ABSTRACT
Recent work in art history, the sociology of art and material cultural studies has sought to give the same level of attention to the reception and consumption of cultural objects as has traditionally been given to their production and to the analysis of their formal structure (Radway 1984, Freedberg 1989, Elsner 1995, Miller 1995, Shrum 1996). This involves research into the social backgrounds of audiences or spectators of cultural products, analysis of the settings in which the consumption of culture takes place, of the distinctive practices or etiquettes of reception, and of the varying social and cultural value attributed to such practices (Wolff 1981, 95-116; Thompson 1990, 146-62; Zolberg 1990, 136-61; Press 1994).
