30 Book Research Quarterly~Spring 1987

What happens then in the mass culture critique, which is elaborated for the most part by intellectuals, academics, and cultural professionals of one sort or another-- that is, by our cultural elite--is that those who are richly endowed with what Pierre Bourdieu calls "cultural capital" actively blame those who have not been so endowed and who must make do with what is often called a counterfeit culture. They blame them, these victims of cultural exclusion, for degrading the real thing, for devaluing the currency. What is at stake in the struggle over taste, then, is the right to define what will count as legitimate culture. It is thus also a struggle over the right to control whose stories, ideas, and beliefs get taught in our schools as our culture's important symbolic possessions. What I 'm arguing finally is that it is a struggle over cultural authority, a struggle over access to power.

As such, at least from the perspective of those who are its targets, the mass culture critique cannot be merely dismissed nor even simply refuted. It must be understood and challenged as the symptom and sign of division and difference in our society. The issue, it seems to me, is not one of how to contain or cordon off the effects of a degraded culture. Nor is it a question of how to accept such differences as the healthy consequence of a pluralist society which can be ad- dressed and met through the market. Rather, what we see in the mass culture critique is a situation produced by cultural privilege, and what we must ask ourselves is whether we wish to be involved in its perpetuation as an exclusive preserve or in its dismantling through extension and transformation.

30 Book Research Quarterly~Spring 1987

What happens then in the mass culture critique, which is elaborated for the most part by intellectuals, academics, and cultural professionals of one sort or another-- that is, by our cultural elite--is that those who are richly endowed with what Pierre Bourdieu calls "cultural capital" actively blame those who have not been so endowed and who must make do with what is often called a counterfeit culture. They blame them, these victims of cultural exclusion, for degrading the real thing, for devaluing the currency. What is at stake in the struggle over taste, then, is the right to define what will count as legitimate culture. It is thus also a struggle over the right to control whose stories, ideas, and beliefs get taught in our schools as our culture's important symbolic possessions. What I 'm arguing finally is that it is a struggle over cultural authority, a struggle over access to power.

As such, at least from the perspective of those who are its targets, the mass culture critique cannot be merely dismissed nor even simply refuted. It must be understood and challenged as the symptom and sign of division and difference in our society. The issue, it seems to me, is not one of how to contain or cordon off the effects of a degraded culture. Nor is it a question of how to accept such differences as the healthy consequence of a pluralist society which can be ad- dressed and met through the market. Rather, what we see in the mass culture critique is a situation produced by cultural privilege, and what we must ask ourselves is whether we wish to be involved in its perpetuation as an exclusive preserve or in its dismantling through extension and transformation.

Wood 33

FIGURE 1 Distribution of Projected Growth in the Population, 1982-2000

60 Million

55 Million

50 Million

45 Million

40 Million

35 Million

30 Million

25 Million

20 Million

S

0

S

.t.t.t "f'S

w . l m a m a " ~oo ~ 1 7 6

~

35-49 Years

50-64 Years

25-34 Years

65 & Older

18-24 Years

1982 1990 2000 (Base) ( + 19.403.000 ( + 32.067.000

Since 1982) Since 1982)

34 Book Research Quarterly~Spring 1987

TABLE 2 Types of Books Purchased by Age Groups, 1986

Fiction

Non-Fiction

Textbooks

Don't know

Total

Books Purchased by:

18-24 25-34 35-49 Yrs. Yrs. Yrs. 50 + % % % %

40 45 43 46

31 39 44 44

26 14 11 6

3 2 2 4

100 100 100 100

TABLE 3 Categories of Fiction Books Purchased, 1986

Books Purchased by:

Total 18-24 25-34 Fiction Categories Books Yrs. Yrs~

% % %

Mystery/Spy/Suspense 17 13 14

Romance 16 18 16

Popular Fiction 10 7 13

Action/Adventure/War 10 15 8

Science Fiction 10 14 10

Children's 10 5 16

Historical 8 6 6

Western 5 2 3

Humor 5 8 5

Occult/Supernatural 3 6 4

Other 2 2 3

Don't know 4 4 2

Total 100 100 100

35-49 Yrs. 50 + % %

16 21

17 14

9 11

9 11

11 5

10 4

8 12

5 11

5 2

2 1

3 2

6

100 100

Wood 35

FIGURE 2 Projected Population Shift by Age Group

40

30

20

10

16%

24% 2 5 % 1 ~

31%

1986

1995

36% 35% _ _

18-24 25-34 35-49 50 and Years Years Years older

percent to 39 percent between 1986 and 1995; the proportion of total book sales accounted for by all other age groups will either hold steady or decline, with the largest drop registered by the group 18-24 years old (see Figure 3).

Different age groups buy somewhat different types of books (see Table 2). According to data from 1986, the ratio of nonfiction to fiction books purchased increases with age between 18 and 49. As the number of people aged 18-24

36 Book Research Quarterly~Spring 1987

FIGURE 3 Projected Proportion of Book Sales by Age Group

40 39% 1986

1995

30-

25~

20-

,o] 16%

27%

33%

24% 24%

18-24 25-34 35-49 50 and Years Years Years older

declines and the number aged 35-49 increases, the overall ratio of nonfiction to fiction books bought should increase in the remainder of the century. The ongoing demographic changes therefore project a bright future for the nonfiction market.

Predictions are also possible for specific categories of fiction and nonfiction. Compared to the 35-49 age group, book buyers who are 18-24 are less likely to purchase mystery books and more likely to buy science fiction (see Table 3).

Wood 37

TABLE 4 Categories of Nonfiction Books Purchased, 1986

Books Purchased by:

Non-Fiction Categories Total 18-24 25-34 35-49 Books Yrs. Yrs. Yrs. 50 +

% % % % %

Reference/Instruction 18 19 20 20 16

Autobiography/ 17 19 14 17 16 Biography

Historical 10 12 10 9 13

Religious 10 8 7 10 11

Home & Garden/How To 9 7 11 8 10

Leisure 9 10 13 6 7

Health/Diet/Exercise 6 4 6 7 6

Cookbook 5 5 5 5 6

Children's Books 3 4 3 4 2

Investment/Income 3 3 3 3 2 Tax/Economics

Other 6 7 6 6 5

Don't know 4 2 2 5_ 6

Total 100 100 100 100 100

Upcoming demographic shifts along age lines suggest, therefore, an improving market for mystery books but a weaker market for science fiction. Likewise, among the categories of nonfiction, leisure books, which are more likely to be

38 Book Research Quarterly~Spring 1987

TABLE 5 Trends in Types of Books Purchased

Total Books

Types of Books Purchased

Chg. in 1984 1985 1986 %Pts.

% ~ ~ 8 4 - ~

Fiction 39 41 44 + 5

Non-Fiction 42 44 40 -2

Textbooks 12 12 13 + 1

Don't know 7 3 3 -4

Total 100 100 100

purchased by people under 35 than by those 35 or over, have a less promising future (see Table 4). On the other hand, reference and instruction books (including dictionaries), somewhat more commonly purchased by the 35-49 age group, may show a rise in sales.

Future patterns of book buying will not necessarily be simple extensions of previous trends. Nonetheless, figures on book purchasing from the last few years hold considerable interest. If projected demographic changes suggest an increase

Wood 39

in the buying of nonfiction books at the expense of fiction, the trend does not show up in trends from 1984 to 1986 (see Table 5). Fiction purchases have actually risen five percentage points over this two-year period. Such discrepancies between observed past trends and future predictions serve to emphasize that important demographic changes represent only one set of factors determining future book buying. Although demographic changes need not tell the full story of the mass market for books, they constitute an inevitable and significant part of the future.