"How applicable is Bourdieu's formulation of distinction to Britain today? How can we adapt his theories to account for contemporary structures of taste?".
When we talk in terms of distinction we are attempting to define the ways in which we are separate from others, not simply by identifying the characteristics that we possess, but also by determining those that we do not. One of the principal ways in which we attempt this is through taste - the key element in Bourdieu's formulation of distinction. When we analyse taste as a form of distinction we begin to see that rather than being essentially individualistic and inherent, it is in fact inextricably linked to notions of class and status - far more objective than we perceive it to be, and far less subjective than we should prefer. When we accept that taste is in fact a social construction we can see how applicable Bourdieu's formulation of distinction is to contemporary society, for although "Distinction" is a study of taste in French society during the sixties, we can adapt it to account for contemporary structures. Such a cultural creation can transcend time and space, and, it could be argued, actually becomes increasingly revealing over time in this postmodern world.
In post-modern society the boundaries between high culture and culture in the anthropological sense become increasingly blurred. It is essential that we realise that society is no longer defined by such a rigid duality, and that the two terms are used here simply to discuss the issue more straightforwardly, not as the only modes of classification in modern society. Instead, to account for contemporary structures of taste, it would more democratic to think in think in terms of "positional consumption" (Lury, 1996 p: 80) as opposed to simply defining cultural goods as either "high" or "low". This would account for the increasing fluidity of taste structures.
