Read all of Dwight Macdonald’s essay “Masscult and Midcult” (1960).
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I discussed masscult versus midcult in a contemporary literature lecture, one of the main distinctions is that midcult, according to Macdonald, masquerades as high brow art while masscult is obviously and overtly for the masses; a.k.a low brow, according to Macdonald, which – if I remember correctly – was more problematic for Macdonald.
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