ABSTRACT
The elevation of the status of popular culture to a level comparable with the highest arts is clearly seen in how John Lennon was characterized in the European newspapers immediately after his death: as a rock star who was also – and perhaps even primarily – a serious artist or even a genius, comparable to Mozart or Hemingway. John Lennon was a millionaire and a former member of the most popular and commercially successful band of all time. While there are plenty of possible indicators of societal-level factors shaping cultural classifications according to socio-geographical boundaries, there are also organizational factors concerning the newspapers themselves, on the one hand, and the art world or cultural domains, on the other. Specialized sections on arts and culture were established in many major European newspapers around the middle of the twentieth century. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
