De ijsbaan op het Museumplein te Amsterdam met op de achtergrond het Concertgebouw. Photo: Museumplein, by Sonic Julez
The Independent, Cultural elite does not exist, academics claim:
“The “cultural elite” brought up on opera and the higher arts, which supposedly turns up its nose at anything as vulgar as a pop song or mainstream television, does not exist, according to research published by Oxford University academics.
Researchers have used data from the UK and six other countries to test a theory that people born to posh families absorb only “high culture” while “popular” or “mass” culture is strictly for those from ordinary to humble beginnings.
They found that in truth Billy Elliott – the fictional working-class boy from a northern mining village with a passion for ballet – is not the social freak he might seem to be. Equally, someone with an impressive ancestry and blue blood coursing through his veins is not necessarily any more cultured than the rest of us.”
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“Which are you?
Univores
If you will go to the cinema, but not the theatre, you are a consumer of popular culture only. Two thirds of the population are in this category.
Omnivores
Will try anything on offer. Most have jobs that give them confidence, but could be from any social background.
Paucivores
People who consume a ‘limited’ range of cultural activities. Enjoy some form of music, film or television but not art galleries.
Inactives
These people access nothing at all – people who would never go into an art gallery or stop to examine a sculpture.”