Page 53 - Decoding Culture

46 D E CODING CULTURE
if that somewhat ambiguous label encompasses the strategy
adopted by, for example, Hall and Whannel (1964).
This approach could generally be described as one of appropri­
ation. If only one can demonstrate, it assumes, that specific popular
forms are works of quality when measured against established crit­
ical standards, then hitherto ignored works of popular culture can
be appropriated under the rubric of art. So, Hall and Whannel
(1964: 67) are eager not to base evaluations 'on the institutions [of
mass medial but on the quality of the work done within them'. In
this way, they suggest, genuine popular art can be distinguished
from the formulaic products of mass art. Much of their book is
devoted to detailed analyses of individual cases, where the educa­
tional intent and even the language of critical discussion itself
recalls the central concerns of the Leavisite tradition. Lacking both
a coherent theorization of culture and an adequate methodology
for analysing the textual materials with which it is concerned, The
Popular Arts may now seem confused in its attempt to distinguish
between the various forms of popular art and somewhat senten­
tious in its critical evaluations. In 1964, however, its insistence on
taking popular forms seriously represented a significant step away
from the restrictions of the orthodox tradition.
This strategy of appropriation was given perhaps its most thor­
oughgoing expression in application to film. There was, after all, a
well-established critical tradition that had for many years sought to
demonstrate that the cinema should be recognized as 'the seventh
art'. Historically that had largely been based on a case for the film
director as 'author' and for 'art cinema' as superior to the typical
conveyor-belt products of Hollywood, a view firmly established by
the 1950s. In the 1960s, however, there was a distinctive shift in the
evaluation of what might properly count as 'art' in film: a new gen­
eration of film critics foregrounded the work of hitherto
undervalued Hollywood directors, and sought to demonstrate the

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