Pretentiousness : Why it Matters

Author: Fox, Dan

Theory of art

Published on 17 April 2024 by Fitzcarraldo Editions in the United Kingdom.

Paperback / softback | 176 pages, 12 Illustrations, black and white
198 x 115 x 11 | 134g

What is pretentiousness? Why do we despise it? And more controversially: why is it vital to a thriving culture? In this brilliant, passionate essay, Dan Fox argues that it has always been an essential mechanism of the arts, from the most wildly successful pop music and fashion through to the most recondite avenues of literature and the visual arts. Pretentiousness: Why it Matters unpacks the uses and abuses of the term, tracing its connections to theatre, politics and class, advocating critical imagination over knee-jerk accusations of elitism or simple fear of the new and the different. This book is a timely defence of pretentiousness as a necessity for innovation and diversity in our culture.