What texts are going to be important to me as I develop my essay?

In order to develop a manageable list of texts to review, I need first to identify what has been said by others in relation to my theme and map out the key writings. Then, by honing in on what seem to be the essential views, I can decide which texts to focus on, establishing how they fit with the key elements of the essay and organising them into, for example, historic, social or political context.

For my subject matter - the nature, role and impact of popular art - it feels important to include key commentators such as George Dickie, Walter Benjamin and John Berger. Dickie's analysis of what art is, becomes a starting point and Benjamin and Berger are included because of their discussions about the impact on society of mechanical reproductions. Clement Greenberg, in his essays on Art & Culture, includes a chapter entitled Avant Garde and Kitsch, and this is included in order to explore the nature of 'popular' art.

However, the views of these writers are now relatively historic, particularly where reproduced images and their impact on society are concerned and so, for more contemporary views  I have included Grayson Perry's first Reith Lecture 'Democracy has Bad Taste' , Dick Hebdige, Subculture: The Meaning of Style, Chapter One, and have found some interesting comment from Jonathan Jones, Art Critic for The Guardian, both in newspaper articles and in his publication, Sensations: The Story of British Art from Hogarth to Banksy.

There is an academic author, Prof. Elizabeth B Silva, who has written or co-written a number of papers since 2000 that bring up to date research and comment from the sociological perspective, with one article focussing on cultural capital and the visual arts in the UK. It is published in the journal Cultural Trends, published by Routledge and, unfortunately, I have not so far found a way to access it free of charge. It would be interesting to see it though so I will continue to try.

References:

Dickie, G.  (1974) 'What is Art? An Institutional Analysis' originally printed in Art and the Aesthetic: An Institutional Analysis (1974) Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, (pp19-52) 

Benjamin, W. (1935) 'The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction', 1969 edition, New York, Schocken Books, Preface.

Berger, J. (1972) 'Ways of Seeing', UK, Penguin Books, Chapter One.

Greenberg, C. (1961) 'Art and Culture: Critical Essays', USA, Beacon Press Boston, Chapter One 'Avant Garde and Kitsch'.

Perry, G. (2013), 'Democracy Has Bad Taste', Reith Lecture given at LondonTate Modern, BBC Radio 4.

Dick Hebdige, (1979) ‘Subculture: The meaning of Style’, UK, Routledge. Chapter One. ‘From Culture to Hegemony’

Jones, J. (2018), Sensations: 'The Story of British Art from Hogarth to Banksy', London, Laurence King Publishing Ltd.

Jones, J. (2013), 'Kitsch art: love it or loathe it?' The Guardian (London), 28 January, online article.

Silva, Elizabeth (2008). 'Cultural capital and visual art in the contemporary UK'. Cultural Trends, 17(4) pp. 267–287. Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group)(Special Issue on ‘The consequences of instrumental museum and gallery policy’) 

The article considers choices and opportunities to access the arts in the contemporary UK, connecting these to engagements in culture in relation to position in social space.