Culture as Art

A.k.a., “High Culture” --- this classical approach to culture was common within the humanities, though less so among contemporary humanities scholars (Griswold 2012). From this perspective, culture is separate from everyday living and comprised of elevated activities and materials, such as fine and performing arts and literature. Griswold (2012) refers to culture from this approach as being made up of “the best that has been thought and known” within a society (p. 4).  Although not a common sociological perspective on culture, we provide this traditional approach to culture as a means of comparison to other social scientifically oriented approaches that regard culture as Values, as a “Tool Kit,” and/or as Meaning. Even though contemporary sociologists don't tend to define culture in this way, systematically analyzing art (a.k.a., high culture) is sociological, with such inquiries a way to understand aspects of social life or of stratification and inequality. For example, Howard Becker (1984) examined "Art Worlds" to show how art is a collective venture.

References
Becker, Howard Saul. 1984. Art Worlds. Los Angeles: University of California Press.

Griswold, Wendy. 2012. Cultures and Societies in a Changing World. Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge Press.