Piękne życzenia urodzinowe i piosenki i melodyjka. Szczerość i kicz w twórczości internetowej osób starszych w perspektywie koncepcji dystynkcji Pierre’a Bourdieu
Beautiful Birthday Wishes, and Song, and Melody. Sincerity and Kitsch in Creative Activity of the Elderly on the Internet in the Context of Pierre Bourdieu’s Theory of Distinction

Summary/Abstract: The subject of this article is the Internet activity and creativity of the elderly, understood as a form of radical sincerity. While the most popular take on the digital divide emphasizes lack of Internet access or technological competences, this paper focuses on the exclusion of the elderly users from the legitimate discourse of the Internet. The author uses Pierre Bourdieu’s notion of distinction to discuss the role of distance and irony in the establishment of legitimate taste and its similarity to the irony-laden meme culture. The online meme discourse is contrasted with a particular form of creativity of the elderly, who do not only refuse to create an online persona but whose art is the perfect exemplification of Bourdieuian “working-class aesthetics.” The images – considered tawdry by the gatekeepers of legitimate taste – are a result of emulation of analog artifacts (such as postcards and greeting cards) in the new media. Their popularity among the elderly Internet users is caused by a non-selective transposition of offline relationships onto one’s activity in the social media.

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