Date: Wed, 11 Sep 1996 04:05:53 +0100 (BST)
From: Julian Thomas <julian.thomas-AT-dial.pipex.com>
Subject: Re: Introduction


At 11:52 10/09/96 +0100, you wrote:
>>
>Julian I'm not sure I understand  the above statements, could you expand an
why the arts programmes are 
>modernist, which ones and why ?  In the mid to late 70s through the main
part of the 80s the emphasis 
>which you place on consumption would have been directed towards the
`production of meanings'  - consumers 
>producing meaning. (Still an extremely common position).  Its not clear
that going back to work of 
>Baudrillard from the 60s , I'm assuming you're referring to - the system of
objects (1968) ? 
>
The National Curriculum in the UK places the emphasis in the arts firmly on
art objects. Offsted criteria for a 'good' music lesson for example require
each lesson to start with a piece of music from the repertoire followed by a
practical session based on some aspect of this. The emphasis is on
'knowledge about' rather than 'knowledge of' (to quote Swanwick). You are
right in implying that secondary programmes in the 70s-80s were aimed at the
consumers producing meanings, but this is not the case now. The govt has
decided on the kinds of knowledge it wishes to sponsor and the role of the
school is to inculcate the individual into this dominant ideology. Steps are
in place to not only proscribe the content of programmes of study but the
actual methods used. there is little scope in this model to produce
individual meanings.
Linda Hutcheon in The Politics of Postmodernism sites modernist art as being
mimetic, formalist or expressive whilst postmodern art is using the signs
and symbols of society to investigate the flux of social meaning. The best
of current secondary ed programmes fall within the 'expressive' mode with
emphasis on the individual. There is no allowance for the kinds of symbolic
action used by individuals in everyday life to produce identities from the
media etc. The expressive mode concentrates on finding an identity from
within, whereas identity in a postmodern world is something adapted and
tried on and is constantly in a state of flux. (from Zygmunt Bauman) Recent
research sponsored by the Gulbenkian Foundation backs up the idea that
individuals use arts in everyday lives constantly to produce identity, but
are totally uninvolved in school ed programmes.

>I'm attracted to the aerly work of Baudrillard because he pinpoints the
fragmentation of meanin that seems to be happening.

Your also right, its late! I was in a car crash recently which left me not
sleeping, hence the answer to your post. Come back to me on the above!

Best 


Julian
>
Julian Thomas.
julian.thomas-AT-dial.pipex.com
Cambridge UK