Page 105 - Cultural Change and Ordinary Life

96 Cultural change and ordinary life

and that while there is some cohort replacement going on, in general ‘high-
brows of all ages are becoming more omnivorous’ (p. 904). As the consider-
ation of the findings had matured, it opened the way for more speculation on
the causes of this ‘empirical generalization’ (Peterson and Kern 1996: 904).
One important overall point was made here, which was that the greater
openness to a variety of cultural forms on the part of the omnivore did not
mean that all cultural forms were appreciated equally. Thus, the patterns of
cultural taste could still connect to forms of cultural and social distinction. It
was simply that the cultural forms and perhaps the nature of these patterns
had shifted over time. Furthermore, they make the point that it is not just what
is consumed that matters in patterns of cultural taste, but how it is consumed.
Thus, particular types of popular music may be consumed by omnivores in
ways that were previously the case for ‘classical’ music as the relationships
between genres and significant performers are analysed in ways that previously
would have been thought inappropriate. Moreover, a literature has developed
that facilitates such understanding and analysis (see Longhurst 2007).
Peterson and Kern (1996) suggest five factors that could explain the
omnivore/univore shifts, which show important developments in thinking
since the 1992 discussion. The five factors are: structural change, value change,
art world change, generational politics and status group politics. Some of
the processes considered under the heading of structural change encompass
aspects considered earlier, such as educational shifts, but also introduced are
social and geographical mobility, which could have mixed people who pre-
viously had separated tastes. Second, with respect to values there could be seen
in general to be a greater overall tolerance and openness to the cultures and
views of others. Thus, for example racist views and exclusions had in previous
times been legitimated through science and had been widely accepted on this
basis; however, such beliefs and the backing that they receive are now much
less legitimate and cause far more controversy – ‘It is now increasingly rare for
persons in authority publicly to espouse theories of essential ethnic and racial
group differences’ (p. 905).
Third, the nature of culture or art worlds has changed. Thus as all forms
of art become more commercialized, there arose a variety of cultural entrepre-
neurs who sought a variety of new modes of cultural and artistic expression.
This has the effect of undermining the previous dominant value system that
suggested that only one form of culture or art had artistic or moral credibility.
This provides a new aesthetic sense of openness to different standards of what
counts as good and these criteria shift over time. Fourth, there is generational
politics. Peterson and Kern argue that prior to the development of rock and roll
in the 1950s, young people were expected to move away for a taste for popular
music as they grew up and matured. However, from the 1960s onwards the
variety of music under the idea of rock became an ‘alternative’ form of culture
rather than a stage to be moved through. This can be seen as of lasting impor-
tance, even if the precise nature of the music that falls under this heading has
shifted over time.
Finally, there has been a shift in status group politics as popular culture
has become more incorporated into dominant group culture. Thus, in the
UK the Conservative Party leader, David Cameron, has been photographed