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American Muse: Anthropological Excursions into Art and Aesthetics 1/e
Richard L. Anderson
Published December 1999 by Prentice Hall
Copyright 2000, 235 pp., Paper
ISBN: 0-13-084313-X
List Price:
$38.00
Inventory Status:
In-Stock
   
Summary

This clear, lively book approaches its subject using the traditional methods of cultural anthropology—in-depth interviews with "native" informants, examination of "native" sources, and analysis of "native" rites of passage. In this unique case, however, the native consultants are Americans and the focus is the arts that they produce and enjoy. KEY TOPICS: True to anthropology's hallmark relativism, the author explores not only the fine arts but also the popular arts, giving as much attention and analysis to wedding cakes, rock and roll, and automobiles as to gallery paintings, classical music, and formal literature. Specifically, coverage includes an introduction to the book's central aim; The Role of Art in Americans' Lives; Art in an American Rite of Passage: Weddings; What does art do in America?; Who put the "Bomp" in the "Bomp, Bomp, Bomp"?; The Real Art World; and Calliope in America. MARKET: For professionals in the fields of Art and Anthropology seeking a focused study of American Arts/Aesthetics and Popular Culture.

Features

  • Traditional approach; unique subject matter—the only text that explores the arts of America through the lens of cultural anthropology—Examines weddings as rites of passage that lead most couples to spend thousands on things that are arguably art works; explores the lyrics of several hundred American songs from James Brown to Lawrence Welk; reports the results of quasithenographic interviews with a wide range of individuals who are highly committed creators and users of the arts.

    • Assists professors to broaden the arena of discussion for fields (American art and popular culture) that are intrinsically diverse and unwieldy. Provides students with a new understanding of how and why the arts are so important in contemporary American culture. Ex. Chs. 3, 5

  • America's artistic heritage revealed—Looks beyond the view of contemporary America as a place identified with business success, technological wizardry, and geopolitical power to discover a country that is enormously rich in the arts.

    • Increases students' awareness of the pervasiveness of art in American culture, and encourages students to consider the aesthetic dimensions of the world around them.

  • Coverage of both the fine and popular arts—Includes discussions of the popular arts, broadening the main currents of Western artistic philosophies to consider principles of vernacular aesthetics that inform theproduction, appreciation, and criticism of arts in America.

    • Fosters student realization that for all its diversity, America is a cultural system, one in which students' aesthetic values can be identified and related to those of most other Americans.

  • Focus on appreciation and understanding—Describes the ways in which the American people see the arts as playing an important role in their lives.

    • Enhances students' appreciation of the arts while improving their understanding of the ideas that underlie the creation and use of the popular and fine arts.

  • Student-friendly presentation
    • —
    • Conveys concepts using a concise, conversational style with frequent concrete examples and quotations from contemporary culture.

    • Helps students to relate to the material, and entices them to read the book.
Table of Contents



 1. Introduction.


 2. The Role of Art in Americans' Lives: Three Vignettes.


 3. Weddings: Art in an American Rite of Passage.


 4. Art's Cultural Significance.


 5. Who Put the “Bomp” in the “Bomp, Bomp, Bomp”?: What American Music Says about American Arts.


 6. The Artist's World.


 7. The Artist.


 8. Art and the Inner World.


 9. Art and Society.


10. Vernacular Aesthetics.


11. Calliope in America.


References.


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