What is culture for? [electronic book] / The School of Life and Alain de Botton.

By: Life, The School of.

Contributor(s): de Botton, Alain.

Material type: materialTypeLabel

BookSeries: Essay Books: Publisher: La Vergne : The School of Life, 2020Copyright date: ©2020Description: 1 online resource (71 pages).Content type: text Media type: computer Carrier type: online resourceISBN: 9780995753532 (hardback) ; 9781999917944 (e-book).Online resources: E-book

Contents:

Intro -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Introduction -- Companionship -- Hope -- Balance -- Compassion -- Knowledge -- Encouragement -- Appreciation -- Perspective -- Conclusion -- Credits.

Summary: How to find compassion, hope and perspective in the arts.

List(s) this item appears in: Self-Care Collection

Holdings
Item type	Current library	Call number	Status	Date due	Barcode	Item holds
e-BOOK	MTU Bishopstown Library		Not for loan

Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

What is culture really for?

How to find compassion, hope and perspective in the arts.

Many people search for the meaning of life through music, film, literature and the visual arts. But how can we synthesize the emotions we feel through art?

This book looks at how works of culture were made - that is, to improve the way we live. Connecting a range of (Western) cultural masterpieces with our own pains and dilemmas, we learn to better see culture as a resource, a way to address the agonies of being human.

It provides us with enduring keys to unlocking culture as a way of transforming our lives.

Using common themes - such as companionship, hope balance, compassion, knowledge, encouragement, appreciation, and perspective - and combining them with works from Bach to Renoir, The Beatles to Mel Gibson's Braveheart, Hamlet, Anselm Kiefer, and writers like Proust and Virginia Woolf, this book provides the key to unlocking culture. Indeed, the keys to transforming our lives.

HOW MUSIC, FILM, LITERATURE AND VISUAL ART operate in our society and lives. EXPLORES CULTURAL MASTERPIECES and how they relate to our everyday lives. ILLUSTRATED with full color images throughout. THOUGHT-PROVOKING CONCEPTS that enhance any future visit to a gallery, theater or cinema. BEAUTIFULLY PRODUCED premium gift format.

Intro -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Introduction -- Companionship -- Hope -- Balance -- Compassion -- Knowledge -- Encouragement -- Appreciation -- Perspective -- Conclusion -- Credits.

How to find compassion, hope and perspective in the arts.

Electronic reproduction.: ProQuest LibCentral. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Self-Care Collection

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

Hope Much to the consternation of sophisticated people, a great deal of popular enthusiasm is directed at works of culture that are distinctly cheerful (songs about hope, films about couples that work through their problems); and in the visual arts, cheerful, pleasant scenes (meadows in spring, the shade of trees on hot summer days, pastoral landscapes, smiling children). The bestselling postcard of art in France turns out to be a reproduction of Poppies by Claude Monet. Sophisticated people tend to scorn. They are afraid that such enthusiasms might be evidence of a failure to acknowledge or understand the wilful dimensions of the world. But there is another way to interpret this taste: that it doesn't arise from unfamiliarity with suffering, but from an all too close and pervasive involvement with it - from which we are impelled occasionally to seek relief if we are not to fall into despair and self-disgust. Far from naivety, it is precisely the background of suffering that lends an intensity and dignity to our engagement with hopeful cultural works. Renoir's idyllic picture of friends having a picnic together in the shade on a sunny day isn't imagining a fantasy world in which people magically never have troubles or sorrows. They may have boring jobs or tricky partners; they may have long hours of loneliness. It's just that, all the same, they can truly enjoy this opportunity of pleasant friendship in a lovely place. Renoir isn't being sentimental. He's not implying that life as a whole is a picnic. He's portraying a much truer and more helpful idea of which we often need reminding; that despite the manifest failings of life and the world it is still possible for us to experience true pleasure. Which leads to the odd conclusion: if (by some strange chance) normal life were to become consistently delightful we would no longer need sweetly charming, hope-inducing works of art. One of the less discussed powers of art is that, from time to time, it can bring tears to our eyes. It's normal to think that what makes people cry are sad things; that's certainly the way it works when you're a child. But the older we get, the more we start to notice an odd phenomenon: we start crying not when things are horrible (we toughen up a little), but when they are suddenly and unexpectedly precisely the opposite: when they are unusually sweet, tender, joyful, innocent or kind. This, far more than grimness, is what can increasingly prompt tears. In reality we rarely have the problem of being naively contented with our lives, or with the world in general. On the contrary, we are remorselessly confronted by our own failing and by the radical imperfections of society. Rather than needing a stern dose of disenchantment, we're more likely to require art-tools that can feed and sustain our beleaguered optimism. Excerpted from What Is Culture For? by The School of Life All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

The School of Life is a global organization helping people lead more fulfilled lives. Through our range of books, gifts and stationery we aim to prompt more thoughtful natures and help everyone to find fulfillment.

The School of Life is a resource for exploring self-knowledge, relationships, work, socializing, finding calm, and enjoying culture through content, community, and conversation. You can find us online, in stores and in welcoming spaces around the world offering classes, events, and one-to-one therapy sessions.

The School of Life is a rapidly growing global brand, with over 7 million YouTube subscribers, 389,000 Facebook followers, 174,000 Instagram followers and 166,000 Twitter followers.

The School of Life Press brings together the thinking and ideas of the School of Life creative team under the direction of series editor, Alain de Botton. Their books share a coherent, curated message that speaks with one voice: calm, reassuring, and sane.