These essays explore the material realities of certain artifacts. On the one hand they examine specific cultural products, both as themselves and in their social contexts (or, when their context is other texts, then the nature of the mesh of texts of which they are part). On the other hand the essays examine what it is that allows aesthetic matters to be apprehended so variously as to be enjoyed and judged in immensely divergent ways.
After an introduction which raises some questions as to the appropriateness of dealing in terms of aesthetic quality and audience taste, the study examines aspects of popular entertainment and attempts to determine the extent to which such entertainments are politically partisan–consciously, unconsciously, non-consciously–in their structures and in their stories: specifically, a look at the American western; and at a late 1970s television series, Jack Webb’s Project UFO. From there, the study explores two different examples of canonized literature–the phenomenon of ‘tragedy’ and whatever breadth of meaning for contemporary audiences that concept might have; and the work of John Berger, the novelist-filmmake-critic. Finally, the study looks at some of the factors implicit in professional criticism which can both hinder and reveal processes of understanding.