u l t si s s u g g e s t e d
by a distinction within the photographsin this style. Many
96
Art qn Enemy of the People
are of the performers sitting in their placeson the bandstand;

they come across as smooth and well-behaved. In other
words they know their place. They are not slavesfrom Congo
Squarein New Orleans.
However, just as many of the photographs are posed shots
of the band in action.The actionis simulated.The overriding
compositional structure owes nothing to realism. The
emotionalcontentof thesephotographsis one of rakishness
and excitement. The smooth, well-behaved, coloured
musiciansindicate,in thesephotographs,the kind of music
they play, or, and perhapsbetter, the kind of music they
don't play. The more formal poseis underminedby the more
anarchic one, though the anarchic pose is not genuinely
anarchic; the orgiastic impulse is still rvell-repressed,
but,
now, it is showing. The musiciansdon't play stiff, formal
music, they play music vvhichis of 'norv', which is fashionable, which repudiatesthe past.
The bands advertisethenrselvesas being Creole, rvhich
strictlyinterpretedmeans,or meant,of [-atin origins,though
b o r n i n t h e C a r i b b e a na, n d t h e r e f o r e n
, ot of Africanorigins.
Houever, thc' conccpt of Creole in employ'mentwas a
c o n n i v e cdl u p l i c i t , vf e e d i n go i f t t s l i t e r a lm e a n i n g .T o d a y t h e
orciinarl'urrderstandino
g f C r e c t l e ,i f n o t i t s d i c t i o n a r , v approv'ed
m c i i n i n g ,i s t h a t o f b e i n gl i g h t - c o l o r r r eadn c io l - t h e
'fhis
C ' i i r i b b e a n( i a c k i n g t h e r e b i a c k ' a r r ; r c i a l m e a n i n g ) .
m()venrcntin the concepicantcat-''orlt
as lhr rcsull ol peoplc
o l ' v a r i o u s r a c i a l o r i g i n s p i r s s i n gf h c m s e i r t so t f ' a s C r e o l e .
T h e o r d i n a r yu n c l c r s i a : r d i nogl ' i h e c o n c r ' p g
t i r , ' eusp a u t h o r i tarian litrralncssand _v-ielr.is
to lransparenlsoilialfact. When
the Grar:erlKeepnews'photographsrveretaken, the literal
interprctationol' Creale rvas not totalll' debasedby social
'flris
abuse,and it coulclstill signil'y'soc:ial:rcceptability.
is
not to sa)"that anyone really believedthat the menrbr:rsof
Kicl Oly's Creole Jazz llanci rr.,erc
Creole, it rvas just ntore
acceptable
when el'er-"-one
engagedin the transparent{'antasy
that they were. ln terms of fashionableacceprabiliryit was
a l s oi m p e r a t i v et h a t t h e ys h o u l dn o t h e C r e o l e ;t h e i m p o r t a n t
A Warningon the Corruptive Influence of Arl
97
fact was that they should appear to be but yet be known not
to be.Here, we have an idea emergingthat I shall make a lot
of, namely that one enormously important life-project for
the negro in the USA has been living in order to dissemble.
Creole band was part, therefore, of an acceptableimage.
In addition, the bands in the photographs appear in evening
dress(there is even a band that calls itself the Tuxedo Jazz
Band). We are, then, in a different world from the marching
bands in their uniforms. Yet it is the same world, for it is
known that many musicians appeared in both contexts.
Thesephotographs from the past, present a concreterecord
of a lived ambiguity. On the one hand the negro stands
self-consciousbut obdurate, affirming the fact of his existence,on the other hand he negateshimself in dissembling
European-ness.However, what really is socially acceptable
and integratesis the ambiguity.
To bring out with more authority the meaning of this
to locatethe socialcontextfor which
ambiguityit is necessary
the photographsare bits of evidence.
Much researchhas been done and many books written
about slaveryin the SouthernStatesof which Roll Jordan
Rol/ is one of the latest examples.A resume of all that
evidenceis not u'hat I wish to reproducehere. Rather I wish
t o m a k e c o n c r e t ec e r t a i np o s s i b i l i t i eisn h e r e n ti n t h e S o u t h irn context before Reconstruction.N{uch of our retrospectr \ e t h i n k i n ga b o u t s l a l ' e r yp r e v e n t su s f r o m r e c o n s t r u c t i nigt
, r s a l i l ' c d s i t u a t i o n . F r o m a s s u m e dp o s i t i o n s o l ' r n o r a l
;uperiority we vent our spleenupon the rvhite master race
t f a i l i n gt o n o t e i n t h i s t h a t t h e r ew e r e m a n y f r e e c o l o u r e c i s
ri ho possessed
slaves)and empathiservith the suff'eringof the
n e g r o . W e r e n d t o c o n c e p t u a l i steh e s i t u a t i o ni n t e r m s o f
t)''rann)-,suffering and the unended struggle for freedom.
W h a t w e a v o i di n t h i sa t t i t u d ei s t h e s e d u c t i o no f c o n t e m p l a t ing what it was in nineteenthcentury America to be European in origins (but to have forsaken Europe) and to olvn
slaves originating from Africa (a continent shrouded in
Europeanconsciousness
by a Europeanconceptof savagery).
98
In avoiding these thoughts, we avoid, as a consequence,

locating what it was to be slavesrespondingto this situation.
Clearly, there was not just one way in which this general,
social situation was lived out. Gervase is right to affirm
paternalism as a general social project, but it is not this
elementwhich, it seemsto me, is the most influential. or the
most relevantto understandingthe early significanceof jazz.
It is the generalpossibility of debaucherythat I wish to ihow
was chosen.
ln its clearest, or least concealed form we have the
situationof white, male masters,overseersetc., having their
way with female slaves.The typical location for this is the
plantation wheremales,with power or authority, had a free
run of the field girls regardlessof existing mock, marital
relationsbetweenslaves.what sartre calls the practico-inert
reinforcesthis propensity,for in and around New Orleans
there were more coloured females than coloured males and
more white males than white females (J.W. Blassingame
Black Nev, Orlean-s).The paucity of white marriageable
femalesin the New orlea's disrricrhad led in the eighieenth
century to the king of France sendingout femaleprisoners
from Salperridre,
and to the MississippiCompany oiganising
the sy'stemknon,nas 'casketgirls', wherebygirls came from
Francewith a small chestof clothing plus a small dowry for
t h e p u r p o s eo f m a r r i a g e( p . J o h n s o n, C o o d T i m e T o w n ' i n
Nev, Orleans 1718-1968Tlrc past as prelude ed. Hodding
C a r t e r ) . A g a i n s t t h i s b a c k g r o u n dm a n y p e r m a n e n tl i a i s o n s
developedbetu'eenuhite rrralesand colouredfernales,produci.g subsequentlythe sociarneed for the categoryoi' fr..colouredsas a way of respondingto the olfspring of such
pernanenr relationships.Theserelationshipswere
atremprs
in the Nerv world context to produce substitutesfor Euiopean norr-naliry,building the substitutesout of whatever
materialu'asto hand. white femalescarcitl'and the presence
of black female slaves was, obviously, a deterrnining
practico-inert,which was accommodatedin different *uur]
The practice of using black female slavesss slovesfor sexual
A Worningon the CorruptiveInfluenceof Art
99
gratification was one prevalent way in which the accommodation was made. But against this sketch of the crude
satisfactionof physical need, by means of utilising whatever
was to hand, we needto set other facts. For instance,the fact
that white mistressestook up with slave men (Blassingame),
or the fact that negro women were taken up with for short
durationson the basisof placagearrangements(i.e. the setting
up of a mistressin an appartment). Moreover, slaves were
allowed into masters' houses for collective celebrations,
where they dressedup in fine clothes (i.e. European style
finery), indulged in sumptuous banquetry and performed
'carabine' and the 'pile chactas'. In
erotic dances,like the
Southern Louisiana Voodoo not only sustaineditself but it
drew whites into its practices,thus, in the 1850s a New
Orleansnewspaperdescribeda Voodoo ceremonyas follows,
, rithing'in
B l a c k sa n d w h i t e sw e r e c i r c l i n ga r o u n d p r o m i s c u o u s l y w
muscular contractions. panting, raving and frothing at the mouth.
B u t t h e m o s t d e g r a d i n ga n d i n f a m o u s f e a t u r eo f t h i s s c e n ew a s t h e
presenceof a very large number of ladies, moving in the highest
w a l k s o f s o c i e t y ,r i c h a n d h i t h e r t o s u p p o s e dr e s p e c l a b l et,h a t w e r e
c a u g h ti n t h e d r a g n e t .
From suchfactsarisesan idea which goesbeyondstraightforuard physicalneedas provoked by a scarcityof females.

a desire
The negroas negro engendersin white consciousness
The negro symbolises
for sexualexcessand self-indulgence.
for whitesthe obsceneand the orgiastic(if you like, the 'c'ros
p r i n c i p l e ' ) .I t i s p a r t l y f o r t h i s r e a s o nt h a t p u r i t a n w h i t e s
were so insistenton brow-beatingblacks into a tame Christian submissiveness.
Suchwhitessaw in the slaves'drums and
their dancesthe possibilityof the obsceneorgy. On this basis,
in many areas, the drum and the dance were banned. In
Catholic areas, however, what repressionthere was, was
much lesssevere,and New Orleansitself is a clearexampleof
this (thus the permitted activitiesin Congo Square).Howto be drawn into
ever, in so far as whitesallorvedthemselves
principle,
they did not do so
a celebrationof the orgiastic
.7
100
Art An Enemyof thePeople
without various forms of concealment.I do not mean by this

that their activitieswere clandestine(though often they were
this as well), but that, for themselvesin the activity, there was
an attempt made to disguisean object of desire.The disguise
took the form of Europeanising the objecr; the plaqage
arrangement would be a typical example. The represlive
mechanisms instilled by European culture assertedthemselves in structuring the debauchery (as European values
would have classified the activities). An objective was the
pursuit of the orgiastic, but the pursuit did not occur in
vacuo. The context prescribed other objectives, which were
integral with the more straightforward objective. Thus, the
orgy with blacks was a specific release; a release from
repressivemechanismsin European culture. The object was
debauchery. In more colourful language we might say the
object was the rape of Europeanideology.For the European
the orgy was a debauching.What concealedthe object of
desire,the Europeanisedblack, becamethe sexuallyexciting
contradiction.
After emancipationthe systemof slavelabour gaveway to
wage-labour.This changepermeatedall transactions,including serualtransactions.We mo\e, therefore,from a situation
in which black femalesare sexually utilised as slaves,to a
situationin which they are utilised in various forms of
prostitutiorr.The significanceof this, for NervOrleans,was
that at its height the Storyville district had 2,200 registered
p r o s t i t u t ep
s a c k e di n t o i t s 3 8 b l o c k s .T h e t o t a l n e g r op o p u l a in
Nerv
tion
Orleansal this time u'asaround 60.000.In fact the
spread of prostitution in New Orleans had threatenedto
e n g u l ft h e w h o l ec i t y u n t i l A l d e r r n a nS i d n e yS t o r y p r o p o s e d
that there should be 'a certain district outside of which it
u'ould be unlarvfulfor prostitutionto be carriedon'. Emancipation, therefore, altered only the form in which sexual
practicetook place.
The red-light district of New Orleans is, of course, an
obligatorysubjectin describingthe formation of jazz. However, the specificcontent of the New Orleansbrothel is not
A Warning on the Cotuptive Influence of Art
101
seamy
really attendedto. The normal thing is to allude to the
jazz
is an
that
the
claim
strengthen
oiiginr of iazz,so as to
New
The
life
situations.
real
frorn
iuti.nti. music, springing
It is
phenomenon'
interesting
an
ilil.unt brothel is, however,
conception
a
uniform
is
there
but
,rui g.n.rully uniform,
to a
emanatingfrom the top which pervadesmost set-ups
not
which
is
Street,
Basin
is
top
The
gr.u,., oil.tt.t degree.
most
The
Soho'
in
street
seedy
i; be confusedwith some
Hall'
iu,rlout establishrnenton Basin Street was Mahogany
white.
Lulu
Madame
called
woman
iiill trv a chubby negro
ti.r.,'in its moit obvious form, we have the contrast and
interminglingof black and white, African and European;the
deciaringitself in the debasementof what is Eurocr-rntrast
pcan. TttL,t, the house, wltich has four stories,five grand
parlours on the ground floor, 15 bedrooms on the upper
(i'e' a
i1.,,'r,all u'ith privatebaths, is called Mahogany Hall
o
u
'
ner is
l
l
s
h
o
u
s
e
)
'
b
l
a
c
k
a
b
u
t
tirre Europeanhc;use
but
White,
Madame
is
she
French,
adclressedas thor-rgh
she
(as
fact
of
matter
a
is
coloured
she
White
ihough called
guicle
of
a
in
to
referred
ls
She
Creole).
off
as
;,*rrei trerself
i
'
o
l
l
o
w
s
,
a
s
(
S
o
u
v
e
n
i
r
B
o
o
k
l
e
t
)
p
c
r
i
o
c
l
tl;r:
\.. iut cr,tcnditrnt;lrl\lir' I ttlrt .tailrl' t(rlflll()'t. hatittg ntattc lt
l!lc.iDngstttril,rll.lllLrsicancllitcrattrre.Stle'\wcil-|eaJandont.that
, . : r r ' r i l i r l r t.' ,. ,1t q ! r 1 r J r l t t t d I l t l l . ' , i r i ' tl ,t ' i i e l p i : l . c i l ! r \ l l i i n t l ' \ ll O t ! 1 1 \ '
1 ' l J 1 1 9 1 r 1' ;1. 1
i l c r c , t h e l i , w c s c c h e r s c t u p a s a n a t t r a c t i o nw i t l i i n t h c
, . r l i t l c xot 1 ' E u r o p e a nc u l t u r e .H o w e v e r .t h e m a g n i f i c e n c oe f
magnificence'
I ltr house (in tact a rather brassyancl gauci-v
g p p l ' s o f s o - c a l l e df i n e s tE u r o p e a nt a s t e ) 't h e p s e u d o .rro55
; r r i r u r eo { ' i t sh o s t s .i s a l l i n a i d o f l h e v a r i o t l ss a t i s f a c t i o ncsl l
All
; r o s t i t u t i o n .N l a h o g a n yH a l l w a s n o t a l o n e e x c e p t i o n '
T
h
i l ) et o p e s t i r b l i s h m e i lwt se r es t r u c t u r e db y t h e s ev a l u e s ' t t s ,
r l r cA i l i n g t o n i s r e f e r r e dt o i n t h e f a n t o u sl l l u e B o o k ( n o t h i n g
io do with Wittgenstein),
102

The wonderful originality of everything that goes to fit out a
mansion makes it the most attractive ever seen in this or the old
country. Within the great walls of this mansion will be found the
work of great artists from Europe and America.
Other establishmentswere run by Emma Johnson, known

as the Parisian Queen of America (to rape the Queen of
Paris) and the Countess Willie Piazza, where Jelly Roll
Morton played piano (Willie and Jelly Rol/ both being
expressionsreferring to the penis).
The significanceof theseestablishmentsis neatly summarised by Clarence Williams talking in Hentoff,s Hear Me
Tqlkin'to Yo,
And the girls would come down dressedin the finest e'ening gowns,
jttst like they were going to the opera. praces like that werJf-or
rich
p e o p l em o s t l y w h i t e .
Thesebrothelsfor the rich were not exclusivelyinhabited

b1' coioured prostitr_rtes.
Many rvhite females were also
employed.This would havehad a different significancefrom
the colouredgirl paradingin Europeanfinery, but it obvious_
Iy fitted into the overall project. It is revealingto emphasise
how diff'erent \\,asthe general sexual, fanta.sylife of the
period, as served by these establishments,compared with
contemporarl'sexual fantasy. Sex in Ne,,v,C)rleans,during
this period, rras far removedfronr the allure of kinky booti
Spider!\'oman and PVC. Even at the lower end of the New
orleans ser i'dustry the style of sexualfantasydrew on the
sanle sources.Thus, Louis Armstrong descritresthe girls
s t a n d i n go u t s i d et h e i r ' c r i b s ' d r e s s e di n ' l i n e a n d b e a u i i f u l
negligees'.
in other words apparelledin eroticawhich w'rked
t h r o u g h r h e a s s o c i a t i o nosf E u r o p ea n d h i g h c l a s s .
The top brothels were not the nests in which jazz, was
hatched.The musicfor theseestablishments
was providedbv
piano players. They were known as professo,:soi the piano,
thus, underlining the connection with European .ultrr..
B a n d s \ r e r e n o l p a r t o f t h e s e t t i n gb e c a u s et h e y w e r e t o o
103
obviouslynoisy and disruptive.There was no loud playing.

The piano becauseof its bulk was property within property.
It did not belong to the streetsor the marching bands, and
in the history of jazz, it had, at the beginning,
consequently,
a separatedevelopment.It is for this reason that early black
itself in compositionalmusic,
playingof the piano expresses
like rag-time, whereasin jazz proper we have to wait until
Ellington for this to come about. The early, colouredpianoplayerswere much closerto legitimate music than the instrumentalistsin the street marching bands and dance bands,
althoughthis divisionwas not absolute,as is evidencedby the
dil'ferentstatusof variousinstrumentsin the bands (e.g. the
violin and clarinet were more closelyassociatedwith legitintate music than the other instruments).The piano comes
into jazz, as jazz. leavesthe streetsand enters the interiors.
This movement is not simply the jazz band becoming sedenlary', it is the influenceof the jaz,z idiom and integral and
anendantsocialattitudesupon the piano-players.One of the
clcarestexpressions
of this intersectionis in the del'elopment
r.rfboogiewoogie, wherethe left hand takes up the function
trf' the guitars rhythmic chording while the right hand
t'Lrifiis
the piano tradition of filling in so as to provide a total
,'\ Cllt .
ln CountessWillie Piazza'splace Jelly Roll Morton per1 ( ) r ' n rass p r o f e s s o ro f t h e p i a n o , b u t t h e e c h o e so f j a z z

l . c l r a d e t h e s w e e tv o l u m e - l e v eol f t h e m u s i c . T h e b l a c k z
'.rhiie contrastis written into not only the name of Nlahogany
i l a l l , b u t i n t o t h c -m u s i c a la t m o s p h e r ea s w e l l . T h i s c o n t r a s t
i'. the meaning of the social experiencethat it rvas. An
, ' , t r i a t e db,u t i m p o r t a n te v e n tw h i c h e m p h a s i s et sh i s r n e a n i n g
,',a:;the closureby the federalgovernmentsof the 'Storyville'
, . l i : t r i c td u r i n g W o r l d W a r I . T h i s c a m e a b o u t w h e n f o u r
. a i l o r sw e r e k i l l e d i n t h e d i s t r i c t .A t t h e p o i n t o f A m e r i c a
',irorvingsolidarity rvith a particular European cause, it
i''ceame
necessar!'
for the authoritiesto excisethat which was
a n a f h e m at o i t .
The contrast,I havebeenexamining,is not confinedto the
r
104
sordid fringes of New Orleans society, although, in New

Orleans, prostitution was in fact more than a fringe activity.
The contrast is ubiquitous throughout New Orleansas a good
time town.
Until the 1850sNew Orleans was the musical capital of
America (H.A. Krun 'The Music of New Orleans' in
Hodding Carter's (ed) The Past as Prelude), but this is
misleadingunlesswe concentrateon dancing and ballrooms.
It is this which is the vastly popular activity. New Orleans did
have an opera house, but it was not always popular, and
probably would not have survived apart from the support of
the ballrooms, in the form of their providing alternative
sourcesof income for musicians.However, it was important
that there was an opera house, for compared with the
ballrooms, it allowed social consciousness
to live out the
contrasts I have been arguing for. It was more important
though, that there were the ballrooms.
The importance of the ballroom revealsitself when we
know the kind of socialexperienceit permitted and encouraged. Masked balls, in which social dir,'isionsof birth and
coiour were playeddown, were very popular. Prior to 1805
therewas mixed dancingwherewhite men (fathersand sons)
would come togetherto revel and dancewith free-coloureds
and siavesboth men and women. From 1805the Quadroon
Ball was introduced by an Auguste Tersier, whereby, on
Wednesdaysand Saturdays,danceswere held erciusivelyfor
white men and free-colouredworrrenonly (the categoryof
free-coloured women being easily enlargeable by any
colouredwontena rvhiteman fanciedsettingup as such).The
real significanceof this move was the removal of the
coloured male from the contert in rvhich the white male
erhibited,through the mask of socialconventions,his sexual
desires.The Quadroon Ball proved an instant success.As a
L.ouiseTastio wrote at the time.
Evcry clerk and scrivinerwho can make up a ferv dollars, hurries to
theseunhallowed sanctuaries,and launchesunreservedlvinto evert,
A Warningon the CorruptiveInfluenceof Art
105
speciesof sensualindulgence....Nor is it unusual to seemembersof

the legislature mingling freely with these motley groups' (Quoted in
Krun article)
It is in these settings,and similar ones, that towards the

end of the century the original jazz bands performed,
alternating between this role and that of marching bands.
The idea that iazz as dance music was an early twentieth
century invention of Tin Pan Alley, which is Francis
Newton's claim, seems to me quite wrong. It was at the
beginninga dance music, and more than this a dance music
within a commercial setting. The ballrooms were in competition with each other and emerging out of this commercial
'cuttin" contest,which was
rivalry we get the tradition of the
still apparent,though transformed greatly, at Mintons, when
Monk, Parker and Gillespieset about inventing a jazz that no
one elsewill be able to live with.
I have now said something about the social context in
rvhich a certain social project was lived out. A set of
simplifying contrasts help to clarify my meaning. Being
was
in New Orleanssocialexperience,
white, as encapsulated
obtaining
and
thereby
whiteness,
into
hringing blackness
somereleasefrom being white, but at the sametime not being
blac'kand remaining white. The project was contradictory. it
w.ls to be white, but not be white and to be black but not be
black (all of this from the standpoint of those who were
n'hite), it was to bring blacknessinto whitenessos o whiteness
trut at the same time thal which entered as a whitenesshad to
!rc o blackness. We might say all of this constitutes the
.4mericansettingor, at leastthe white American setting.The
grip on America is not strong but for a rvhile a
L'.Lrropean
rnther garbled version of European style is an inspiration,
The American
especiallywith certainpowerful socialclasses.
experience
is the way in which this grip is graduallydismantled. Europe is the fantasy, and in the fantasy Europe is
'debased'and this is central to being American' This can be
representedin economicterms for Arnerican capitalismis the
106
powerhouse,which is the ultimately effectivedestroyerof the

pervasivenessof European culture. But all of this is, at
present, from the standpoint of white Americans. What is
neededis an account of this complex from the other side. To
approach this I shall return to an adjunct of my main
enterprise,that adjunct being the formation of jazz.
In schematic form to be black is to be committed to a
double dissembling.First there is the being blsck, but the
having to oppear os white though revealing blackness
through the white pose. This is the demand white society
makeson blacks.The demand.however.is twofold. It is the
demand that what rs black makes itself white through dutiful
behaviour (dutiful, white labouring-classes)but that it
remainsblack, i.e. slave,third classcitizen,non-equal.This
demand is the exploitationof the blacks' productive capacity. Secondly,thereis the more seductivedemand(seductive
to those demanding) that the excitement and releaseof
blacknessbe offered through a disguiseof whiteness.The
black then dissembleswhitenessto have his blscknessexploited, but this is the external demand, and what we need to
specify is how meeting the demand is interiorised. It is
interiorisedby dissemblingthe dissembling.This is to say the
negro makesbland naivety at imitation indistinguishable,
at
an interpersonallevel, from cynical mockery. If there is an
awarenessof this duplicity there is a tendencyfor whites to
connive at it, becausethe desired object blacknessis not
simply shadesof Africa and savagery,but the send up of
uptight whiteness(this it seemsto me is a contagiouscultural
influence).
If all this soundslike an analysisof the Black and White
NlinstrelShow, it should be rememberedthat Minstrelsywas
very popuiar at this time, and it was a conrext in which all
these contrastsand ambiguities rvere played out in stark
caricatures.For instance,the rvalk around at the conclusion
of a Minstrel show involvedthe Cakewalk(see1899photo in
Black New Orleans),which was socially acknowledgedas an
impudent imitation of European, good posture and correct
107
walking (of coursewe all move like negroesnow, you know,

'float like a butterfly sting like a bee'). The blacked up whites
also celebratedthe negroes'phallic potential. Thus, they sang
of being able to bend treesuntil they had humps like camels,
or of their being able to pull a steamboatout of the river with
their fishing rods, or of how they could sail down the
Mississippion the backs of alligators which turned into sea
serpents,which they then rode for miles underwater without
breathing.Apparently when one of theseminstrelsfound his
entranceto a river blocked by a giant catfish he simply sailed
his boat right at its mouth and turned it insideout (how could
any woman resist?)(Blacking Up,R.C. Toll). For the negro
then, the dissembling whitness was made in the form of
dissembling the dissembling. To be negro was to be twofaced. The formation of jazzis one important area in which
we seethis happening.
In the work songs and early blues we are dealing with
material which, as all experts accept, was designed to be
ambiguous. There is the meaning of the song which is
acceptable to the European overseer, and there is the
sardonic,send-upmeaning(sometimesclandestinemessage)
which delightsthe singers.An attitudeis beingbred here.It is
that of not meaningwhat you say, and living to soy what you
don't meon, while at the sametime implying what you mean
and living to imply meaning. Successas a negro amongst
negroesis measuredby your successat dissembling.The
Blues makes light of suffering so as to underlineit. In the
early jazz the perfectly acceptableEuropean melody appears
to be present, and to be holding the piece together, but
somethingelseis intertwinedwithin it, which is something
sayingsomethingelse.Here, we are dealingwith what is now
called 'improvisation', but in the early days of jazz it was
known to everybodyas 'faking'. (Perhapswe have run full
circlewhen we get to Coleman Hawkins wonderingwhether
or not OrnetteColemanmight be faking and thus might not
be for real.)
At one level the European hears ingenuousattempts at
r-T
108
imitation, but as an explanation this is inadequate;there had

been many earlier, negro bands (many of them military) whq
could play the music straight. Improvisation is a feature of
West African music, but we would be woodenly empiricist if
we left it at that, i.e. one element that went into some
mysteriousbrew, brain-computerscrambleetc. Improvisation is, in terms of the background, a congealedpossibility,
but in the New World context it is a chosenpossibility, as a
way, in the first instance, of dealing with the problematical
contingencies of the work gang e.g. the passing of the
message.The improvisatory problem, in the context, is one
of working some new provocative element into a settled,
acceptable format without disturbing the format's acceptability. The skill is one of working it in. This is clearly
brought out by a J.M. Mckin writing in 1862and quoted in
Marshal Sterns' The Story of Jazz:
I asked one of theseblacks-one of the most intelligent of them ...
u , h e r et h e y g o t t h e s e s o r l g s .' D a y m a k e ' e m , s a h ! ' ' H o w d o t h e y
make them?'After a pause,evidently castingabout for an explanat i o n , h e s a i d ' l ' l l t e l l y o u , i t ' s d i s w a y . M y m a s t e rc a l l m e u p , a n d
order me a short peck of corn and a hundred lash. My friends seeit,
and is sorry for me. When dey come to de praise-rneeting
dat night
d e y s i n ga b o u t i t . S o m e ' sv e r y g o o d s i n g e r sa n d k n o w h o w ; a n d d e y
work itin ... work it in, you know, till deygetit right; and dat's de
way.
In the early jazz the improvisation feeds off the melody

and its harmony. In this way the acceptablestatementis
transformed.Europeanstandardsof strict tempo are evaded,
with the accentscoming off the beat and the stressingof
weak beats.This producesa rnusicwhich is shifty and evasive
rather than open and straightforrvard.I often feel that
musiciansbrought up on classicalmusic who, when trying to
play jatz, meet insuperabledifficulties do so becausetheir
training has beenone of alwaystrying, honestlyand openly,
to be in the right placeat the right time. In a lot of jazz you
havegot to let thingsslip a bit only to redeemyourselfat the
109
last moment, like the clown on the tightrope. The important

thing is, accordingto European standards,to be in the wrong
place,but to know how to get back in line (note how Charlie
Parker is revered for his extraordinary capacity for doing
just that). Here is the source of the senseof releasethat the
early jazz offers; i.e. a release from an on the go, goalIn this conorientated,rule-bound, repressiveconsciousness.
nection the attractions of primitive Africa and African
rhythm seem more a cultural image surrounding the music
than a feature of its intentional content. We have, in the
rnusic,the standardsand the slipping from them, and for the
musician, I am suggesting,the important thing is the living
out of the ambiguity.
This is how the blacks come into the American experience,
frorn the othel end, so to speak.The two-facednegro is the
American negro. He is deeply embeddedin the history. The
inrageof the negro passivelyacceptingSouthernpaternalism
is an obvious historical fallacy (see Negro in American
History, Director of Schools,New York City). Plantation
o\\'nersand their farnilieswere of'ten the prey of their slaves.
The history of the negro in America is full of minor
rebellions,which are inevitably foliou,ed by savagerepression. But more than this, the negro is constantlyworking a
trrstone. He runs away, he appearsto work but only doesso
at hall pace, he feignsillnesswhen he is healthy. We might
rr()te that ail oi these dodges are commonplacesin the
r.{)ntemporary
life of cynicalsectionsof the Westernproletari ; r t .T h e o b j e c to f t h e b l a c kl i f e i s t o ' t w o t i m e ' t h e w h i t e ,b o s s
race, or, it is one of the objects, and it is an object rvhich
transf'ormsthe way in which all other objectsare soughtand
t hc way the seekingof them is lived. This two-facedquality is
epparentjust rvherethe negro is often thought to be at his
rnoststraightforwardand sincere,i.e. in religiousdevotions.
t{cligious activity when permitted was for the negro the
acceptablecontext in which to be unacceptable:the context
in which to symbolicaliyrhrow off social and ideological
tyranny. Religious activity in America provided similar
m
I l0
opportunities for migrating European proletarians(Shakers,

etc.). The possibility of sincere,ingenuous responsecreated
the hesitation in white consciousness.which allowed black
religious devotions to grow unimpeded. This possibility is
more than hinted at by the European traveller Fredrika
Bremer, when she visited a Methodist church attended by
slaves(Blassingame).
The children of Africa may yet give us a form of divine worship in
which invocation, supplication,and songsof praisemay respond to
the inner life of the fervent soul!
Moreover, the mocking, deadpan tone of the negro is

evident in his religious activities. The mode of expressionis
not just the song of deliverence.Compare ihe pomposity of
the following Europeanlyric, with the sharp send-upof the
negro versionwhich follows it.
P r a i s et o t h e l i v i n g G o d
All praised be his name
Who was.and is. and is to be
For ayethro' the same
T h e o n e E t e r n a lG o d .
Ere aught that now appears
T h e f i r s t , t h e l a s t b e y o n da l l t h o u g h r s
H i s l i m e l e s sv e a r s .
God
God
God
And
is a God
don't ner"erchange
is a God
h e a l w a v sn i l l b e G o d .
Of course,blackscould not enterinto thesewhite practices

without cost. Just as black was affectingwhite, so white was
affectingblack. Whiteswerebecomingblack and blackswere
becomingwhite. Christianityas a repressiveideology takes
its toll. Baldwin's novel Go Tell it on the Mountain is a
graphic illustration of this. Despite this, religious practice
was for the negro a further opportunity for sayingone thing
but meanins another.
III
Just as the seriousintention behind the whites' religion is

evadedand sent up, so is the seriousintent behind the wtrite
man's band. This is underlined by the military associations
which the band had for the negro. The negro gains, in
American history, a concept of freedom through military
experience.In the colonial war some measure of prestige
accrued to the negro as a result of those instanceswhere it
became necessaryto employ him for military ends. In the
civil war, a successfuloutcome for the Northern armies
promisesthe abolition of slavery.This prospectis concretely
responded to by an estimated number of 186,000 negroes
joining the Northern forces, many of them defectors from
the South. About a sixth of this number failed to survive the
conflict. The North and the policy of abolition come together
as the war becomesprotracted and difficult. It is realisedthat
the economicstrengthof the South is heavily dependenton
unwilling slavelabour. Therefore,an alliancewith the emancipationistcause,on the part of the North, is a tactic which
runderminesthe security of the Southern economy. The
invitationfrom the North to the Southernslaveis to defectin
rcturn for which the North promisesemancipation(i.e. wage
iabour). The prornise of emancipationis carried into the
5.rr-rthby the victorious Northern army, much of u'hich is
ionrposedof negroes.The victory is paradedand celebrated
i.;5means of the exhibitionismof the militarl' band. Howc,.cr, the promisc is a false one, for though slaver-vis
"rholishedthe material circumstancesof the negroes' lile
ir'n)ain much as before. The concept of the band is thus
aclclptedby the negro as a way o1' saying what ;-ou don't
ilrean.Neu,Orleanshad a histor-vof rvhitemarching bands;
tlre black marching bands thereforedeveloptheir parody of
i i r ew h i t e b a n d .
fhere is one other very important predisposingfactor for
the way in which the black responseto white societyshapes
ilsc'lfin the living project of making jazz, and that is the fact
ol'the frequentmaking of musicby black malesfor the social
ititcrcourseof white males and coloureC females. Manv
ll2
books covering this period refer to black masculinity or

'manliness' being under
threat in the Southern social situation. I'm not sure I really understandwhat this means,but,
certainly, the subsidiary role of entertainer, at these functions, would explainthe production of a concealed,though
ribald irony. For reasonsstated this ribald element was not
unwelcome to the audience. Marothy provides a concrete
illustration of this in discussingglissandior slurs in jazz.
The glissando effects (whose actual significance is naturally not
restrictedto the comic) produced a unanimously conic impact on
the bourgeois audience, because here an excessivesentimental
expressivityand also its reversalwere clearly to be observed.
Marothy, here, helps to underlinethe double-edgedqualit-v

of this music.
The theme of jazz musicianspassingironic musical comm e n t o n t h e p r e l u d ct o m i s c e g e r t a t i oi sno n e t h a t o u t l i v c -tsh e
N e u O r l e a n sp e r i o d .T h e C o t t o n C l u b u ' h e r eE l l i n g t o nw a s
residcntfor all thoseyearswas basedon the appealof sexual
fantasl,surrounding
t h e ' c o u p l i n go f b l a c k s a n d w ' h i t e s .
N{arshal Slerne in The Stor,y'o.f Juzz, describesa tl'pical
tabieau.
-I-hc
l l o o r s h o * s a l t h e C - o t t o nC l u b , i r ' h i c ha d n r r t t e do n i l ' g a n g s r e r s ,
* h i t e r a n d n c g r o i e l eb r i t i e s ,r v e r ea n i n c ic d i b l en r i s h r n a s ho l t i i l c n t
a i r i j t ; r r n s c n s eu h i c h m i g h t i r ' r ' l l i a r c i n a t c b t r t h s o c i o l o . q i r t a
\ nd
p s y e i r i a t r i s t sI . r e r a l l o n e w h e r c a l i g h t - i k i n n c t la n d n r a g n i f i c c n t l l '
r n u : c l e dn c g r o l ' r i t r ' :tth r o u c . ha p a p i c ' rr n a c h t .l i r r n g l eo n t o t h r ' d a n c c
1 l o o r . , : l a d i n a n a v i a t o r ' : h e l n r c t , g o g g l e sa n d s h o r t s . t l e h a d
o h r i o r r s l t ' b e e n ' i i . r r c edcolu n i n d a r k e s tA f r i c a ' , a n d i n t h e c e ' n t r co f
t h e l l o o r h e c a r r r cu p o n a ' r v h i t e ' g o d d c s sc l a d i n l o n g g o l d e nt r e s s e s
a n c lb c ' i n gr v o r s h i n n q cbli ' a c i r c l c o f ' c r i n g i r r g ' b l a c k s ' .I ) r o d u e i n ga
b u l l * h i p f r t r r r rh c l r c n k n c r u sr r h c r c .t h e a r i a t o r r e s c u e dt h c h l o n d e
a n d t h e - vd' -i d a n e r o t i c d a r r c e .I n t h c b a c k g l o u n d , B u b b e r M i l e v ,
Tricky Sanr Nanton, and othc'r membersof the' Ellington band
growled, wheezed,and snorted obsccnely.
I e s t i m a t eI h a v es a i de n o u e ht o i n d i c a t ew h a t I t a k e t o b e
I 13
the meaning of the formation and early proliferation of jazz

in and around New Orleans. What I have tried to do is to
sketch in the lived making and early spreading of this
process. As a methodology this is a departure from the
standard empiricist enquiry, which breaks down the fsit
occompli into easily managed elements (e.g. polyphony,
polyrhythm, blue notes, improvisation etc.) and then seeksto
find somethingcomparablein the pre-jazz background (e.g.
African pentatonic scales,Anglo-Saxon hymns, etc.). The
empiricist enquiry gives fusion (i.e. natural process) preeminenceover human project. At the same time as recommending a certain methodology, one which insistson rendering the activity intelligibleas something intentional, it is
necessary
to point out that the activity renderedis not simply
transparentintentionality.The activity, becauseit is real,
contains all sorts of possibilitiesfor new departureswhich
were undreamt of in its original formation. What new
departuresthereare though, have still to be renderedas lived
activity.
I am now in a position to declaremy main point with more
obvious intelligibility.To begin an explorationof jazz with
t h e p r e s u p p o s i t i o nt h a t i t i s a r t , o r i s a m u s i c o f ' h i g h
aestlreticvalue' (the latter claim is typical of books on jaz,z,
i'eflecting,I suspect,the actual borderline status of jaz.z)
where one is committed to thesevalues,preventsone from
i'eelingjazz,as hostileto oneselfand a rejectionof oneself,
b l r t ,a t t h e s a m et i m e , f e e l i n gi t a s a n u n d e r m i n i n go f o n e s e l f
bv being a releasefronr onesell.Prel,entedfrom finding this
interactionof objectivesone fails to locatethe u'hitepresence
in early jazz. Early jazz. is as much made out of white,
commercialdemandsof black musicianshipas it is made out
o f b l a c km u s i c i a n s h iipt s e l f .I a z z . i sa c o m m e r c i am
l u s i cf r o n r
the beginnings.lt is not as though the commercialisationof
.iaz,zonly gets under way with the Original Dixieland Jazz
Band and beyond. [t is true that as the record and radio
industriesdevelopso certainconceptsof jazz are spreadby
the abstract hand of capitalism, and that prior to this
ll4
commercialisationis under more concretecontrol. This isn't

the differencebetweenfolk and commercial music, any more
than the difference between the New Orlean's underworld
and Capone's Chicago is the difference betweenfolk culture
and muscular capitalism. Being a musician in New Orleans
was to have a trade, like cigar making or carpentry. If not
full-time it was a supplement to one's income. Even the
playing at funerals, for the various lodges and secretsocieties, was on a commercial basis, and the music only became
'lrot' (as they used to say of early jazz) after the band had
been paid and they were on their way back to town.
To think of jazz as art is to think of it as an ally. From this
standpoint one abstractsfrom the particularity of the lived
processthose elementswhich are compatible with the standpoint. Jazzas a lived process,having a predorninantmeaning
thereby slips from view. As this happens a fantasy jazz
emergesfirmly within the grip of the aestheticsof Romanticism. Jazz is thereby seenas a clear, unambiguous, authentic
expressionof black feeling. Sometimesthe straightforward
expressionof an African vitality and at other times the expression of suffering and the making of bitter ironic
comment.Thereare the feelings,there is the vehicleand jazz
is the communication of these feelings by means of the
vehicle.In this way the jazzman is highiightedas the artist.
This is to say that as long as his problem can be conceived
simply as making the vehiclecommunicatehis feelings,then
his statusas an artist is assured,evenif it is a statusas a lesser
artist (folk artist). As soon as outside,commercialpressures
are thought to intrude, i.e. when jazz is seen as being
marketedand rvheuwhitesare seenas playing a versionof it
becauseit is marketable(this is the conceptionof the ensuing
processthat the theory givesus) then the statusof jazz as art
becomesa complexproblem: the problem of discrimination.
While lost in the problem of discriminationthe meaning of
the ensuingprocessis not explored.The ideologysetsup the
meaningctpriori. Thus, the meaningbecomes,who was and
who was not able to maintain themselvesas authentic
115
expressingartists against the tide of commercialism. The

history is read for this interpretation and nothing more. Once
this is done all that is left is to detail what has been accepted.
Detailing involvesthe gatheringof anecdotesand the analysis
of the evolving musical techniques.Typically, also, we get
the lament that the greatjazz artists have not been rewarded
for their genius, although if in the money the jazzman is
normally thought of as being of questionable status e.g.
Benny Goodman and Miles Davies (a similar processis to be
found in pop-rock as a letter to the Sunday Times 12 Oct
1975pointed out of that newspaper'scolour supplementpoprock feature).
A better understanding of the spreading of the jazz
experience(especiallyconcerning 20s and early 30s) comes
from those who living with its spreadtook up a position of
hostility towards it. Neil Leonard's book Jazz and the lAhite
Americans cataloguessome of the opposition. In l90l the
American Federationof Musicianscondemnedragtime, and
recommendedthat its membersrefrain from playing it. In
l91l peoplefound doing the Turkey Trot weretaken to court
arrdsubsequently
lost their jobs. By 1922therewas a play on
llroadway by Hartly Manners called National Anthem,
rvhose theme was the moral debasementand degeneracy
brouglrt about by .iazz.The New York Times of the period
u'asagainstit - 'With music of the old style even the most
lrol'ing, the listener rvas seldom upset from his dignified
p\)Sture.'
J.l). Sousa objected on the grounds that jaz,zemployed
p r i m i t i v er h y ' t h m sw h i c h e x c i t e dt h e b a s i ch u m a n i n s t i n c t s .
I"iiis attitude was expressedin greater detail by a Dr Eliot
l{au'lings,quoted by Leonard.
J a z z m u s i c c a u s e sd r u n k e n e s sb y s e n d i n g a c o n t i n u o u s w h i r l o f
i m p r e s s i o n a b l set i m u l a t i o n st o t h e b r a i n , p r o d u c i n g t h o u g h t s a n d
irnaginationswhich overporverthe will" Rcason and reflection are
l o s t a n d t h e a c t i o no f t h e n e r s o n sa r c d i r e c t e db v t h e s t r o n e e ra n i m a l
passions.
116
The Cstholic Telegraplzof Cincinnati continues the theme,

... the music is sensuous,the embracing of partners is absolutely
indecent, and the motions... they are such that as may not be
described in a family newspaper. Suffice it to say that there are
certain houses appropriate for such dances but those houses have
been closed by law.
A Miss Alice Burrowspublishingan articleentitled'Our

Jazz SpottedMiddle West' in the LadiesHome Journal for
1927writes,
The nature of the music and the crowd psychologyworking together
bring to many individuals an unwholesomeexcitement.Boy and girl
couples leave the hall in a state of dangerous disturbance. Any
worker who has gone into the night to gather the facts of activities
outsidethe dancehall is appalled, first of all perhaps,by the blatant
disregard of even the elementary rules of civilization. We must
expecta f'ewcasualtiesin social intercourse,but the modern dance is
p r o d u c i n gl i t t l e s h o r t o f h o l o c a u s t .T h e s t a t i s t i c so f i l l e g i r i m a c yi n
t h i s c o u n t r l ' s h o u , a g r e a t i n c r e a s ei n r e c e n ry e a r s .
Accordingto the Rev. Phillip Yarrow the Illinois Vigilance

Associationhad discoveredthat for the year l92l-2 jazz had
c a u s e dt h e ' d o w n f a l l ' o f 1 , 0 0 0g i r l s i n C h i c a g oa l o n e . T h e
a n t i - r n o v e m e nwt a s n o t * ' i t h o u t i t s s e n s eo f h u n r o u r , a s i s
eviderrced
by articlesbearingtitleslike 'Does Jazz,butthe Sin
in Syncopation'.
N{ilton Mezzrott, the 1az,zciarinettist,recalls the official
e s t a b l i s h m e natt t i t u d et o w a r d sj a z z .i n t h e 2 0 s : ' O u r m u s i c
was called "nigger music" and "u'hore house music" and
" n i c e " p e o p l ct u r n e d u p t h e i r n o s e sa l i 1 . '
R e l i g i o u sd i g n i t a r i e ss a w t h e , u v i d eirn r p l i c a r i o n sA
. .W.
B c v a n , a m i n i s t e r i n R o c h e s t c r ,N c w Y o r k i s q u o l e d a s
s a y i n g , ' l t h a sg o t t e nb e y o n dt h e d a n c ea n d t h e m u s i ca n d i s
now an attitucletoward life in general.We are afflictedwith a
m o r a l a n d s p i r i t u a la n e m i a . '
D r . J . R . S t r e t o n ,a b a p t i s tc l e r g y ' n t ainn N e r v Y o r k s a i d ,
A lVorning on the Corruptive Influence of Art
ll7
I have no patience with this modern jazz-tendency, whether it be in

music, science,social life or religion. It is part of the lawlessspirit
which is being manifested in many departments of life, endangering
our civilization in its general revolt against authority and established
order.
These outbursts against lazz were not confined to angry

letterswritten to newspapers,but had practicalimplications
as well. It needsto be rememberedthat theseattitudeswere
'prohibition'. In l92l the
linked to the attitudes behind
CeneralFederationof Women's Clubs with a membershipof
'annihilate'the new music. At the time of
2,000,000voted to
prohibition therewas legislationagarnstjazz. The New York
lcgislaturepassed the Cotillo Bill which empowered the
Commissionerof Licencesof New York City to regulatejazz
and dancing. He banned both on Broadway after midnight.
13y 1929, 60 communities including Cleveland, Detroit,
KansasCity, Omaha and Philadelphiahad regulationsproi r i b i t i n gj a z z .i n p u b l i c d a n c eh a l l s .
-Ihe
opposition to 1az,zhas to be rneasuredagainst the
.,1rrcacl
ctijazz, but by itself it underlinesthe social meaning
i r i . i n z z .A d h e r e n t so f j a z z , w h o v i e w i t a s p a r t i c i p a t i n gi n
, . ' r c l n aal e s t h e l i cv e r i t i e sd, i s m i s st h i s o p p o s i t i o na s r e a c t i o n r l r ' , .A r r d b l i n k c r e c, l n o t s e e i n gt h a l t h i s o p p r ) s i t i o ni s a
: , ; i rt i eu l a r r es p o n : i c t o l t t t t a s s ( ) m e t h i n gc o n c r e t e . I n
, , \ i r i i l l - \ t t. h e i i d h e r c n t sr c s p o n s ei s a b s t r a c t .T h e o p p o , s i t i o n
\ i r c s \ c si t s e ' l 1 ' n a i r e b
l l i' r, t m a n i ' o i i 1 - pr c l s i t i u nhsa r e b e e - n
t r d u , i t hr n o | cs o p h i s t i c n t i o(ni l - t h i si s t h o u g h ta v i r t u c )
i i : ' r ) .l \l e
'Peren,i.,ilt)e-s.I'or instance
. Adorno (T. Adorno, Pri.sttt.s,
, r i ; r il r a s l r i o r i ' )I. a r r rv c r v m r r c l ta g a i n s tA d o r n o ' sc o n d e n r n a r . . ' 1911 ' . i r i zbzi - r tI a r n i n a g r e e r n c ' rnll' i t hm u c h o f ] t r sa n a l y ' s i s .
l t i s z rs t r a n g ce r p e r i e n c et r ) a g r e cr . v i ( hs o m u c l t t h a t i s s a i r j
r r i t I o b c s o I ' u n d a n r e n t a lol yp l t r l s e dt o t h e r v h o l e .C . o n s i d e r .
i i t c r c f o r e ,h o u , A d o r n o ' sl ' i e u s p r e s e n ta m o r e s o p h i : ; l i c a t e d
irpposilion to jat.z, rvhilst parallelingmarry fc:tturesof mY
o,,',
rt analy.'sis,
sTArt an Enemyof thepeople
I 18
However little doubt there can be regarding the African elements in

Jazz, it is no less certain that everything unruly in it was from the
very beginning integrated into a strict scheme, that its rebelrious
gesturesare accompanied by the tendency to blind obeisance, much
like the sado-masochistic
type describedby analytic psychology,the
person who chafes against the father-figure while secretly admiring
him, who seeksto emulate him and in turn drives enjoyment from
the subordinationhe overtly detests....It is not as though scurrilous
businessmenhave corrupted the voice of nature by attacking it from
without; jazz takes care of this all by itself.
He goes on,
Among rhe symptomsof the disintegrationof culture anC education,
not the least is the fact that the distinction between autonomous
'high'
and commercial,lighr' art, however questionableit may be, is
neither critically reflectednor even noticed anymore. And now that
certain culturally defeatistintellectualshave pitted rhe latter asainst
t h e f o r m e r , t h e p h i l i s t i n ec h a m p i o n so f t h e c u l t u r ei n d u s t r y. u n . u . n
take pride.in the conviction that they are marching in the vanguard
o f t h e Z e i r g e i s 1 . .T
. .h e l e g i t i m a t ed i s c o n t e n w
t i t h c u l t u r ep r o u i d . , a
p r e t e x t b u r n o t t h e s l i g h r e s jtu s t i f i c a t i o n f o r t h e g l o r i f i c a t i o no f a
h i g h l y r a t i o n a i i z e ds e c r i o no f m a s s p r o d u c t i o n , o n e w r . r i c hd e b a s e s
and betray'-s
culture rvithout al all transcendingit, as the dawn of a
n e w w o r l d s e n s i b i l i r l 'o. r f o r c o n f u s i n gi t r v i r hC u b i s m ,E l i o r ' sp o e t r y
a n d J o y c e ' sp r o s e . . . .A n v o n e w h o a l l o w s t h e g r o w i n g r e s p e c t a b i l i t y
of rnasscr,rlturer. seducehim i'to eqr.iatirrga poprrlar sorrg with
modern art becausc'of a ferr fulse rrrrtessqueaked h1..a clirinet,
s i r ! o n er v l r on r i s t a k c sa t r i a c is t L r d d eui l i t h ' d i r t y 'n o r e s 'f o r a l o n a l r t y ,
h a s a l r e a d r ,c a p i t u l a t e dt o b a r b a r i s m .
Here, EuropeanN{arxismdeclaresjtself as the clefenderof

thc-olci culturc. This is an ilrtitude u'c firrd in N{ar.rancl an
attitude dcepll' entrenchedin the sor,'ietLJnio'. T-hereis a
c l i n g i n gt o t h e ' h i g h e r ' l i l c ' o f t h e b o u r g e . i s i el s i t e ' o l v e d
cluring thc pcriod of' settled bourgeois clominance.'I.his
'higher'liie
i s i n o p p o s i r i ' n t o t h e r e a l m a t e r i a ll i f e . f t h e
'l-he
b o u r g e o i s i. e
r e a l m a t e r i a l i f c ; r r o d u r : etsh e p o s s i b i l i t yo f
p r o l e t a r i a nl i f e - s t v l ew
s h i c ha r ea n t a g o n i s r itco , a n c lu n a s i i m i l a b l ei n t o t h e ' h i g h c r ' l i f e . S i g r r i i ' i c a r ; rrl \y4 a r x i . s smc e k st h e
disaprlearance
of the proletariat,and n'hcreMarxisntcomesto
terms rvith jazz it does so by denyingthe Adorno chargeof
I 19
barbarism; it seesjazz,rather, as art. This kind of identification is one Tom Wolfe goes in for. Wolfe is a heightened
exaggeration of the Adorno opponent, and one I doubt
Adorno imaginedpossiblewhen writing 'Perennial Fashion'.
... Nobody will even take a look at our incredible new national
pastimes, things like srock car racing, drag racing, demolition
derbies, sports that attract five to ten million more spectators than
football, baseballand basket ball each year. part of it is an inbuilt
classbias. The educatedclassesin this country, as in every country,
the people who grow to control visual and printed communication
media, are all plugged into what is, when one gets down to it, an
ancient, aristocratic aesthetic.Stock car racing, custom cars, and,
for that matter, the jerk, the money, rock music ... still seembeneath
seriousconsideration,still the preserveof ratty peoplewith ratty hair
and dermatitis and corroded thoracic boxes and so forth. yet all
theserancid people are creating new stylesall the time and changing
the life of the whole country in ways that nobody ever seemsto
bother to record much less analyse. (T. Wolfe, Kandy Koloured
Tang,er i n e Fla ke St reom I i n e Bab1t, Introduction)
Continuing his attack Adorno equatesthe specialistjazz

i ' a r w i t h l o g i c a lp o s i t i v i s t ,
'fhere
i s a s r r i k i n gs i m i l a r i r yb e t w c e nt h i s t y p e o f j a z z e n t h u s i a sat n d
e n y ' o f r h e v o u n g d i s c i p l e so f l o g i c a l p o s i t i v i s m , u , h o t h r o w o f f
p h i l o s o p h i c acl u l r u r ew i t h t h e s a m ez e a l a s j a u f a n s d i s p e n s ew i t h
thu ltililili()nol',cIi(rti\ ntu\tc.
I t r v o u l db e i n l e r e s r i n tgo k n o \ \ ,h o * m a n y l o g i c a lp o s i t i v i\!\ were specialistjaz.zfans. I suspectquite a few.

lrying to accounrf'or the massbasisof jazz, Adorno puts
lorr.r'arcl
an image that coinctdeswith one I offered earlier,
t t a r n e l yt h e s t u m b l i n gc l o w n .
. l a z zm u s t p o s l e s sa ' m a s s b a s j s ' ,t h e t e c h n i q u em u s t l i n k u p u , i t h a
r n ( ) r n c ni tn t h e s u b i c c t - o n c w h i c h , o f c o u r s e ,i n h i m p o i n t sb a c k t o
the social structureand to typical conflicts betweenego and society.
W h a t f i r s t c o m e st o m i n d , i n q L r e sfto r t h a t m o m e n t , i s t h e e c c e n t r i c
r20

clownor parallelswith the earlyfilm comics.Individualweakness
is
proclaimedand revokedin the samebreath,
stumblingis confirmed
asa higherkind ofskill. In rheprocess
of integraring
tie asociatia'
converges
wirh the equallystandardised
schimasol tt. d;t;ti".
noverand its offshoots,.which
regurarly
distortor unmaskthe world
so that asociarityand crimebecometheeverydaynorm, but
*H.n-ui
the sametime charm away the seductive'andominou,
.t"ll;;;
throughthe inevitabletriumphof order.
With the rise of the Nazi movement in Europe,

Adorno
took refuge in America. Judging from 'perennial'pashitnl

Adorno appears to have integrated badly into
Ameri.un
society. He writes.
"' To comprehendthe mass basisof jazz one must take full account
of the taboo on arristic expression in America, a
taboo which
continuesunabateddespitethe official art industry,
and wtrictreuen
a f f e c t st h e e x p r e s s i v iem p u l s e so f c h i l d r e n ; . . .A l r h o u g h
rhea.tistls
parrially tolerated,.partiallyinregratedinto
the spheri of .onrurni,enterrainer',
tion as an
a funcrionary_like the better_paiO*ait!,
subjecl to the demands or 'service'-the stereotype
ot the artist
remains the introvert, the egocentric idiot, freqLiently
the h;;;_
sexual ... A child who prefers to listen to serioui
*rri. oi p.o.ii..
r h e p i a n o r a t h e rr h a n w a t c ha b a s e b a lgl a m eo r t e l e ' i s i o n
r v i l l ^ h a vteo
s u f f e r a s a , s i s s y ' i n h i s c l a s so r i n o t h e r g r o u p s * , h i c h
to
he belongs
a n d w h i c h e m b o d v m o r e a u t h o r i t y t h a n - p a r e n t so r
teacher.
Here vre har.eAdorno f'aced,"r,iththe Americanexperience

one a.spectof thc. making clf' rvhich l h a re b e e n
trying to
detail. His final verdict on jazz is thar its subject
expresses,
'l am
nothing, I anr filth, no matrerwhar they do
to me
i t s e r v e sm e r i g h t ' , a n d t h a t , ' J a z , zi s t h c l ' a l s e
l
i
t
l
u
i
dation
o f a r t .'
Thesedifferent f'rms of'opposition bring out !er\r r:learry
the vicw that jaz,z.
as a rtrassphenomenonwas not an adiunct
,
o f a r t a n d ' l r i g h - c u l r L l r eb' u
t a r e p u c l i a t i o ' o fi t . r h i s i l c , r ur
agreervith.-Ihe opposition rvasin responseto the spreacrof
jazz, it was a responseto thc. real thieat posed
by, the jazz
experience.This threar kept re-emergingin jaz.z,or in
c."iose
oflshoots of jazz, up until the closuie of tn. bop/trad era.
A Worning on the Corruptive Influence of Art
l}l
The different forms of threat were accompanied by different

forms of opposition. From the end of the bop/trad era
similar repudiationsand threatsemergedfrom cultural forms
which sprang from the sameroots as jazz but which constituted a distinct and separatebranch e.g. Rock n' Roll. These
developmentscarried with them their own forms of opposi_
tion, which have been depressinglysimilar to the forms of
opposition I havejust been exploring. on this evidencealone
Adorno's concept of static revolution seemsappropriate.
The reoccuring fact of jazz as threat, as repudiation, in the

history of jazz, has to be set alongsidethe fact of jazz falling
within the confinesof art. The percepttonof jazz as art is not
something separate from the history of jazz.; it is a very
important part of its history. In other words, the misinter_
pretationsof jazz history have been part of jazz history and
they have entereddeeply into jazz in its entirety. To eiplore
this theme it is necessary
to explain the history of jazz as it
follows on from the early period. Clearly, this is a vaster
problem than that posed by the early history of jazz. ln
responseto this larger problem I shall offer no more than a
detailedsketch,which will try ro account for the phenome_
non of 'jazz.as art', i.e. account ior it as a distinct social
phenomenon.
The spreadof jazz is connecieclrvith the expressed,bur
'cpressedneed u,hichWhite America had for things of that
kind (things which had the same sociarsignificanieas jazz
had developedduring its formationl. Jazzwasnot soughtout
ds an area of knowledge,nor as an area in which to display
cxpertise.For the massof Americansit was a very abstract
sign,to be in the proximity of which was to signify one,sown
free, urrrepressed,
undisciplinedindividuality.Jazzenableda
mass of people lo signify this becauseas a sign, at a very
obvious level, it challengedan acceptedsenseof authority
and discipline.However, those caught up in the spread of
122
jazz do not make real contact with an already evolved form

of life. Those musicians who leave New Orleans to play in
Chicago and New York lead a very self-enclosed,hermetically sealed-off existence.They do not in themselvesspread
the New Orleanslife-style. Jazz enteredthe White American
world as a fashionable,rude word (the word ,jazz,, at this
time had, clear, but repressedassociationswith ,fucking',
just like 'rock n' roll' doesat a later time) and as a pretext fbr
and inducement to (syncopation itself was sufficient to
induce) what the New York Times would have seen as
undignified posture and movement in dancing. In other
words, for the consumers,the jazz experiencehas the same
significanceas it had for Europeans in New Orleans, only it
hasthis significancein diluted form. Just as the New Orleans,
consumercould not assimilatewhat he took to be an orgiastic
meaning without disguisingthe fact from himself, so even
m o r e s o i s t h i s t r u e o f t h e A m e r i c a n so f t h e , j a z z a g e ' a n d
beyond. To be in a context bearing the label , jazz, wasreally
sufficient, it was not necessaryto encounter jazz New
Orleansstyle; in fact to do so was, often, to take on more
than was bargained for. For instance, Louis Armstrong's
first appearancein Britain at rhe London palladiurn *,ai a
sell-out, but the packed audience, when confronted bv
A r m s t r o n gt h e p e r s p i r i n g
n e g r oc o n s t a n t l ym o p p i n gh i : b r o u .
with a handkerchief,left in dror,es.The,vhad come because
the event bore the label'jaz.z',they left becauseit rvent too
far; it was more than they were ready for.
The jazz life widensthrough a manipulationof'the label;
t h e l a b e l o f l e n a c c o m p a n y i n gm u s i c t h i n l y r e l a t e d t o r h e
i n i t i a l s t i r r i n g so f j a z z . J a z zm u s i c ,i t s e l f ,w a s s p r e a dm a i n l y
by white imitators, black jazzmen being employedmore in
areas tvhere the tendenciesin society were at their most
extreme.For exampie,two of the most important influences
in spreadingjazz were the all white bands, The Original
D i x i e f a n dJ a z z B a n d( t h i sb a n d v i s i t e dE n g l a n di n l 9 l 9 ) a n d
the Nerv Orleans Rhythnr Kings, wherea.sblack jazzmen
operatedin underworld haunts where America's uppercrust
123
came to soil itself. Milton Mezzrow testifies to this latter

point in Leonard'sbook,
It struck me funny how the top and bottom crustsin societywere
alwaysgettingtogetherduring the prohibition era. In this swanky
club, which was run by membersof the notorious Purple Cang,
GrossePointemob on
Detroit'sbluebloodsusedto congregate-the
theslummingkick, rubbingelbowswith Louisthe Wop'smob. That
PurpleGangwas
a hardlot of guys... and Detroit'ssnootysetused
to feelit wasreallyliving to talk to themhoodlums.
'really
living' is important; it underMezzrow's notion of
lines what the identification with the jazz experience was
'really
living' was ever transformed by
about. However, the
moderating influences. This occurred in many ways.
A huge, advanced, capitalist industry was able to grow
'really living'. By
1921,
around a marketable concept of
100.000,000records were manufactured in America and

(with fluctuations surrounding the Depression) by 1942
record sales reached 127,000,000.(ibid.)Throughout this
period the salesof popular music far outstrip the market for
classicalmusic. By 1939 the sales proportions are 9:l in
favour of popular music.(ibid) Throughout the period radio
and cinema are expandingat the same explosiverate. For
instance, by 192'/ four-fifths of the American population
attended the cinema at least once a week.(ibid.) These
contexts,plus the similarly expandingdance hall business
were the contextsin which popular music expandedand was
expanded.The notion of popular music at this time cannot
be separatedfrom a generalsenseof jazz. The music the
public requiredhad to be' jazzy', or 'syncopated'or 'swing'
music. Jazz musicians themselves(now full professionals
comparedwith their forbearsin New Orleans),whetherblack
or white, earnedtheir living out of playingthis kind of music.
For instance,the reveredColeman Hawkins was to be found
during the depressionplaying for the, at the time famous,
now forgotten, Jack Hylton dance band. The profiteering
which motivated the distribution of the concept of 'really
124
living', becamea monopolistic enterprise.The radio stations

bought up the phonograph companies,and the film companies the music publishing businesses.Against the background
of commercial monopoly there was strong pressureto sell
music that both excited(stimulatedthe demand) and did not
offend; the object was to sell to the greatestpossiblenumber.
The music, therefore, had to be new, fashionable, 'really
living', but at the same time refined.
Various musical forms answer to this demand, ranging
through White Dixieland, Symphonic Jazz and certain types
of Swing. White Dixieland, for instance, traded off the
symbols of the South, the negro, the authentic savage,but
presented them as the parts of a tropical island idyll. A
typical exampleof this is the 1928 recordingsby the Frankie
Trumbauer orchestrawith Bix Beiderbeckeon cornet. Here,
a young Bing Crosby sings about natives in Borneo, and
'darkies'who can make music
simply by beatingtheir feet on
the'N4ississippi
mud'. The music's style is jazzy, but distinguishablefrom Black New Orleansjazz. In comparisonthe
music is not raucous, loud or orgiastic but it retains an
erpressiveelementof liberation.The piecesof music do not
propagandiseenrollmentin an)' social order or project, nor
in any' way celebratea form of social organisation;their
overallexpressive
conteni is onc-of expressingfreedomfrom
'fhe
the sublimatronof self in some larger social destiny.
positiveside of this is the celebrationof individualism,but
t h e i n d i v i d u a l i s mc e l e b r a t e di s o f a p a r t i c u l a r k i n d . I t
c o n c e r n si n d i r i d u a is e x u a fl u l f i l r n e n t .p r e s e n r i n igt s e l fi n t h e
disguisedform of'carnal rornance,and a personalgoodtime,
a kind of happy individualism(rvhat Beiderbecke,himself,
stood for as a socialsymbol). As for the rest of experience,
it
is ignr-rred.
The jazz st-v-le
reinforcesthe senseof liberation.In
itself it is an active rejection of older forms of musical
organisation.Moreover, it has clusteredaround it a set of
recentlyacquiredsocial associations,which vaguelygesture
towards the wilder life of a primitive idyll. Featuresof rhe
earlier music, which do nor seemto be present,and which
125
point to the transformations which have taken place, are a

contagious, rebellious hysteria, a sense of send-up or
mockery and an exhibitionisteroticism. The modifications in
Trumbauer's music are individualism. fun and romance. The
Trumbauer music is not negative, it positively constructs
private dreams, which are presentedas realisabledreams for
all of America, certainly for all of White America; but this
American dream has to be realisedatomistically or separately. The music suggeststhat a happy, individualised, funexistenceis possible for all, and that this possibility is a
challengeto all that is stuffy and restrained.It is this image
which is commercially exploited and, therefore, in terms of
the American public exploitable. Jazz was a convenient,
pre-existing form for the expressionof this image. 'Really
living', in this commercial setting, is not at the point of
interconnectionbetween slavesand masters, or hoodlums
and blue bloods. but its attractionscan be relatedto what was
sought in theseother conjunctions.
The modification of the 'really living' experiencewas not
iust a commercialstratagemrelatingitself to the thresholdof
social consciousness.
It also sprang from the intentions of
s o m e o f t h o s c 'w h o m a d e t h e m u s i c . F o r i n s t a n c e ,P a u l
Whitc'rnan(set up as the King of Jazz by the media at the
time) acceptedjazz as a releasefrom repressivemechanisms.
I n A m e r i c a ,j a z z i s a t o n c ea r e v o l t a n d a r e l e a s eT. h r o u g h i t w e g e t
back to a sirr.rple,
to a sa\/age,if you likc, joy in being alive. \['hile we
a r c d a n c i n g o r s i n g i n g ( ) r e v c ' nl i s t e n i n gt o j a t t , a l l t h e a r t i f i c i a l
r e s l r a i n t : i t r e g o n e . W e a r e r h 1 ' t h m i c .w e a r e e m o t i o n a l , w e a r e
natural. (lbirl.)
A t t h e s a m et i m e t h i s r e l e a s ei s a c c e p t e db, y W h i t e m a n ,i n
a rcpressedform. As he wrote of his Aeolian Flall concert in
1923,
My idea for the concerl was to shor" skeptical people the advancc
which had tleen made in popular music from the davs of the
d i s c o r d a n te a r l v i a z z t o t h e m e l o d i o u sf o r m o f t h e o r e s e n t .I b e l i e v e
126

that most of them had grown so accustomed to condemning the
'Livery Stable Blues' sort
of thing, that they went on flaying modern
jazz without realizing that it was different from the crude early
attempts ... My task was to reveal the change and try to show that
jazzhad come to stay and deservedrecognition.(ibld.)
Whiteman's notion of modern jazzinthis quotation has to

be understood in terms of pieceslike Gershwin's 'Rhapsody
in Blue'. In fact GeorgeGershwin's attitude was very similar
to Whiteman's. He is quoted in Leonard's book as having
said of jazz,
Certain types of it are in bad taste, but I do think it has certain
elementswhich can be developed.I do not know whether it will be
jazz when it is finished.
This attitude was quite general and representsthe first

conceptualcoupling of jazz and art as made by individuals
having some socialprestige.The critic Osgood wrote in the
Musical Courier of his experience on first hearing 'symphonic jazz',
Before the first sixteenbars were over the re'",elation
of new jazzhad
d e s c e n d eudp o n m e . B y t h e e n d o f t h e t u n c I r v a sa h a p p y r . o n v e r t . . . .
T h e s e g e n t l e n r e nm a d e m u s i c ; l a n g u i s h i n g ,c r o o n i n g m u s i c , r u d e
neither in sound nor tempo, music that soothed and yet, with
i n s i n u a r i n gr h y t h m s ,e a r - t i c k l i n gm e l o d l a n d i n g e n i o u sd e c o r a t i o n s ,
s t i r r e dm e w i t h i n . . . W h i l e I h a d b e e ng o i n g a b o u r , w , i t hm ) n o s ei n
t h e a i r , * i t h p a t r o n i s i r r gi g n o r a n c e ,s o m e b o d yh a d p u t m u s i c i n t o
Jaz.z.
B-vthis time the New York Times was prepared to concede

as much.
... arrangedand played by experts[sy'mphonicjazz] has much about
i t o f i n t e r e s ta n d e v e n o l v a l u e , a n d a l l u n j t e i n c o n c i e m n i n gt h e
inexpert and over enthusiasticdisturbersof the peace.
An important factorin determiningthe modifyinginlluence
A Warning on the Corruptive In"fluences of Art
127
and the form it took sprang from the American college and
high school audiencemaking jazz somethingof its own. Jazz
as a'flash', new, social sign born of a concealeddebasement
of the European was converted, saved by means of a
marriage with the latest, allegedly revolutionary flowerings
of European culture, as they appeared, transplanted in
teenageAmerican higher education. The names of Debussy,
'serious music'
Ravel and Milhaud representedavant-garde
for many jazzmenof the period. They attended concerts of
'serious music', they received musical instruction from
famous teachersin the classicaltradition. and some of them
openly experimentedwith the possibilitiesof symphonicjazz.
The 'serious music' influence did not penetratevery deeply
into the music,but it was there,through a commitmentto the
rnelodic,and a very consciousconcentrationon harmonies
which take a long time to resolve themselvesor remain
'highs'
unresolved.Music showing this influence is full of
'lows'.
and Hoagy Carmichael
The musicof Beiderbecke
and
is of this kind. The titles of their compositionsreflect the
'Stardust'. In these
rno<-rd,
for example, 'In a Mist' and
pieceswe are at somedistancefrom Louis Armstrong singing.
'Nou' I ain't rough
and I don't bit,
But thc \\'ornanthat gets me got to treat me right.'
Many negro band leadersof'the period were graduatesor
t-&rrle f rom prosperous middie-class backgrounds. for
crample, L,unceford,Henderson and Ellington. Manv of
[ : l l i r r g t o n ' sc o m p o s i t i o n se x h i b i t t h e h a r m r t t t i cp r e o c c u p a ' H i g h s 'a n d ' l o w s 'a r ev e r y
t e e rm
i i o n s I h a v ej u - s b
t eniiouing.
'ln
a SentinrentalNlocld'and 'Sophisticr ident in pieceslike
i;rted Ladv', ancl a conscioris concern with rvanCering
h a r m o n i e si s e v e rp r e s e n ta: s t r o n ge x a m p l eo f t h i s o c c u r si n
bars 23 and 24 of -Sophisticated
Lady' where Ellington goes
l h r o u g ht h e c h o r dc h a n g e G
s , D d i m , C m , E b 7 , D 7 w h i l s tt h e
melody line plunges frorn B above N{C to MC and then
ascendsto E, one octaveup, beforeplungingagain, this time
to F sharp.
r28
Where, then, the jazz experiencein societyinvolves taking

up jazz music, the process involved, is not only one of
watering down in accordancewith commercial dictates;it is,
also, a positive conception of transformation. The excitement of the depraved is entered into by containing it. The
containment is achievednot by abolitionist tendencies,nor
by imposing on it a traditional senseof order, but by allying
it with a specific senseof the bohemian and avant-garde.
There was reverencefor the art experienceamongst many
jazzmen. The clarinettist,Pee Wee Russell,provides a telling
illustrationof this, when describing,in Hentoff's book. how
he felt when, at a CarnegieHall concert, in a box paid for by
Paul Whiteman, one of his fellow musicianskept falling off
his seatin a drunken stupor. 'You see,we were ashamedand
were consciousof the other peopleat the concert.'
It may be doubted whether New Orleans' Buddy Bolden
would, in similar circumstances,
have been as shame-faced.
\Ile are dealingwith a socialgroup which is a ,cut above' the
'proletai'ianrabble'
and ol'tenthere is a trailition of classjcal
m u s i c i n t h e b a c k g r o u n d .F o r i n s t a n c e ,P a u l W h i t e m a n
l'iolin in both tire Denver and San FranciscoSymFrla5,sc1
phony Orchestrasand Beidebeckc'sparents had anibitions
l o r h i m a s a c o r r c e rpt i a n i s t( a n e a r l yi n f l u e n c eh e n e v e rq u i t e
I o s t d c s p i t ch i s p r i t u ' e s :o' n t h e c o r n e t ) .T h e m i l i e u f o r t h e
nrusic ',vasver!' muclr lrigh school and carnpus gigs. The
Arrstin High School Gang first liearcl its jazz noi at fhe
l ) e u c e s( { . h i c a g ol o n , d i v c ) b u r i h c S n o o n a n d S t r a u ' ( i c e c f c a l i l p a r l o u r ) , l i s t e n i n gt o r e c o . r d jb - v t h e N e r v O r l e a n s
Itlr-r'lhrnKings. Cooclntarr,tirorrghrlr,)ti';6yi11
a w'ealthybackg r r r u n dh i r n s e l f p
" l a l ' s ,a s a t r - e r i a g elro. r s t u d e n t sa t C h i c a g o
U n i v e r s i t l ' ; u r dN o r - t hW c s t c r i tU n i v e r . i t l ' "( i n i a c t . t . h er v h o l e
Cootiman successstor1, lras t.o be nreasureclagainstr{he
g r o l { ' t l i n A n r c r i c a nt i i g h c re d u c a t i o na l t d i t s p r o d u c t i o no f ,
t r . ri : t l c g r e c a
, r ) c \ t ' a u l o n ( ) l n o usso c r t i g r ( ) u p .' l - h cg l o l i t h o f
(,ioot1rnan,
Artic Shawerc.anclSu,ingrclalestr: jittr:rbuggiirg
,{ mcricant eL:nagers
and, lnore in f'lueirr
i ally, teenallcriclting).
W e h a v cl o c a t r d ,t l r e r r a. c c r t a i r cr o h c s i v cg r o u p ,l l ' i r h i nt h e
r29
history of jazz, involved in playing iazz, which is composed

of white, middle classyoungsterswho have some respectfor
'high culture' and some knowledge of the tradition of
classicalmusic and contemporary European serious music.
However, the social milieu is only a third of the story, for it
has to be related both to the commercial growth of jazz and
the excitementof American low life. It is in the latter setting
that the coloured jazzmen often find their environment,
scratchingout a living betweentheseengagements(often very
temporary in character) and the making of the special
'race records' (records exclusively bought by
category of
coloured purchasers).This is not to say that jazz by the
coloured jazzmanis all of a piece. There is a real distinction
betweenthe coloured player meeting commercialdemands
and the colouredplayerplayingon a more privatebasis.This
contrastconstitutesthe reality of the black jazzman, and it
il relates
relatesto earlierambiguitieswithin jazz experience;
But
of
this
a little
more
of
them.
a
fragmentation
to theln as
l;rter, for what is being explored, now, is hou' the white
Ameritran,micldle,lower middle classjazz setting relatesto
this other setting for jaz.z. What is clear is that the two
,icttingsare separate.T'hisis testifiedto b1'trvo facts.Firstl-v,
it is testified to b-vthe resentmentfelt br*black musiciatts{'or
i v h a t t h e v c o n s i d e r e dt o b e w h i t e i m i t a t o r s ;t h e w h i t e j a z z lurcn werL-comntcrcially'more fortunate in having r.r'ider
. e c o n d l yi.t i s t e s t i f i e dt o b y t h e d i f f i c u l c o r n m e r c i aoI u t l e t s S
tics which bese-trnixcd.jazz groupson 1.heroad. For instance.
r h e d i f f i c u l l i e se r p e r i e n c e bd y B i l l i el { o l i d a l ' o n t h e r o a d w ' i t h
.,rhitebancls,or thc difficulties often erperiencedb.v-Benny'
( i o o d m a n i n t a k i n gI l a m p t o n a n d W i l s o n r v i t h h i m . F o r t h e
presentwithin the
r.rhitejazzman then, jazz u'as concretel-vtotal American environmenlas a feature of low life (or lile
'r'eally'lir.'cd').To be involved with
lazt was to be on the
f riugesof u'hat passedfor excitementin American Society.
ln this way jaz.zwas not only somethingto be saved and
brought within the confinesof 'good music' (by coating it
with a thin vencerof 'exciting'musicalmodernism;thus not
130
Art on Enemyof thepeople
negatingit as somethingsignifyingexcitement)but it was

also,in its turn, soughtas excitingsalvationor as givingthe
feelingof this. JimmyMcPartlandof theAustin High School
Gangmakesthis clearin Hentoff's Heer me Tatking to ya.
It was lucky for me I got in with that gang, becauseas a boy down
there on the West Side, I might easily have been mixed up with a
different kind of mob.
So for me, and perhapsother Austin guys that got the music bug,
jazz supplied the excitement we might otherwise have looked for
among the illegat activitieswhich flourished then in the neishbourhood.
For the white, middle class, lower middle class youngster

(e.g. McPartland's farher was a music teacher)who was to
enter the jazz world as a performer, and in the process
enlargethe dimensionsof that world, jazz presenteditself as
a complex phenomenon.There was jazz as a form of music
having a history. This was known about but not known in
deptlr.In this contexttherewas a senseof jazz constitutinga
genuine,indigenor.rs
folk music, and something which, in
accordancewith recognisedpracticesin seriousmusic, could
be utilisedto producea unique American music(i.e. it could
be utilisedonce rnodified).There wasjazz as a universalised
racy value, which the whoie of the post war Capitalistworld
'fhere
was in on.
was jazz music, as somethingbeing spread
-beine
by White Dixieland and irs offshoots, the process
mecliatedby records and the radio. There u,as jaz,zmusic
p l a y e db y b l a c km u s i c i a n sw, h i c h o f f e r e di r s e l fi n t w o f o r m s ,
the commercialform and the jam session,both forms arising
for the most part in a gangsterdominated, night-life scene.
There was jazzmusic as symphonic jazz. These various
aspectsof jazz, like the total, social conception of jazz,
presentedthemselvesas liberation and excitement,as unrepressed'really living'.'ro measurethis it helps to contrastit
with the social significanceof jazz today.
Jazzas an activityfor a small coterieof acldicts,no doubt.
is still thought of as 'real living' but this would nor be its
l3l
generalsocial significance.It is to this general,social significance that the white, potential jazz musician of the 20s and
30s responded;the responsebeing channelledthrough some
or all of jazz's various interconnectedand sometimesdisconnected, evolving forms. What I wish to suggestis that all
these living layers of jazz experienceduplicate structurally
(i.e. in the way the layers relate to each other) the original
structure of New Orleans jazz (a less fragmented set of
experiences)and that the lived, personal ambiguities in the
New Orleans sceneare lived out later as the social contrasts
between the different layers (the layers themselveshaving
associatedwith overlappingbut differentiatablesocialgroupings). The objective of the present line of discussionis to
describethe modifying, repressiveimpulsesof those making
jazz, fromthe spreadingiazzof the twentiesup to the end of
the Swing era, but this is something extremely complex to
describe because of having to relate individuals to the
proiiferation of so many different but connectedforms.
It makes senseto say that the early iazz was a social
presentationof disguisedorgy (sought out as debasingand,
as liberating).For reasonsI have not
therefore,experienced
gone into, Americansof the Jazz Age and beyond, were open
to a general proliferation of some such experience.Jazz as
music, danceand fashion was an appropriate vehiclefor such
a proliferation. However, the forms of disguise had to
convince the various thresholds of social consciousness
throughout America, and from this viewpoint it rvas as if
New Orleans Jazz was naked orgy (totally unexpurgatec
filth). In generalthe taboo on socialthought and actionswere
so great that to call any social event a jazz.evenl, as long as it
was not too obviously not a jazz event' was sufficient for
'Jazz Singer').
commercial success(e.g. Al Jolson in the
Therewas the response
Horvever,therewereother responses.
of savingjazz, as naked orgy, by incorporatingwhat were
deemed its best elementsinto a thin conception of symphonic, orchestratedmusic. Socially this was a response
becausea great number of
having important repercussions
132
Art sn Enemy of the People
commerciallysuccessfulballroom orchestras,throughout the

Western world, were modelled on orchestraslike the Whiteman orchestra.Such orchestrasmight include a 'hot' musician for a few well-manneredjazz breaks, just as the Whiteman orchestraincorporated Beiderbeckefor this purpose. In
this music there was a concession to the American fear
(already documented) of the corrupting influence of jazz.
The musical form into which the jazz elementswere slotted
(one major transformative ingredient was light syncopation)
was largely derived from nineteenth century, romantic,
'serious', 'light
serious' music. Another responsewas to
recreate the original music only in sweetenedform, or by
emphasisingits 'sweet' as opposed to 'hot' elements.This
was a more open flirtation with the 'naked orgy' value of the
music, but what was already disguisedwas further disguised.
Finkelstein, in his excellent book Jazz: a people's Music,
shows how the 'sweet', 'hot' contrast permeated New
Orleans jazz and, thereby, adds weight to my argument
a b o u t N e w O r l e a n si a z z .
One of the characteristicsof New Orleans music, contributing
largely to its variety and beauty is the mixture of diflerent musical
language,the interplay of the 'hot' and 'sweet', blue and non-blue.
This fazes the theorists of pure-bluesjazz, who either ignore the
m i x t u r e o r a s s u m et h a t t h e n o n - b l u ee l e m e n t sw e r e , s u b c o n s c i o u s l y '
assimilatedand immediately 'blued' or ,Africanised' by the perf o r m e r s .l r r e v e a l s r, a t h e r , t h a t t h e i n t e r p l a yo l t h e t $ . o l a n g u a g e s
w a s a n t o s t s c n s i t i v e h, i g h l y c o n s c i o u sm u s i c a l o p e r a t i o n ,a n d i t i s
p r c c i s e l l ' t h ea r t i s l u h o i s m o s t , f o l k ' ( o r r n u s i c a l l . v - , p u r e ' a
t hse
t h c ' o r l g o e s ) ,w h o w i l l o f t e n p l a 1 , a n o n - b l u c ' n i e l o d _svt-r a i g h t a n c
w i r h g r e a r p l e a s r . r ri n
e it.
ln rvhite Dixieland the 'blued' elementsare .s$,eetened',

but the excitementis still there through the active working
upon the contrasts(rementberthe contrast adds up to the
feelingof the dc'bauchingof white values,and excitementis
generated simply by playing with the contrasts). White
Dixielandis a jaz.zymusic for havinga 'good time', but it has
a m o r e i n t e l l e c t u asl i d ea s w e l l . I t a t t r a c t si n t o i t y o u n g ,w h i t e
133
Americans who are in, or have connections with, higher

education. Here, we have backgrounds that make for some
'serious' music (the litist European tradicommitment to
tion). However. the kind of individuals of this order, who are
drawn into jazz, tend, in seriousmusic, to identify with the
avant-gardemusic, the music which selfconsciouslybreaks
'serious' music. This
with a settled tradition in European
avant-gardeEuropeanmusic is not only taken up becatrseof
its bohemian excitement,but also becauseof its consciousness of jazz, empl,oyingas it does some miniscule jazz
influencesin its compositions.This jazz tinge is one of its
exciting properties.A passingand respectfulknowledgeof
'serious' music influences
the revolutionary happeningsin
the kind of jazz that certainjazz musiciansproduce' In this,
then, excitementresults from taking up the original value
jazz at some closeproximity to its roots, and savingit, and
oneself,by imposingcertainrefinententsupon it, but imposing the refinementsis, in itself, an excitement not only
becauseof u'hat is bein-erefined by them, but also because
the veneer, though being morall-v upright (connectedwith
'art') is nerv and revolutionary and a break from what
u,ould have been regardedas European stuffiness.In this
way one savesoneselffrom the temptation of total immersion in Americanlow-life (nevera real psychologicalpossibilitl' for most of tltose who felt themselvesexposedto the
t e m p t aifo n ) a n c la t t h e s a m et i m e o n e r e d e e m tsh e l o w l i f e , b y
a p r e s e n t a t i oonf i t t h r o u g ha r e s p e c t a b l(et h e a r t c o n n e c t i o n )
b u t c h i c ( n e \ \ , u n s t u f f y )v e n e e r ,l i k e s t r i p p i n gd o w n a n o l d
r v o o d e nc h a i r , a n d c o a t i t t gi t i n a r e r y ' m o d e r n ,b u t t a s t e f u l
' as
lacquerT
. h e n e t e f f e c to f s u c ha l i f e , l i v e d b y m u s i c i a n sw
' r e a l l yl i v i n g ' ,w h e r e' r e a l l y
w
a
s
p
r
o
d
u
c
e
o
n
e
t
l
t
e
s
e
n
s
e
t
h
a
t
to
l i v i n g ' w a sa c h i e v e db y h o v e r i n gb e n v e e ns e a m yA m e r i c aa n d
arl .
Beiderbeckeis tl,pical of this. He lir,'esthe dreamy other
ri'orldly life of the artist at the same time as the dissolr-rte
goocl-timelife o1' the jaz.zage. However, in describingthis
particular mode of modifying the jazz tradition (and this
134
Art qn Enemy of the people
contribution to its evolution) certain strands still need to be

woven into the account. Thus, the musiciansI am describing
did not singly look back to New Orleans jazz and,set about
modifying it. Jazz was an ongoing set of experiences,and it
was a set of experienceshaving a pronounced commercial
expression.The commercial expressionwas itself (as already
discussed)a modification of original jazz or, perhaps better,
a utilisation of some of its elementsas racy modifiiations in
their own right, of a popular idiom (popular classicssimpli_
fied, and derivatives). Therefore, the jazz musicians I am
describing operated in a market which demanded such a
product. Their modifying inclinations were, then, exercised
upon an already highly modified jazz (in fact mosr of it now
would not be regardedas jazz, though at the time it certainlv
w a s ) . O n t o p o f a l l t h e s ei n t e r a c t i o n sw a s t h e i n t e r a c t i n e
presenceof black jazz. Blackjazz as orgy was not simply an
activelyrecalleddebauchedArcadia, which had taken place
in New Orleansin a mythical past, it was more importintly
for those in the know an existing ,hot', sexy rnuii. to be
Iocatedin the night life of the underrvorld.It was a 'sweetening' of this that many white musicianswere drawn into. To
be part of that rvorld but be apart from ir. Of course,
dil'ferent musicians responcleddifferently and some were
more inclinedto be a part of, than bc-apart from (e.g. Eddie
C'ondon).
what I havetried to explainso far is horvthe proliferations
of jaz,zoccurred in 'srveetened',cleanedup ind therefore
highly modified form, and hor.r this processanswereclthe
demandsand desiresof a white audienceand rvhitemusicians
who rvanted to be jazzmen. Whar I have been trying to
runderiinein this account is that the value ya;; looming
beneathall the modifications,was the infecriousqualitv. TI
think of oneselfas a jaz,onan,to cla.ce tctjazz, to'be part of
thejazz age,this wasthe contagion,which appearecl
in many
disguisesdependc-nt
upon the repressiveneedi of the participants. Horve'er, jazz was, despitc'its being a generalised
ttotion, none the lessa more specificsocialidentificationof a
135
value than the more general,though still socially identifiable,

'debauchery'upon which the seekingof the
objectiveof
iazz
experiencewas dependent. In rime iazz, as a value, was to
wane, whereas, the more general objective was slowly but
continuously pursued, feedng off other things.
Jazz, then, is a presence,which is continuously surfacing
in the various forms of commercial music of the period. It is
a subterranean, unthinkable excitement which is revealed
through its concealment.It is a deep flowing, foul river and
the various forms of concealmenlare its artificially constructed irrigation ditches. Of course, it was not necessarythat
there should be some actual. deep baseto the jazz-flavoured
frolics of the period, this is to say it was not necessaryto
there being an active notion of it. However, such a large
processin society,manifestingitself in a spectrumof attitudes, did give rise to an actual social fornt, which was easily
interpretable,by those u'ho sought such a base, as the
requireddeepbasefor the total socialexperienceof jazz. By
this I mean therc'was locatable,in the depths of society,a
distinct stratum which was black jazz. It is this which norv
requiresdescription.
In the deptirsrve do not find unantbiguoussordidness.In
to rethink, for
order to achiei'eunderstandingit is necessary
a rnorrlent.tlre significattceof the early' iaz.z.for the biack
man. It rl'astlreproject of not ttieaningwhat otte tvtrssaying,
anrJ at the setnretime ilnply'ing an ttnderntiningrneaning
of Ihe rnusic
w hicli orie did not sav. T-liisw'asthe sigirificance
of
ihe
spreading
for blacks. f{owever, whcn we move on to
the .iazzexperiencethrougttoul the capitalistworld, we find
the jazz, rcqurreclof the black man comntercialll',leaves
scantsparrcfor the positiveact of rvithdrawingfrom meaning
w h a t i s s a r d .T ' h i sd i f t ' i c u l r -i sv n o t e x p e r i c n c e d ; ral lt o n c e ,b u t
changingpracticewhich is not offset socialli'
it is a gradriall-v
by commerciaiiyacceptableexamplesof scat singing (e.9"
A r m s t r o n g ) o f m a t e r i n li r r t h e p o p u l a l i d i o n r . T ' h e b l a c k
musiciansi'ulfil the original structureof the music by divid-fhe
lragmentationis not
ing it rip, by a fragmentationof it.
136
so much one of dividing up a given and determinatemusical

style, as one of, in one context saying the acceptablemeaning
whilst constructing (the inventive side) another context,
which takes away the acceptable meaning as meant. The
acceptablemeaning is, of course, for whites the liberation
from repressiveideology, though this meaning is for other
forcesin white societyunacceptable(the threai to the social
fabric). However, this acceptable meaning cannot satisfy
black consciousness,
for its problem is not one of achieving
Iiberation from its own, anachronistic(i.e. economicallv)
repressiveideology. Its problem is one of getting back ai
white societywithout gertingbeat for it. It can hirdly gain
satisfactionfrom what giveswhite societyits kicks. Theirvo
contrasts are concretelyspecified by the commercial gig
(whateverand whenever,though most often on the fringes
of
white socialexperience)
and the jam session.The jam sission
is a way of sayingthat as a professionalmusicianthe negro
jazz musician is not for real. However, the janr
sesslon
is no more important than the gig becausethe two feed
off each other. The point of the jam sessionis to point
to the gig as not beingfor real. It is for this reasonthat, rvhat
has been seen as the puzzling phenomenon of the negro
musiciantaking up tfrecommercialmusicof his day as a bisis
for jazz, becomes explicable. Thus, it has been alleeed
( F i n k e l s t e i nt)h a t a l o t o f f i n e m u s i c a ln r a t e r i a il s u r i l i s r . d
in
N e r , ,O r l e a n sj a z z ( e . g . ' P a n a m a ' )a n d t h a t t h e s a m . rc a n n o l
b e s a i d o i ' m a t e r i a lu t i l i s e ciin l a t e r 1 a z - (ze " g . , E m b r a c e a b l e
'I'he
You').
reason often offel.ed for the changearouncl is
c o l n m e r c i apl r e s s u r eb, u t t h i s b y i t s e l f d o e s n o t e x p l a i nt h e
i n t ' u s i o no f w h i t e ,c o m m e r c i anl r u i i c i n r o t h e j a r n s e s s i o nI.t
i : ' r v h e nt h e j a m s e s s i o ni s l i n k e d t o t h e c o m m e r c i a sl e t t i n q
t h a t t h e ' \ c o f w h i t e , c o r n r ' e r c i a lm u s i c b c c o m r ' sc l c a r l y
intelligible.lt is w,hen what jaz,z is rs living to imply the
contrast betweenthe contexts that the dropping of earlier
slandarcls(i.e. standardnumbers)can be underrakenlightly.
The ambiguity, which was rvritten into one and the same
m u s i c i n N e w O r l e a n s ,l a t e r , i s n o l e s s p r e s e n t ,b u t i t i s
137
presentthrough socialfragmentation.The jam sessionis not

what it is all about exceptin the sensethat the jam sessionis
created explicitly to mean this is what it is all about, this is
what is done for real and not the other thing.
Gene Roney provides a telling illustration of this in
Reisner'sbook on Parker,
They were jam sessionsheld every morning. The ones Bird and I
attended faithfully were held at the Reno Club, where Count Basie
was playing. Basie had a nine piece band and they worked a tough
schedule-from 8.30 to 5.00 in the morning. After that the jam
sessionswould begin. (R.eisner,Bird: The Legend of Charlie Parker).
l'o think oneselfinto this situation, as audience,is to feel

the insult. Having paid for the excitementof jazz one finds
that the musiciansare hangingaround waiting for you to go,
lvhereuponthe real thing gets underway. It's like going to a
party lvhereeveryoneis waiting for you to leaveso that they
can get on with the real party.
W h a ( a c t u a l l vh a p p e n s i, n t h e j a m s e . s s i o ni s, d i s t i n g u i s h able from Nerv Orleans jaz.zin so far as the music being
Thus, whiie, comr.r'orkedupon has different significances.
jazzt(what
implied,
at the time, I have
that
is
nrercialmusic
i
s
i
t
c
o
n
c
e
r
n
e
dw i t h , w h a t e a r l i e r
a
n
d
t
o
s
p
e
c
i
f
v
)
already'tried
'Ihe
l
o
o
s
e
r
,
s
o
m
e
w h a tl e s su p t i g h t ,
r
o
m
a
n
c
e
.
I c a l l e d ,c a r n a l
r v h i t es o c i e t f i s c o m p e t e da g a i n s li n t h e j a m s e s s i o n t: h e
n e q r oo u t - s e d u c et sl r ew h i t e c r o o n e ra n d t u r r r st h e q u i c k s t e p
i n t o o r g y . t s u t t h e m e a n i n gi s n o t j u s l s e d u c t i o na n d t h e
o r g i a s t i c ,i t i s r a t h e r t h e c o m p e t i t i v em e a n i n g .T h e w h o l e
point, rvhen Lester Youttg or Coleman Hawkins blow
' L - . m b r a c e a bYl eo u ' , i s t h a t c o m p a r e dw i t h s t a n d a r d 'w h i t e
r e n d i t i o n so l ' t h e n u n t b e rt h e i r s e d u c t i ' n ' e n iesssso n l u c h m o r e
e r p r e s s i v eT. h i s , a t t h e t i n t e , i s n o t o b v i o u s l l 'a p p a r e n tt o
rvhiteears becauseseductiveoverturescould only bc tolerated u'herethere was the safetyof restraint.
The competing against white society was not realised
within the black musicians'world as a collectivised,group
project. The element of competition involved, also, the
138
internal relarionshipwithin black, jazz music. The individual

objective was to achieve ruccesi in being ugurnrl *t
it.
society.This did not mean refusing to identify *tn
unv *t it.
objectivesor social goars. white society was itserf internaily
gripped by economiccompetitivenessboth
on a pe.sonal und
social basis.To seekthe trappings (ail the negromusician
or
the period was at all likely to get) of weaith (..g. .nurt,,
clothes, money to throw around on girls etc.) was bottr
to
identify with the systemof white, American society
una, ut
the sametime, competeagainstindividual whites. tt *as
airo,
howerrer,to competeagainstother negroes.To be
successful
in white society's terms was, also, to be successful
in
competing againstrvhites,and to be successfulat this rvas
to
be successful
as a negro.The 'flash' negrothen, with an urtra
seductivestyle, was the competitivenegro. The more
seduc_
tire were one's chorusesthe mor. on. outcridwhite
sociery
-iu-'ifr.
and the more one succeeded,against other blacks,
black pro;ect of ourdoing whites. What I am
tryiirg-to
emphasiseis the fact that there is, on the parr
oi b-iack
jazzmen,a deepenteringinto the romantic
sentimc.ntaliiv
the c.mrnercial music of the period. 'I'he notio'
"r
that'the
musicof the pericldwas simply usedby colouredpla1,ers,
as a
vehiclefor the tracing of musicalarub.rqu.r, does
not itancl
{ p I o t h e r e a l i r yo f a c o l o u r e dm u s i c i a ns o l o i n g( e . _ qB. e n
Webster).To allorv,however,for the fact of an
ente.iig inio
t h e s p i r i to l ' t h e m u s i ci s r o t t o s i t u a t et h e b l a c k m u s i c i a i
asa
g u l l i b l ea b s o r b e o
r f w h i t ec o m m e r c i a r i s n
i nr m u s i c .T h e b r a c k
m u s i c i a nc o m p e t e sa t t h e l e v e lo f t h e m u s i c , ss i g n i f i c a n c e
to
t h e c o n s u m e (r i . e . i n t h e a r e ao f i t s l i b e r a t i n gm e a n i n g ) .
T.his
is a side to the music missed in a disrnissiuemusicJiug,.ul
t r e a r m e n tI.t i s t r u et h e r ei s a t u r n i . g a w a y f r o m
thestralghtforward, melodl,line of the piecesplayed,a'd that
the ;i;.;,
are often used as a pattern of chord changes,but
the style
remai,s one of disprayingseducti'e technique.The
discaiding of the melodyand the fasteningonto the chord patter;
i;,
I.am suggesting,
part of the g.n.ral project rvherebythereis a
disassociario'from the acceptable.White, comnrercial
tunes
139
are played but not played, and in not playing them they are
rendered more seductive or more orgiastic. Between the
commercial performance and the jam sessionwe find the
contrast between the acceptableand the unacceptabledisproportionately exhibiting itself, dependingupon how commercial, or how free and open the context. Of course, the
contextsthemselves,especiallythe commerciallyviable ones,
are determined by them being contexts in which black
musiciansare accepted.The music demanded by these contexts is, then, already, by the generalstandardsof American
commercial music, unacceptable.It is the deep base against
which all other jazz experiencesmeasurethemsel'res.However, its reality, as I have tried to indicate, does not compare
with how, as a measure,it is used.As a measureit represents
obsceneexcess,in reality (i.e. for the negro)it is an ambiguous expression signifying competitive but sarcastic compliance. Horvever, in so far as it is a movement whiclt
elaboratesa rejection of the white, musical form, and is
thereby a rejection of what that form means socially, then it
gathersto itself potential excitementfor those intentionally
rejectedby the movement.The most excitingparty is the one
)'ou are not alloled to go to.
To this point I have tried to sketchin the developmentof
jazz up until the middle of the 1930s.It is clear that by the
t i m e w e r e a c ht h e 1 9 3 0 si,a z z , i sa d i s t i n g u i s h a b lpeh e n o m e norr from the earlyjaz,zin and around New Orleans,though
it is somethinglinked to what was earlier. Vly objectivesin
specifvingthis developmenthave been various.
Firstly. there has beena methodologicalobjective,namely
, nd the kind of complexit-v
t h a t o f i n d i c a t i n gt h e c o m p l e x i t y a
it is, which has to be described.There has not been some
essentialrhing, rvhichis jazz, rvhichhas been described.An
accountwhich seeksjazz in this way works from a preferred
definition as to what jazz. is. In contrast, it seemsto me
preferablc'in specifyingwhat jazz is, and was, to delineate
has designatedas
what at different timessocialconsciousness
jazz. When this is done, for the period in question,we find a
140
number of distinguishablesocial processesexhibiting similar

structures and all of them interacting with each other in a
multiplicity of ways. As this complex has emergedit has been
my intention, and is my recommendation,not to reduce this
complexity to somesystematicformula, but rather to allow it
to unfold as somethinglived by so many different individuals
in many different ways. In a way, the methodology has been
a rejection of method, and an insistenceon the fact that
what is lived and concrete is so tangled that it cannot be
renderedby a point by point (a), (b), (c) sort of formula. This
is not to say it cannot be known, but the knowing, which is
possible, is not a definite knowledge, it is instead, an
imaginative reliving of what was lived, and this leaves one
with as many looseendsand dissatisfactions
as the life lived
and, therefore,known. However, this is not to excuseany
sparsity of detail in the present account, this is excused
differently by the scopeof the enquiry. What I have tried to
indicateis the way a more ampleaccountshouldbe conducted.
The secondobjective,which relatesto the thematiccentre
of this essay,has concernedbringing into focus the first
actual social processes
in which a relationshipbetweenjazz
and art gets posited. I think it is clear that this positing is
quite distant from the different, sometimesopposed,strands
w i t h i n w h a t , b y t h e m i d 1 9 5 0 s ,h a s b e c o r n et h e o r t h o d o x y
within jazz i.e. that jazz is an art form. By the 1950s,a
consciousness
of jazz as art includesthe belief that jazz is an
art mo!'ementwith an unrecognised
(certainlyby the general
p u b l i c a n d a l s o b y t h e e s t a b l i s h eadr t f r a r e r n i t y )h i s r o r y .l n
t h i s m o v e m e n t ,t h e h i s t o r yo f j a z z i s b e i n g s i f t e d l i k e s o m e
ancient civilization for its great works of art, and involvement in the movementincludes,as a competitivernotive,the
d e s i r et o a c c u m u l a t e s o t e r i ck n o w l e d g eT
. he most straightforward illustrationof this is the growth of discography,as it
concernsjazz, (a grorvth which had been taking place since
t h e m i d d l e o f t h e 1 9 3 0 s )a l t h o u g h r h e m o r i v e h a s a m o r e
complicatedand more socially diffuse nature. The earlier
appraisalof jazz as art was much more the view that iazz was
l4l
a possibleortform, or that lazzcould be turned into art' The

subsequentview was not the locating of successfulattempts
at achleving objectives prescribed by the earlier view' The
earlier view was not, then, the sudden realisation that what
lay all around one, namely iazz music' was, in fact' as yet
unrecognisedart music, rather it was the view that jazz was a
music that could be turned into art by the creativeefforts of
schooled musicians. This view did not result from deep,
aestheticdeliberationsas to what could, or could not count
as art; rather, for certain groups of people, it was a view
which fitted what was specific to their position in society'
Jazzis a form of life having a deep base, and the deep base,
constitutingthe most authenticarea of iazz as art, was not
which first drew
within the limits of the socialconsciousness
of this first
jazz
In
terms
together.
and
art
of
the concepts
view of jazz and ar:, iazz moved into art as it moved away
from the deep base,and moved towards (as a set of musical
techniquesi.i. techniquesformally definable)the world of
not
a r l a s n o r m a l l yc o n s t i t u t e dT. h i s . l h e n , a s a m o v e m e n t i,s'Ihe
one which particularly involves the coloured player'
cgloured player, as someoneconfined to the deep base, is
obviousll enough not enticedby this movementinto a
c o n s c i o u s n e sosf h i s a c t i v i t ya s a r t .
A third objective in setting up the account, as it has
proceedecl
thus far, follou'son from having specifiedthe first
itirrings of the art movementin jazz. Thus, we can seethat
the tradition, of regardingjazz as art, does not proceed,in
the lirst place, from c'rpertinterpretationof a phenomenon
w h i c h , u n t i l t h a t t i m e , h a d e l u d e d i n t e l l i g e n ta s s e s s m e n t '
Whether one agreeswith my generalaccountof jaz'zor not'
no-onetoday would accepttl'tejazz/art viervwhich predominated in Antericacluringthe 20s and early 30s. In fact most
of what \\'asal that time producedunder the jazz/art banner,
would toclaycount neitheras art nor Jazz.I have arguedthat
later interpretations,of jazz aSart, constitutemisinterpretaThus,
tions of the actualjazz movementas socialexperience.
for the view that the interpretations
the evidenceaccuntuiates
t42
of jazz as art do not function as true knowledge of jazz

(which is their ideologicalstance)but rather they function as
unconscious,justifying disguisesfor entry into jazz experience (itself mtrltifarious in nature and constantly changing)
from various social bases.ln time, as I shall try to indicate,
the interpretation of jazz as art, though various in nature.
takesover the reality of jazz, so that for those who make jazz
and those who listen to it (and those for that matter who sell
it) to be in jazz is to be concernedwith art experience.As
this becomesthe prevailing conception of jazz, so jazz ceases
to be a popular idiom and instead becomes increasingly
complex and inaccessible.This is not to say that the value
jazz had to previous generations disappears. There is no
fundamental structural change affecting society which coincideswith the immersion of jazz in art. The value jazzhad to
previousgenerationsis still present,though appearingnow
under the label of Rhythm and Blues and its offshoots and
derivatives,or rather R and B constitutesthe deep base
againstwhich the popular idioms measurethemselves.
Ai this
paint jaz.zas the value it was dies. This viewpoint on jazz is
w e l l r e f l e c t e di n P h i l i p L a r k i n ' s i n t r o d u c t i o nt o h i s A t t W h a t
(P.l-arkin All LYhatJazz, London, 1970,pp. l3-14).
Jaz.z.
By this time I wa-squite ccrtarn that jazz haclceasedto be produced.
The societythar had engenciered
it had gone, and would not return.
Yer sr-rrcllall that e'nerg.v
aiid delight coulclnot vanish as conrpletell.
a s i l c a m c t l o o k i n g r o u n d , i t C i d n ' t t a k e l o n g t o d i s c o v e ru , h a t w a s
d e l i g h t i n gt h e ' " ' o r r r oh l r h e s i x r i e sa s j a z . zh.a d c l e l i g h t e tdh e i r f a t h e r s ;
i n d e e d ,o n e c o u l d h a r d l y a s k t t r eq u e s t i o nf o r t h e d e a f e n i n gr a c k e to f
l i r e g r o u ; , : , ,t h e s l a m m i n g ,t h u d d i n g , w h a n g i l r gc u l t . f b e a t m u s i c
r l r a lt l e r i ' c : ds t r a i g h tf r . r n i h c N e g r t >c l u b so n C h i c a g o ' ss o u r h S i d e ,
a n r r s i c s o p r r - r p u l at lrr a t i t s p r a c t i t i o n c r sf o r m e d a n e w a r i s t o c r a c y
t h : i t r v : r ;i h c l n . , , 1 , o te l l u ' h o b e h c l d r h e m , s u p p o r t e Cb y t h e i r o w n
r ; t d i ( )s t a t i { r ntsh r o r r g h o r rt lt t r n o r l c l ' sw a k i n gh o u r s .
it seemsio me that the nert substantialand influential

del'eiopmentin jaz.z,which is concernedwith the identification of jazz as art, hasa Europeanbase.This is a processthat
I have found urore difficult to research.One of the reasons
A Worning on the Corntptive Influence of Art
t43
for this stems from the fact that jazz researchis, arguably,
the important contribution made by Europeans to the jazz
tradition, and that, therefore, its function has been one of
spotlighting somethingother than itself. Therefore, as far as
secondary sources are concerned, it is difficult to find
material on the history of the European experience and
criticism of jazz, apart that is from the odd account, here and
there, by people in jazz of what it was like, throughout the
30s, 40s and 50s, to get involved in jazz (e.g. Humphrey
Lyttelton's I Ptay {ts I Please and Second Chorus). As I am
aware, therefore, the recepticn of jazz in Europe is an area
requiring investigation. What would be uncovered by such
researchwould, no doubt, show some set ol'overall similarities betweendifferent national experiencesof iazz whilst also
shorvinginterestingnational variations. What suctr research
rvould neecito show is how the European reception of jazz',
akin to wltat one fincls
despitesomegeneralpopularrespc\nse
'real jazz' as that
in America, gaYcrise t(] a conceptionot'
coincidingwith rvhathas beeureferredto as the deepbase.In
clearerterms what has to be explainedis holv sorne Europeanstook up iaz.z,as rnadeb1'coiotlt'edmusicians,and held
;l arrating
i t u p a s ' t e a lj a z z ' a so p p o s e dt o a n ( ) t h c cr ' t r t t e c tl m
from Europe (the cotnntercialuse ot' jiizz techniqries)and
'real jazz', as it rvas establishedas treing,
hon'. further, tile
'rezri
was not onl-vheld to be
.iazz.'but m()rethan tiris music
i.e. ;ln art tbrtli" Onc
musicalcot-lsideraiicrn
u'clrth-v
of serior.ls
s i m p l ee x p l a n a t i o no i t f r i su o L t l d b c t h a t c c - r t a i tIlt t r o p e a n s
just san'that this was so. [Jorvever.as I ltarc siltilt'n,seclrli;,
that srrmethingis art ha-\ner,'erbeen a nlatlrr oi secingth:ri
th;rt an objctrt posse.rsed
scrntefact r.lasthe case,iike seeing
'Therciore'
to bc
ir is likel,-v
someclearlyidentifiableproperty.
g
e
n
e
r
a
l
s
ocial
m o r e p r o f i t a b l et o s e e ka n c x p l a n a l i o ni n t i r s
pcrceilbackground,than in somepresumecl,but irnpossibL',
tion of truth.
As it has beentracedthrough, the jazz feclingin America
h a s s h t l u n i t s e l ft o c o i n c i d cr , r i t ha s c n s eo l b c i r r gA r n e r i c a n .
l ) c s p i t e ' o p p o s i t i o nt o . i a t z . i n A m c r i c a n s o c i c t y ' t h e
T144
predominant trend was towards the proliferation of

iazz
values. The being American, in this sense,has to be under_
stood alongsidewhat it was not, namely, being European or
having European aspirations.This senseof European values
was not mythical, although the realisation of thesevalues in
the American context was a variation on a tradition which
was, anyway, variously expressedin Europe itself. Against
this background, then, it is not surprising to find stitfe.
European resistanceto jazzmusic (meant in ihe loosestsense)
in Europe than in America. By resistance,here, is meant not
just propagandisedopposition from groups that would
have
nothing to do with jazz music, but also resistancebv those
who used it and often profited from it. American
iopular
music,as we haveseen,usesthe initialjazz elementsin highly
modified form. European popular music becomesa modlfiea
form of American popular music, where American becomes
the exciting contrast which is allowed to infiltrate under
censorshipinto Europeansocialexperience.The rernoteness
of colouredjazzfrom popular music in the Statesis extenuated in Europe, although,whereEuropeanoppositionis at its
most repressive,
so identificationof colouredelements,as an
o b s c e n ee l e m e n t ,i s m a d e . S o m e i l l u s t r a t i o n so f t h i s . I n
Britain the BBC has a striking record of banningat one time
what, at a later time, it allows to be play,edacl nausean. In
t h e 3 0 st h e B B C , i n i t s r e p r e s s i vder i ' e a g a i n s w
t hat ir took to
b e t h e e x c e s s eosf p o p u l a rm u s i c ,s i n g l e do u t , f o r c e n s o r s h i p ,
the specificallynegro featuresof the jazz,-tinged
poprla, anci
dance music of the peri.d. Thus, no-one broadcastingwas
a l l o w e d t o r e f c - rt o d a n c e m u s i c a s b e i n g , h o t ' , . h o t j a z z ,
b e i n g v e r y m u c h n e g r o j a z z . M o r e o v e r , s c a t ' s i n g i n g ,u ,
perforrnedby Nat Gonella in homage to Louis A.mstions.
hi-.iclol, was bannedalso.
In Gerntany the Fascistregime was more explicit. It was
madean offencefor Cermansto play dancemusic containing
negro elements.The negro elementswere specificallyidenti_
fied both in terms of what they were as technicalitems, and
as being negro. As a consequence,
such effects as the lone
145
drawn out off beat. and the inclusion of riffs, were banned. I
suspectthat for the mass European mind the idea of there
being a negro content, in anything other than an idyllic form,
'syncopatedmusic' (as it was known) would have
to jazz or
been quite unthinkable as something to identify with. The
represseditem in the experiencewas what was taken to be
American (i.e. an item thinkable, but repressed).Thus, the
spread of jazz-flavoured, popular music in Europe takes
place without a capitulation to American music makers.
In Britain, for instance,the focus of musical attention is
on British dancebands.It is instructive,in this connection,to
inspect the Melody Maker's publication to celebrateits 50
yearsof covering popular music. This publication contains a
detailed review of the Melody Maker's headlinesover the
years.Throughout the period I have been discussingattention is concentratedupon British dancebands (Jack Hylton,
Jack Payne,Geraldoetc.). What constitutesfor us, now, the
main developmentswithin the history of popular music only
f igure marginally in the Melody Maker's coverageof the
times. As one readsthrough the celebrationcopy one has a
senseof the compiler ransackingthe pagesof past Nlelody
,N{akersto find itemsthat coincidervith the acceptedhistory
of popular music (a history which does not itself coincide
with rvhzrtw'aspopular in its time). The dancebands of the
period play in hotelsand they play for ballroom dancing. In
B r i t i i i nt h e t o p b a n d sa r e a l l e n g a g e db y t o p L o n d o n H o t e l s ,
. he London
a n d i t i - ql r o m t h e s eb a s e st h a t t h e y -b r o a d c a s t T
sceneis mirrored in tltc prol'inceswhere ever;-hotel has its
resiclentdance bancl.The ballrooms are open to the public,
and thus for the patronsthe santesort of contrastas in New
Orlcans ClondeStreet lJallroom obtains, although in highly
rloclified t"orm.The r'r'orldthey enter is fhe world of hotel
lifc, a rJontcxlu'hich for most of thenris elevatedand beyond
t h e i r n o r n i a l r e a c h ,w h i l : ' tt h e m u s i ct h e y ' c o n t e1 ' o r ,a n d t h e
i n t i m a t eo n e t o o n e d a n c i n gt h e y g o i n f o r , h a s t h e r u m - t e 'fhe
e x c i t e m e no
t f s y n c o p a t i o n h, o w tum ol'syncopation.
' h i g h c l a s s ' s e t t i n gi n
e v e r , i s r e n d e r e da c c e p t a b l eb y t h e
146
which it takes place and also by the interspersingof waltzes,

which, by allowing the patrons to indulge themselvesin
emotional wallowing, inspire a senseof being cleansed,or
made pure, by the seemingsincerity of the feelingsindulged
in. The excitement of syncopation was the excitement o1 a
minisculethrowing off of dignified posture, as prescribedby
official European values; it was, also, the excitement of
identifying with the fashionable, latest, American experien_
cesas they were conveyedto Europe largely by means of the
spread of cinema.
It is againstthis popular orthodoxy that certain Europeans
beginto talk of'real jazz' and to taik of ,real jazz,being art.
Clearly, to articulatein this way presupposes
some kind of
intellectualbackground.Franceis an influentialcentrein this
connection in the shape of critir-s and discographerslike
Panassi6and Delaunay.I suspectthe individualsinvolvedare
counterpartsto the young people who, in America, coupled
jazz and art. The dilferenceis that in America rhere wis
a
c o n t i n u i n gt r a d i t i o no f p l a y i n gt o j o r n , w h e r e a si n E u r o p e ,i n
t h e f i r s t i n s t a n c e ,i t w a s m o r e n a t u r a l t o l j s t c n t h a n p l a y .
Against the reality of man1,dil'f'erentforms of jazz beirig
playecl(all at differcnt corrrmercialievels)it w:rs prlssibieto
frame the project ol- turning iaz,r iirtcl art by nlaying it
tlirorrgh sc.trlre
sct of nrociificatiorrs.
ln Iurope. iri the first
place. tlrt:rc are thc clarrr:ibani.isg;lai'irrgrriociii'icatiorrs
of
A m e r i c a n p c p u l : r r i-n u s i c . I - h c s eb , a r r r ifsr o n r r i r r i l ,t c r t i m e
ini:lr-rde
a 'hOt' rtuinticr,rir a 'hr)t' rrttrsi.-i;ul
re,ir<-r
ilceasioriillly,
r n i l k e l:;i ' h o { ' h r e a k , } i o r . a l i u r g t. i r n e . i o r } - J r t r o p e a nt h
s ,i s i i
t h c n e a r e s tf t r e l c ; i n g r l l t ( f h e ; r r i n gt i r c ' l i r e ' ( a p l r r f f r c l m
occasional,Anr.:ric;rn
visit,,v,,iiir:h!\.er,tcuriail,:.dtrv tjnion
l - ' a n t i i t i i t ) l j . l l J ( . 1 { . ' l r g : i i l r ; il r , } i i i l.i r \ n i c r i c a r i
{ e l t l c i t t - l l t , . : r , n ! i ' i r r t l ri l \l t } c . i s l " i t . cisi : t : l l .
l l l i r l i p l . a i k i n i c r l i i r , . . \ t r . ;i i r i s
'l
pr)fr6l31 rlusic
h::, h311;'g1ia'cl
Lrt *al rri ih,: cianr,'chan6, a n'r,l, ,,ani:he,l rrirelo_
r r r g t ) {r)':i r \ i ( l \ L , ) : ' 1 . ' l r r l LJ\ r' irl !r , . , .{ l i r t r l l l rr J e n t i U l r lt lrVn i f O r r t r e d )
l l t J l $ . 1 \ r ' t t p l l r t . i b 1 i I t r r r - .gi i r c : . , 1 2 ! L i rsi i l )tth a l i t s p a t r r ) l ] se o u l d
t47
dance. Their leaders were national celebrities, and had regular time
on the radio: five-fifteen to six in the afternoon, for instance, and
'jazz' bands,
half-past ten to midnight. They were in almost no sense
'hot' number, in which the
but about every sixth piece they made a
one or two men in the band who could play jazz would be heard. The
'hot number' was Tiger Rag: it had that kind of national
classic
anthem status that When The Saints Go Marching 1n had in the
fifties. Harry Roy had a band-within-a-band called The TigerRagamuffins. Nat Conella's stageshow had a toy tiger lying on the
grand piano. Trombonists and tuba playersbecameadept at producing the traditional tiger growl. I found thesehot numbers so exciting
that I would listen to hours of dance music in order to catch them
when they came.... (All What Jazz, Larkin)
In Europe there are odd examplesof bands playing what

would now be recognisedas jazz music, but they do not
nexus for a generai
constitute a significant enough social 'fhe
few bands there
music.
direct possibilityof making the
and,
perform
like
the
universities,
in remote socialareas,
are
in
higher
e'ducation
erpansion
it needsto be remembered,the
i n E u r o p e i s s l o w e rt h a n i n A m e r i c a , t h u s s u c h e x p e r i e n c e s
'Thcrefore
listeningto what is to
are not generallyavailable.
'real
jazz.'
by'
the 78 rpnt record or
is
mediated
be set up as
are not readilv
records
such
Ho$ever,
foreign radio statiolls.
b,vBritrsh
being
recorcis
arailable
ntain
of
bulk
availabie,the
m
usic.T'lie
A
m
e
r
i
c
a
n
c
o
l
u
m
e
r
c
i
a
l
i
m
p
o
r
t
s
o
1
'
m u s i c i a n so r
'i'ace records' arlcl
jazz
hr"rf
is
are
largeil'
sotrglrt
by
records
t h e s ea r e n o t t h a l c ' a s ) . ' t o b t a i r tb y r v h i t e sc r e n i n A m e r i c a .
T h e r e a l i s a t i o nos t ' t h e d e s i r et o l i : ; t e nl o s u c h t n u s i cp r o c l t t c e s , t h e r e f o r e , e , \ o t e r i cm i n o r i t y c o t e r l c s . - f h t s d o e s n ( l L
n e c e - s s a r i l t ' r uang a i t r s it h e d e - s i r ecsl f t l t o s er , v h cc; l l t e r l l t i s
of tlie [.ttttlpcan1l-rt-'or1'
nrinor-ityu'orld. lt is, ol cotlls':.1-'r;tt't
abcrut1az-zIhat it is a i'ornl of rttit.ir-n'hi;lt is riunti"icat:t
i-\ i1
enough lor everyoneto attend to. brtl nctnctheless,l-tgps
'r'ay out'salisfaction about the fact that vcry t'cu',itl f'aci,
b o t h e rr v i t h i t .
m a k c si h c p o i n t :
P h i l i pI a r k i n a - a a i n
.-r
148
Art an Enemyof thepeople

In the thirtiesit lazzl was a fugitive minority interest,a record heard
by chance from a foreign station, a chorus between two vocals, one
man in an orherwisedull band. No one you knew tiked it. (tDtd.)
On what basis, therefore, may we supposethat the desire

to hear 'hot jazz' originated? For what social needsdid this
music seeman appropriate object? I suspectthat the kind of
individualswho get caughrup in it (althoughmy evidencefor
this is not well-researched)are both anti-American and
againstcommercialpopularism, and yet open to whatever is
'rvay
out', challenging,'really liviirg'. They do not capitulate
to American-stylepopular musicand the reasonis becauseof
a real background commitment to the art concept, which,
ideologically,sets up a divide between behavioural forms
requiredby the highly commercialmusic and those forms of
behaviourand attitude required by art. However, the com_
mitment to art is, questionably,open to the interpretationof
effeminacyand obedienceto the valuesof the socialsystem
(e.9. succeeding
in rhe higher reachesof educarion,by doing
what one is told to do, in order to be held to ha'e understood
the history of the art tradition). To show, then, a commit_
ment to jazz music,as it appearswithin what is the deepbase
t o t h e r , r ' h o lseo c i a jl a z z e r p e r i e n c ea. s p a r t o l ' o n e ' r c o n r m i t _
ment to art is to offset this interpretation.To be interesredin
'hor jazz'
is to bc- interestedin what goes beyond the
t h r e s h o l do f e r c e s sa s c o m p r e h e n c l ebdv t h e m o s t d a s h i n g ,
p h i l i s t i ' e r r e n d i e so f r h e p e r i o d . t - a r k i n r e s r i f i e st o t h e f a i t
that he, as an academicalll'successful
),oungman, \\,asclrawn
lo jazz music becauseol its ,bod reputation'. It is also the
casethat in identiffing with American, dcep-basejazz il.re
E,uropeanw'asidentifying u,ith that, in America, ,,,hi.1l*u,
i n t e n t i o n a l l ya n t i - A m e r i c a n( i . e . s c o r n f u lc l e r i s i o no l ' w h i t e ,
commerciallysuccessfulsociety)and that n,hich was anti_
Ar.erican, in being a moralll'-conclemnatory'
erar'plc ot' the
harsh inequalitiesthat American, brash, cornmercialsocietv
l c d t o . M o r e o v e r ,t o i d e n t i f yt h i s a s p e c o
t f A m e r i c a ns o c i e t y
a s a r t w a s t o m a k c o n e s e l f s e e m a n t i _ A m e r i c a n f. o r t h e
149
American ethos as understood by Europe's lites stood for

philistine commercialism, and commodity production over
against real values (i.e. traditional European values as they
were understood).The Adorno position looked into earlier is
indicative of this attitude, although for him jazz does not
have the special art-status. These particular facets of the
anti-American attitude, which certain forms of iazz music
were able to satisfy, were facets appealing to individuals
having leftist inclinations(e.g. the attack on racial inequality,
and the hostility to the proliferation of American style
capitalism).
Thesethen are some of the strands which, I suspect,make
up the early European basedcommitment to certain forms of
jazzbeing art. In due course,this minority European commitment becomesan orthodoxy about jazz both in Europe
and America, so that what is acceptedas jazz is that which is
in accordancewith these preferred forms' This movement
sets up the requisiteEuropean practice, which leads eventually to the possibilityof Europeaniazz. The fact that the
movementis populatedby those connectedin various ways
with Europe's various social lites makes it not at all
surprising,as the media at the time was often unable to see,
'proletarian
that jazz in Europe was not made by Europe's
rabble' but by individuals having some social status' For
instance,in the days of Lyttelton's prominencein popular
culture,the presscould not get over the fact that here was an
old Etonian ex-Guardsofficer and blue blood who spenthis
time playing jazz. What I am suggestingis that, git'en the
in Europe, tt is not surprising,
backgroundto lazz experience
and is what one might expect.
What needsto be examinednext is how this interpretation
of jazz as art, u'hich as we have seenleads to a misunderstanding of what lazzmenwere up to, becomesthe contag i o u s ,d e t e r m i n i n gi n f l u e n c e .
A number of significanteventsand developmentscoalesced so as to provide the explanation.There is the development of swing, as a white big-band phenomenon, rvhich
150
Art on Enemy of the people
involves mass teenagehysteria and considerable

commercial
rewards for tho.seperpetrating the music.
There u.. it.
American musical contacts with Europe brought
about by
the specialistEuropeaninterestin certain formslf
ameii.un
music.and also by the war. There is the development
;fBop
and the associatedcultural experiences.There
is the strortlived revivalist era and its associatedcultural
forms.
Becauseof what America stood for to the establishment
in
Europe (Henry James,novelscontain illustration,
oi',"frut f
mean in its earlier forms), and becauseAmerica
contains,
despiteits reputation,thosewho aspireto Europe,s
turt. unO
evaluations,it is not surprising thai the European
inter;s; in
somethingspecificallyAmerican, as being worthy
of ,..iou,
Europeaninterest'excitesa sympatheticreaction
in America.
This is not surprising,but ut iheium. time
thereis an element
of farce in the situation. Negro jazz, which I,
tt. ,.nO_up of
the Europeanpresencein whire-Americansociety,
is recom_
mended to Americans by Europeansas b.eing
i;";;;;;;;.
with the highestEuropeanstandards,and
on-this,..o^rn.n
dation is acceptedby Americansas being so.
This ,.nr. of
European approval produces in Americi individuali
*rro
standto what is now emergingsociallyas ,realjazz,
as Oo the
E u r o p e a l rn
. o n - p l a y i n go f f i c L n a d o s .C o n n e c t i o n s
areestab_
lishedbetweenthe Europeanand American
areasof .r,tl."f
activitl,'. This, rhen, is one way, in which
th. ;i;;;i;
Europeanorthocloxygains grouni.
This vierv of jazz, this special sense of ,jazz,,
,
whichr
becomeswhat jazz is, also -ik", inroads inro
ihe *ortJ ot
colouredplayers.The greatpopular and comme..iur
,u...ii
of srving is confined to whiie practirioners,
a.ipir.- tf,.
big-band techniquesbei'g taken'over from
ir-,. tro.io oi
colouredmusic. The white band.smake full
emotional;;.;i
riff's, they incorporatethe jam sessionas
a special,theatrical
eventwitlrin their programme.s,
signifyingtherebywhere the
party really is at, and they covernumbers
put out by coloured
bands (e.g. Goodman cov,eringBasie's
dne o,clocf.l"*pi
In other words the success
of s*,ingis basedon a commercial
l5l
use (therefore necessarily,at the time, a white use) of the

elementswithin the deep base. Following on from the first
white assimilationof lazz experience,white consciousness
is
by this time preparedfor a more thorough-goingcapitulation
to the orgiastic, a more thorough-going dismantling of
repressiveuptightness.It is this American attitude which is
respondedto with someawe by Europeanswhen they ('the
Yanks') come to Europe during the Second World War.
Europe feelsthe Americansare freer, looser than Europeans,
that they 'don't give a damn'. Their ultirnate antithesisin
Europe is the styleof the Cerman master-racesociety.There
is a feelingthat the Americansought not to win bccausethey
seemto lack disciplineand organisation,but it is, at the same
time, felt they are unbeatablebecausethey are all hoods or
cowboys, rvho will knuckle down and shou' their tough
pedigrecwhen the crunch comes. This is, I suggest,how
European popular cor.rsciousness
responds to the gumchervingGI's. C)n this basisthe GI's are also identified by
Europe's femalesas beingvery rexy (i.e. unstiff, liberated).
Within the colouredjazz rvorld there is a generalresentment
t h a t t h i s m o v e n l e n(t i . e .t h e S r v i n gE r a ) , s o o b v i o u s l yd e p e n dent upon attitudes and techniquesevolved bl' coloured
plavers.passesthem bt' *'itholrt much recognitionor remuneration.The styleof the new musicderivesfrom the fra-ementation of not rneaningrvhatone says(i.e. particularlythe jam
the idea of hav'ing a
session).Fr-rrthe coloured JazznTan
privatc'blacku'orld in rvhichto negatethe demandsof white
s o c i e t -ivs a s s a i l e db l ' t h e c o m n r e r c i aul s e o f ' t h e s t y l eo f t h i s
privacl'. \loreover, in a musical context which is becoming
of'
increa-singly'
of its identity and history (becau.se
conscior"rs
possible
grow'th
recogniis
the
of criticalactivitl'),there the
tion, for the black perfornrer,that the ntusicalexperiencehe
and his forebearshavecreatedis constantlybeingstolenfrom
h i n r . T h e g r o w t h i n c r i t i c a la c t i v i t y ,a l s o , m a k e si t p o s s i b l e
for the black performer to view himself as an artist; a
perceptionwhich, ior all the cultural reasonsI have been
erplaining, woLrld have been totally alien to most black
152
Art an Enemy of the peopte
musicians. What European connections there are help to

underline these possibilities. For instance, Billie uoliday
meets this attitude in Europe and accordingly has her consciousnessof herself, and the music she is iisociated with,
transformed by it.
They've got respect for music over there (Europe). It's culture to
them and art, and it doesn't matter whether its Beethovenor charrie
Parker, they got respect.If a kid of theirs comesinto the world and
sayshe wants to play they don't act like he was a freak becausehe
wants to be a jazz musician.They stick a horn in his mouth and they
seethar he gets some lessons.(Billie Holiday Lady sings the Brues)
This she contrastswith the state of play in the States:

We're supposedto have made so much progress, but most of the
people who have any respect for
lazz in this country are those who
can make a buck out of ir. (ibid.)
For the black musician the life dedicatedto ambisuitv

cannot be lived simply. This is ro say it cannor ue luei
without cosr. whar is lost in the two-facedlife is a senseof
approvable identity. Therefore, social experienceswhich
provide a perspectiveto$'arclsan identity are seductive.
The
European-styleconsciousness
of jaz-z introduces coloured
jazz musiciansto the idea of themselves
as artists. The art
classificationis in a senseEurope's revengeon jazz as the
debasementof European culture. I-Iere, then. is a verv
a e c e p t a b il d
e e n t i t yr o a s s u m eI.n u h i t e c o n s c i o r r s n ct h
s se r ei . s
the recognitionof the artist as its highestexpression,yet art
selsup the artistas badly integratecl
into the society.ttris is a
totally acceptableimage for the segregatedblack musiciarr
seekinga relevantidentit-v.It is, moreover,an identity which
allows the player to continue the attack on white ,o.i.ti.
However,it is an identitywhich breedsa new conficlence
and
straightforwardness,
even if it is expressedin a style which
has grown out of a more shifty, two_facedexistence.The
artist image, and the audience'sconferment of this imaee
upon the musicianallows him to go on stage,turn his baik
o n t h e d e v o t e e sa, n d b l o w , s h i t ' .
A Warningon the CorruptiveInfluenceof Art
153
Anyone who thinks that an Archie ('America's done me a lot of

wrong') Shepp record is anything but two fingers extended from 1
bunched fist at him personally cannot have much appreciation of
what he is hearing (P. Larkin All What Jazz).
in the jazz setting is

This straightforward aggressiveness
symptomatic of more generalchange in black consciousness
in American society. Developmentsin the jazz world are of
the sametype as negroesseekingidentity through Africa and
the Black Muslims, and going on from a base of identitysecurity to launch black protest. The art status of jazz is,
from the beginningof Bop and on through the developments
in modern jazz, assured.The perception of jazz as art also
builds itself into Revivalism, which is a belated attempt to
honour the early iazzas art. Only the old-time musiciansand
the non-intellectual members of Revivalism's short-lived,
massaudiencefail to graspthe significanceof the perception'
takesjazzup, supportingit
Even the Americanestablishment
as America's unique contribution to the arts' However, this
captureof jaz,zby the art tradition brought about the decline
in jazz as popular experience,f or jaz'zwas changedby the
new outlook of its players.In other words, the supposedly
detachedperception of what had been going on as a yet
unrecognisedartisticactivity did not leave its object simply
uncoverecl,like the results of an archeologicaidig' The
critical perspectivebecantean active practice, whereby the
jazznten,convincedby themselvesas artists,sought to integ r a t et h e i r m u s i ci n t o t h e t r a d i t i o no f a r t . T h i s i s t o s a yt h a t ,
' s h i t ' ( a b o u r g e o i sa
, ntia l t h o u g ht h e r ew a s t h e b l o r v i n go f
'high-art'
an
was
also
there
itselt),
bourgeois teature of
by
offered
techniques
of
erperimenlationwith the full-range
began
music
(rvhich
As
the
was).
iazz now
rrrodelnart music
to take on theseforms so it lost its popular base' However,
therervereother aspectsto black music in the Statc's(aspects
e.ristingprivately to blacks)which the criticai concentration
on jazz overlooked, and it was these that were to go on
of capitalist
ieedingthe repetitious,controlledrebelliossness
-..--
154
society, just as the many sides of jazz had done. 'Ihe jazz
tradition, however, as something to be integrated with a
bourgeois, art-tradition, was, as can be seen from the
account that has been given, a nonsensicalproject. The style
of the art tradition, even at its most modern and revolutionary, reflecteda moral concern, an attitude of caring, a desire
to organisethe world better, but the style of thejazz tradition
was 'I don'f give a fuck' and ,I ain't for real' and ultimatelv
'l'm
a n a r t i s tm a n . s o p a y f o r m y d i n n e r ' . T h e j a z z m a nh a s
experiencedthis merger as a great difficulty. In Beneath the
Underdog Mingus laments the fact that he cannot be like a
member of the Juilliard String euartet (i.e. namelessand
simply concernedwith music), that he cannot in jazz fulfil
himself as a composer('artist'). Jazz has, he says,too many
stranglingqualities,it 'leavesroom for too much foolingt.
(Charles Mingus, Beneath the Underdctg, p.340). In falt,
sincebeingabsorbedinto the fringesof the art life in society,
lazz has not developed.There is the ,shit', there are tlie
attemptsto preservereveredsectorsof the past, there is the
playingoi modern,serious,art musicunder the label of jazz,
and, irr a fcw'cases,
thereare lazzmenfunctioningin the rock
world whilsr prescrvinga jazz feel.
***
f h c a i r n i n u ' r i t i n gt h i s c h a p r c .hr a s b e e nr o c u t t h r o u g h t h e
absfract question 'ls 1az,z.
art?' and to suggestthat the base
which allorvs the c1r_iestion
1o be asked is u,hat gives tlre
q u e s t i o ns i g n i f i c a n c cr ,a fh e r t h a n t h e q u e s t i o na s c o n t e m p l a _
'rhe
ted Iiterally.
socialpercepti'ns ol jazz as art have been
v a r i o u sb o t h i n l o c a t i o n a n d m o t i v e . l n t r y i n g t o b e s t o w
tronourson jatz they have failed, as far as prelious forms of
j a z z m u s l c a r e c o n c e n r e d ,t o u n d e r s t a n di t s i n t e n t i o n a l
practiceand {husits significancein its own socialconrext.ol'
course, as I have tried to sugge:jt,the application of art
icleologyto lazt has often taken place on the basis of
sclf-decepticl'.The description'art' has often beenthe cloak
155
under which jazz has been contemplated for its actual

significances. However, again for various reasons' these
actual significanceshave undergone large transformations
through contact with the theoretical practices of bourgeois
society.The net effect has beenthe absorption of jazz and its
history into the fringes of the art processin society. Perhaps
the fact that the history of iazz has been anti-European,
anti-white, anti-bourgeois,anti-art accounts for its peripheral rather than central position (i.e. as somethingdifficult to
integrateinto the art tradition). With the absorption of jazz
into the art processhas come the decreasingsignificanceof
jazz as a catalyst for popular, mass experience.Moreover,
through the identification the jazz processhas run itself into
a cul-de-sac.The art interpretation has not sprung from the
clear perceptions of unprejudiced, morally sympathetic
minds, but hasgrown out of the socialneedsof specificsocial
groups and from the way theseneedshave meshedtogether.
of
and misinterpretations
It hasprofferedmisunclerstandings
jazz, and has led to the death of jazz as popular experience
and to its declineas any kind of developingsocialprocess.In
other words there were other possibilitiesfor the jazz
process. Its route has been a chosen route, it has been
nothing other than the practiceof persons.The choicesmade
are explicableand intelligible,but, I venture,it rvould have
'piss off'
been belter for the life of iazz, tf rhe jazzman's
r e s p o n s et o t h e ' c u l t u r a l ' i n t e r e s ti n r v h a th e w a s d o i n g h a d
been meant rather than assumedas a theatricalpose within
t h e ' c u l t u r a lc o n t e x t ' .A r t i s a v a l u t ' t h em a s s e s h o u l dr e s i s t ,
not just ignore.

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How does the author characterize the relationship between academics and the masses?

How does the author characterize the relationship between academics and the masses?

What does the author argue has been the effect of jazz being absorbed into the art process in society?

What does the author argue has been the effect of jazz being absorbed into the art process in society?

Art anEnemy

Otherbooksin the Series:

Methods of Thinking and Methods of Work

Brirish Librar.v Catoktguing in Publication Dara

T ' r ' p g r r 'b1v R c d [ - i o n S e r t e r s ], { o l l r o r n . [ , o n d o n

A Warning of the Corrupting Influence ol Art

For Len Taylor, mY father

Art an Enemy of the People

Methods of Thinking ond Methods of Work

Art an Enemy of the People

think, clear enough for ordinary understanding.I could give

Methods of Thinkins and Methods of Work

Art an Enemy of the People

Methods of Thinkins and Methods of Work

Art on Enemy of the People

developmentof the road explainsit, whereasthe over-logical,

Methods of Thinking and Methods of Work

multifarious relationships.Now pass to card-games;here you find

In summary form, the method I was exposedto attacked

Art an Enemy of the People

So far the introduction to the main themesof this book has

Methods of Thinkine and Methods of Work

largely theoretical pronouncements many people in the

Art an Enemy of the People

self-evidentand theories as to how it is are the means to

Methods of Thinkins ond Methods of lVork

subsidence,result from the abstractnessof the plan. In such a

Art an Enemy of the People

project of trying to fix things so they will not need fixing

Methodsof Thinkinsand Methodsof Work

trace their development, and thus their history, might be

Art an Enemy of the People

great deal of theoretical activity has been committed to the

Methods of Thinkinq and Methods of Work

This is not some idle speculationabout the possibility that

Art an Enemy of the People

from others. A field was not something to enter and do

Methods of Thinking and Methods of Work

the book, and

Art an Enemy of the People

However, the questioncannot be decidedabstractlyor even,

Methodsof Thinking andMethods of Work

far-fetched,whereas,the secondcaseis, as our world goes,a

Art on Enemy of the People

as it stands it seems, perhaps, that the individuals blindly

Methods of Thinkins and Methods of llork

Art an Enemy of the People

Methods of Thinking and Methods of Work

continue in a job, which bores him, to repay his loan, which

than it was, but for most people it is regarded as a piece of

Art an Enemy of the People

regard themselvesas Marxist, that it is directed. Such people

Methods of Thinkins and Methods of Work

.ae,rmrrrdin this connectionare K. Marx GermanIdeology