ABSTRACT
The term kitsch comes from the nineteenth century. One of several suggested etymologies is that the word is German for smear or playing with mud. The strong, shared contempt for kitsch and sentimentality is something of a standard for good taste, but there is all too little agreement about what is wrong with kitsch and sentimentality to back it up. Kitsch and sentimentality provoke excessive or immature expressions of emotion. One obvious suggestion is that kitsch and sentimentality manipulate people's emotions. Of course, it must be said immediately that one puts oneself in the position of being so manipulated, by going to the museum, by standing or walking in front of the painting, and so the blame is properly placed on the viewer as well as the artist and the object. So, too, kitsch and sentimentality are said to express or evoke cheap or easy or superficial emotions.
