I was raised by people with highbrow educations, but I do not, myself, have such an education. I was raised by people who have read the classics, who distinguish between “fiction” and “literature,” but I make no such distinction, and I haven’t read Beowulf. Or Tolstoy. Or Chaucer.
My mother in particular has highbrow tastes, and I have heard with my own ears the phrase “déclassé” pass her lips (in reference to me, of course). (In my defense, my mother doesn’t know how to use Unicode to get accented characters. So I’m not without my charms.)
Anyway, that’s me. Déclassé.
My mother likes drawing room dramas. Merchant & Ivory affairs. Wouldn’t dream of attending a genre film. No spaceships, no James Bond, no elves. Déclassé.
I am bemused by the fact that the brightest, most talented, and most creative people out there, my age and younger, are not, in fact, participating in highbrow creation. The blazing talents of 40 or 30 are working with style, even style-over-substance, with comic books and vampires and hobbits, with sloppy rock-n-roll and vulgarity.
Déclassé, ladies and gentlemen, is the new black.
I think the term you meant to use is “déclassé” which is a single word. It’s French as I’m sure you know, and means lowered in class.
If you spell it as “de classé” it’s two words, with “de” meaning “of” and “classé” isn’t really a word (the French word for class is spelled “classe” but without the accent.)
Oh, thanks, purely a misspelling. I’ll fix it. Of course, had I been very clever, I’d have looked it up before publishing.
Ah, but it’s much more declasse to spell it “de classe.” (And I for one am so declasse myself that I have no idea how to use Unicode to get accented characters.)
I guess it falls to me to point out that since you don’t have highbrow tastes you wouldn’t in fact know whether “the brightest, most talented, and most creative people out there, my age and younger, are not, in fact, participating in highbrow creation. “…. 😉
You should probably re-file this under ‘mildly fun (but I may be losing my patience) with language’.
Ken: You are evil.
Taijiya: Hold down the ALT key. On your keypad type 0233.
That’s all well and good…but if you don’t indulge in both–that is, if you don’t read Tolstoy, or Chaucer, or Beowulf* (or whatever) in addition to (not instead of) all the great genre stuff that’s being made right now–then you really are missing out. (On the other hand, I’m not a huge fan of Merchant/Ivory films in general.)
If what you describe is a breaking down of barriers between ‘highbrow’ and ‘lowbrow’, allowing people and influences to cross between the two, then I’m all for it. If it’s the abandonment of highbrow ambition, that ain’t a good thing, IMO.
*Actually, the ideal way to experience Beowulf is to listen to it. Beowulf is really just the written product of an oral tradition, so hearing rather than reading it brings one closer to the original spirit of the thing. Also, Seamus Heaney (reading his translation) has an amazing voice, and gives it a compelling reading that’s actually easier to understand than words on the page.
If it’s the abandonment of highbrow ambition, that ain’t a good thing, IMO.
I don’t intend to abandon the highbrow, I have read Shakespeare and indulge in occasional poetry. But some things (like, say, Beowulf) aren’t all that accessible without the educational background.
But some things (like, say, Beowulf) aren’t all that accessible without the educational background.
Chaucer, for sure–that really was a chore, having to absorb enough of the Middle English to comprehend it, or even to get an idea of what it sounded like.
Beowulf, though–Seamus Heaney’s translation is awesome, making the whole thing much easier for modern readers to follow while maintaining the flavor (the rhythm, the alliteration, the sound) of the original language. But as I say, it really should be listened to.
Actually, I’m of the opinion that a lot of people would be better off if they read Chaucer, even if it had to be a “translated” version. At heart, Chaucer isn’t really highbrow…
I didn’t much mind Remains of the Day, either.
That said, I of course agree with Deb’s cast of “the best and the brightest”…but no Colbert? 😉
Amy, I was being representative, not comprehensive. 😉
Based on your descriptions I guess I’m both high-brow and low-brow which leaves me to wonder if I’m uni-brow.
The pick-up line my husband used on me? “Beowulf is my favorite epic!” Don’t ask me why I was reading Beowulf in a bar…
[…] And I’m bothered because if you know me, you know I loves me some plebian. And therefore, the fact that I actually prefer plain ol’ Dunkin to a fancy Starbucks coffee delights me. And this commercial is clearly designed to establish plebian cred. Clearly designed with the assumption that plebian=ignorant xenophobic slob. Which is more than disturbing. […]