There are big questions science doesn't answer, such as why is there something rather than nothing? There can't be a scientific answer to that because it's the answer that precedes science.
Roger ScrutonRead
One of the questions that has most bothered me in my reflections on culture is the question of kitsch. Just what is it? When did it begin? And why?
Interpretation
What this quote means
Kitsch refers to art or objects that are considered to be in bad taste due to their overly sentimental or superficial nature.
In this quote, Roger Scruton expresses his curiosity about the concept of kitsch in culture, pondering its origins and the reasons behind its existence. He invites a deeper exploration of aesthetic values and the cultural significance of art that is often dismissed as lowbrow or lacking in sophistication.
Themes
KitschCultureArtAestheticsSentimentality
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about contemporary art, this quote can highlight the complexity of artistic value.
More from Roger Scruton
All quotes β18th century opera is packed with emotion, but contains not a trace of kitsch. Only with the 'thees' and 'thous' of Victorian poetry does the disease begin to grow in our poetic tradition.
Roger ScrutonRead
The robust English view used to be that the correct response to offensive words is to ignore them, or to answer them with a rebuke. If you invoke the law at all, it should be to protect the one who gives the offence, and not the one who takes it. Now, it seems, it is all the other way round.
Roger ScrutonRead
For two centuries the English countryside has been an icon of national identity and the loved reminder of our island home. Yet the government is bent on littering the hills with wind turbines and the valleys with high speed railways.
Roger ScrutonRead
You cannot own a symphony or a novel in the way you can own a Damien Hirst. As a result there are far fewer fake symphonies or fake novels than there are fake works of visual art.
Roger ScrutonRead
For many artists and critics, beauty is a discredited idea. It denotes the saccharine sylvan scenes and cheesy melodies that appealed to Granny.
Roger ScrutonRead
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