'Bad In A New Way'
Week one discussion questions!
Hello again, Lowlifes! Did everyone grab a copy of Masscult and Midcult: Essays Against the American Grain by Dwight Macdonald (or download the free PDF)? Have you started reading yet? Are you as taken with Macdonald’s sassy tone as we are??
As promised, below are some week one discussion questions for the group! Reflect privately, leave some thoughts in the comments, get in on the group chat, whatever.
We’ll go deeper at our Zoom meeting on October 27 (link to come). And as a reminder, here’s our reading schedule for the rest of the month.
Let’s get into it!
Parts 1 - V:
What do you make of Macdonald’s definition of High Culture? What art warrants that label? What are the limits of that definition?
What are masscult’s defining characteristics? What does Macdonald mean by anti-art?
How does masscult operate in tandem with capitalism and totalitarianism? (On this note, maybe check out Kelsey McKinney’s review of Taylor Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl” for Defector: “No Good Art Comes From Greed.”)