Swine.

Pierre Bourdieu’s exploration of the intersection of class and culture (and its philosophical roots) underscores the persistent structures of power and capital. The discussion of form over function is an expression of privilege; as Bourdieu observes about eating habits, “the taste of necessity…favours the most ‘filling’ and most economical foods, and the taste of liberty—or luxury--…shifts the emphasis to the manner (of presenting, serving, eating, etc.)” (502). Food, like other artifacts of culture, becomes a means by which we express our social and economic status, because to have the space or “distance” to explore the form of food means we are not starving. At Marx’s funeral, Friedrich Engels commented that what Marx understood was “the simple fact that man must first of all eat, drink, have shelter and clothing before he can pursue politics, science, art, religion, etc.”  This means, of course, that the superstructure in which culture is housed is necessarily exclusive to the bourgeoisie. (It’s worth noting that these are not observations rooted only in Marxism; western philosophy has long favored distant, rational “viewing” over, as Bourdieu puts it, “the primary stratum of the meaning we can grasp on the basis of our ordinary experience” [499], a viewpoint that not only privileges the educated but also men, as those two qualities were so often linked and as women’s experiences were considered too embodied and intuitive to discern “the secondary stratum of meaning” [499]. End of Marxist feminist rant.)

This all provides an interesting backdrop to question both the role of the artist and the role of the critic. Susan Boyle horrified the classical opera community, because the general public was unable to discern between an entertaining singer and someone with “real” artistic talent. The comments sections of the articles about Romeo and Juliet were filled with people who obviously felt their opinions were valid, and in light of Bourdieu’s article, were probably also expressing their own class status. How concerned are we with how our particular preferences express our education or class? (PS. I drink boxed wine.)