Three different conceptions of culture (Paris, 2009)
Here are the ideas of a French panellist speaking at the conference celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Ministry of Culture and Communication, in Paris in 2009:
- In the beginning, culture was High Culture, what we might call the French model – culture was what fed the spirit and the mind
- Then we had what we might call the German approach to culture – neither high nor low, but what the members of the nation had in common.
- Then we have the third approach, the British idea of culture – "the cultural industry", 'x' pounds of benefit for each 'y' pounds put in. The 'value of culture' is expressed in pounds sterling.