Den «legitime kulturens» moralske forankring

Abstract

As part of a larger study of the Norwegian middle class, I explore the following question in this article: Do the middle class draw cultural boundaries to other groups in order to construct a middle class identity? Cultural education (correct manners, taste, appreciation of literature, art, classical music, etc.) has been considered a distinctive hallmark of the highly educated middle class. Normally, sociologists tend to regard cultural taste as being hierarchically ordered as a relation between the «high» culture of the middle class (bourgeoisie) and the «popular» culture of the people (working class), with middle class culture the superior and the «legitimate» one of the two. Having command of this culture, it might be used to draw boundaries. But is there a «legitimate culture»? And what is its content? These questions must be answered before one can analyse the social effects. I examine these questions based on interviews with 113 highly educated people in Norway. My data suggest that if there is a «legitimate culture» among the middle class in Norway it is most likely one of entertainment (a popular culture). Informants very rarely pass cultural judgements. In fact, cultural judgements are often seen as a form of judging people. The middle class has internalized the egalitarian structures deeply embedded in Norwegian society and mobilized against cultural hierarchies, hence culture is closely connected with moral judgements. © UNIVERSITETSFORLAGET TIDSSKRIFT FOR SAMFUNNSFORSKNING.