HIGHBROW CULTURAL CONSUMPTION AND THE PERCEPTION OF SOCIAL PRESTIGE IN EUROPE

Year 2016, Issue: 47, 122 - 147, 28.01.2016

Durmuş Ali Yüksek

Abstract

The
association between class and culture as an important way to understand the
determinants of individual tastes is well-known. Although numerous studies have
confirmed this association by using education and income as proxies of cultural
and economic capital in highbrow cultural consumption at the individual level,
cross-national comparisons remain scarce. I contribute to the existing body of
knowledge by focusing on taste publics—groups of individuals distinguished by
their levels of economic and cultural capital—rather than separately dealing
with education and family affluence. I examine the extent to which taste
publics and specific country characteristics such as a country’s population characteristics,
its wealth, and its level of cultural funding affect highbrow cultural
consumption across European countries. I further test the extent to which the
association between taste publics and highbrow cultural consumption is
moderated by these country characteristics. Using Eurobarometer (2007) data, I
show that taste publics have distinct highbrow cultural consumption scores and the
association between taste publics and highbrow cultural consumption varies
across Europe. Furthermore, I show that highbrow cultural consumption is
affected by specific country characteristics. Lastly, I find that the social
prestige perceived through consuming highbrow culture becomes an important
predictor of who consumes highbrow culture.

Keywords

Taste Publics, Pierre Bourdieu, Homology, Highbrow Cultural Consumption

AVRUPA’DA ENTELEKTÜEL KÜLTÜREL TÜKETİM VE SOSYAL PRESTİJ ALGISI

Abstract

Birey
beğenilerinin belirleyici faktörlerini anlamak için sınıf ve kültür arasındaki
ilişki önemli bir yöntem olarak bilinir. Birey seviyesindeki entelektüel
kültürel tüketimde eğitim ve gelir seviyesini kültürel ve ekonomik sermayenin
temsilcisi olarak kullanarak hazırlanan birçok çalışma bu ilişkiyi
doğrulamasına rağmen, uluslararası kıyaslamalar yapan çalışmaların sayısı
oldukça azdır. Bu çalışma, mevcut literatüre eğitim ve aile servetini ayrı
birer etken olarak incelemek yerine beğeni grupları—ekonomik ve kültürel
sermaye seviyelerine göre ayrışmış birey grupları—üzerine odaklanarak katkıda
bulunmaktadır. Avrupa ülkelerinde ülkelerin nüfusları, zenginlikleri ve
kültürel kaynak yaratma seviyeleri gibi ülkesel özellikleri ile beğeni
gruplarının o ülkelerdeki entelektüel kültürel tüketimi ne oranda
etkilediklerini incelenmektedir. Ayrıca, beğeni grupları ile entelektüel
kültürel tüketim arasındaki ilişkinin ülkesel özellikler tarafından ne oranda ılımlaştırıldığı
test edilmektedir. Eurobarometer (2007) veri setini kullanarak, beğeni
gruplarının farklı entelektüel kültürel tüketim puanları olduğu ve beğeni
grupları ile entelektüel kültürel tüketim arasındaki ilişkinin Avrupa
ülkelerinde değişkenlik gösterdiği gösterilmiştir. Buna ek olarak, entelektüel
kültürel tüketimin ülkesel özelliklerden de etkilendiği gösterilmiştir. Son
olarak, entelektüel kültür tüketim sonucu elde edilen sosyal prestij algısının
kimin entelektüel kültür tüketeceğinin önemli bir göstergesi olduğu bulunmuştur.

Keywords

Beğeni Grupları, Pierre Bourdieu, Türdeşlik, Entelektüel Kültürel Tüketim

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