We began Tuesday\u2019s class with a free writing exercise on a statement from the Wilson reading, \u201cTaste is made of a thousand distastes.\u201d \u00a0Students were asked to put the statement in their own words, to agree or disagree with it, and to give an example. \u00a0After completing the exercise, students were asked to share their thoughts with the class. \u00a0Someone used the example of taking college courses by pointing out that you may have to take some courses you don\u2019t like in order to find out which subjects really interest you. \u00a0Another person mentioned that taste can be positive or negative, and we discussed how what you dislike is just as important as what you like in how you present yourself to the world.<\/p>\n
We also discussed the blog posts that had been written for that day. \u00a0It seemed like everyone who posted enjoyed Celine\u2019s performance. \u00a0Was this really the case? \u00a0Some people felt that reading Wilson tainted their ability to appreciate Celine, while others appreciated her energy and passion nonetheless. \u00a0Others pointed out that Smith\u2019s performance felt more authentic, which made it more enjoyable. \u00a0We discussed authenticity and image in both performances. \u00a0Does Smith really care less about image than Celine does, or is he simply appealing to a different crowd?<\/p>\n
After sharing our initial impressions, we rewatched both oscar performances, paying specific attention to lyrics, body language, set design, costume and instrumentation. \u00a0Using these categories as framework for our discussion, we noted thematic differences in the performances. \u00a0Some of our observations in comparing Celine vs. Smith were: hope vs. depression, triumph vs. pain, communication vs. hesitation, visual vs. aural experience and confident vs. nervous.<\/p>\n
In our discussion of the Wilson reading, we focused specifically on chapter 3 and why it is important that Celine Dion is Quebecoise. \u00a0What did we know or think about Celine before starting the book? \u00a0What did we learn about her in the third chapter that was interesting or surprising? \u00a0How did that change our understanding of her as an artist? \u00a0Some people in the class had grown up listening to Celine with their parents, and many were unaware that she is often considered tacky, or k\u00e9taine. \u00a0The class in general agreed that learning about Celine\u2019s Quebecoise roots made her seem more impressive and gave her music more meaning. \u00a0Seeing her music as the promotion of an entire demographic, and not just herself, made her much more appealing. \u00a0Many people in the class felt that chapter 3 helped them regain the respect for Celine that they had lost in the first two chapters.<\/p>\n
Thursday\u2019s class began with a short quiz, and then a discussion of Nate\u2019s post about blind spots. \u00a0Nate shared that, when Wilson questioned his distaste of Celine Dion, he began to question his own dislikes. \u00a0In groups of three, we discussed our own possible blind spots and how they relate to our habitus. \u00a0Many people shared that their friends\u2019 interests had a big impact on their tastes in music, TV shows, and activities. \u00a0Cultural and geographical differences were also influential in determining taste. \u00a0A few students noted that some people do things because they are rewarding in and of themselves, while others are more interested in portraying a certain image.<\/p>\n
We also took some time to discuss and clarify the aesthetic theories of Hume, Kant, and Bourdieu, and also to examine how Wilson uses quotes in his book. \u00a0Hume defines good taste as something that people will always see as good, but, as Wilson points out, this theory is unhelpful in judging what is good today. \u00a0Also, Hume\u2019s description of the ideal critic is paradoxical, as he calls for someone who is simultaneously expert and unbiased. \u00a0Kant seemed to believe that there is a cut and dry standard for what is good (a sensus communis), and that people only have different tastes because conditions are not \u201cideal.\u201d \u00a0We observed that, in both passages, Wilson begins by presenting the theories as intuitive, but ultimately draws attention to their fundamental flaws. \u00a0His quote integration is effective because he references the quotes in his own straightforward language throughout the passage, and does more analyzing than actual quoting. \u00a0To discuss Bourdieu, students volunteered to share quotes they had underlined in chapter 8 about Bourdieu\u2019s theory of taste. \u00a0Some of the quotes we read were:<\/p>\n
His theories press the point that aesthetics are social all the way down, just a set of euphemisms for a starker system of inequality and competition: if you flinch at seeing a copy of Let\u2019s Talk About Love or The DaVinci Code on a \u00a0friend\u2019s shelves, what you are trying to shake off is the stain of the d\u00e9class\u00e9, the threat of social inferiority (87-88).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
…for everyone else taste was not only a product of economic and education background but, as it developed through life, a force mobilized as part of their quest for social status (or what Bourdieu called symbolic power) (88-89).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
His argument may seem less counterintuitive if you put it in terms of evolutionary psychology: if human beings are driven to advance in status in order to acquire mates and provide security to their offspring, Bourdieu was proposing that taste is a tool of those instincts, used to gain competitive advantage; and in a capitalist society, class is how this competition is structured (and exacerbated), to the advantage of the dominant elite (89).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
At the end of class, we noted that Wilson spends the majority of the chapter paraphrasing and integrating Bourdieu\u2019s theories into his own narrative, rather than simply quoting him without offering analysis.<\/p>\n
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