Brow-level

the central thesis that there is unequal distribution of cultural items across social dimensions is supposed to be upheld. The maps are then read in terms of “brow level,” a shorthand for cultural stratification that mirrors social stratification.

Clear determination of the brow level of a text was also dubious, both because the level of reflection with which one addressed a given text affected the experience and because the wider culture’s ranking of the brow status of cultural productions often changed over time.

Reverse snobbery is just another form of snobbery, after all – it’s a peril at any brow-level – and corrosive tides of partisanship along left wing/right wing, liberal/conservative, populist/elitist divides are rising not just in global political discourse, but in the cultural discussion too.