Have we lost the cultural middle ground?

Question

I was just reading F R Leavis's Mass Civilisation and Minority Culture and thinking how annoyingly elitist it is and I wonder if anyone else feels that culture now seems to exist in extremes? People are either elitist culture vultures who listening to nothing but classical music, read nothing but foreign books in translation and basically go for anything that is guarenteed not to have a wide audience or they are watchers of Big Brother, readers of The Da Vinci Code and listeners of whatever everyone else seems to be listening to. There seems to be very few people in the middle. What does anyone else think?

Well, excuse me for not defining my question clearly enough, what's this a poxy essay or what? Use your imagination. Your idea of what constitutes the middle ground is more interesting than mine, I know mine!!

Answer 1

To answer properly, I will have to give some kind of personal view on the matter of 'cultural middle ground'. I believe that the middle ground is just as elitist as high culture, because it requests a very fine taste and moderation - and I presume that not many people share those virtues today. It is possible that this is a matter of today's way of life, which is concentrated on material welfare more than anything else. Either people are in a constant struggle for what we today call 'a better life', and have neither the time nor the energy for some richer cultural content, either they are well situated and have too much time of leisure. Also, the major breakdown of all stable cultural values leads to a general cultural breakdown.
Anyway, I don't know why, even if all is like this, would cultural elitism be bad. Every content has it's audience and if this audience is rare and selected by sensibility, this can't be a bad thing - not all people are equal nor share the same values and this is good.

Answer 2

I don't think so. I think there are lots of people out there who have an awareness of popular culture and also the critical literacy to interpret it. I think your implicit dismissal of the cultural 'value' of Big Brother, The Da Vinci Code etc. raises some interesting issues in itself.
There are people out there who engage widely with that which has traditionally been considered 'high' culture and 'low'. People who read widely, have broad musical tastes (but their own personal preferences) and informed political and social interests.
Anyone who has the confidence to like what they like and to intelligently engage with the world around them is okay by me.

Added - Hmmmm... I think it looks a bit like both your answerers so far over-estimated the questioner. Now have the impression that you don't actually understand the issues that you've raised. Oh well.

Answer 3

Mickey Spillane commented after being asked why he chose to write detective novels (Mike Hammer): more people eat peanuts than caviar.

Everything that we view as classical culture...was once considered pop culture. As society grew from dancing, symphony, and opera for entertainment to movies and rap music...so culture has evolved.

Was there ever a "middle culture"...I don't think so. Culture exists in constant flux: one day our children's children's children will yawn at the boredom of rap music and blockbuster action movies...and some new pop life will abound.