Camp style: Encyclopedia II - Camp style - Academic appropriation or proliferation of camp

Camp style - Academic appropriation or proliferation of camp

While the success of postmodernism granted camp a place in mainstream art and literature analysis, as well as a certain weight in contemporary social theory, it also meant that its extended sphere of cultural influence was likely to affect the use of the concept. As a part of its adoption by the mainstream, camp has undergone a softening of its original subversive tone, and is often little more than the condescending recognition that popular culture can also be enjoyed by a sophisticated sensibility. Comic books and Westerns, for example, have become standard subjects for serious academic analysis. This is not, however, the kind of seriousness that Sontag advocated for camp, to which deliberate exaggeration and outlandishness was essential. This uncomfortable situation—the normalisation of the outrageous, common to many Vanguardist movements—has led some to believe that the notion has lost its usefulness for critical art discourse.

In the UK, camp is an adjective to describe naughty seaside-postcard sense of humour combined with sharp wit, and is often associated with a stereotypical view of feminine gay men. "Camp" forms a strong element in UK culture, and many so-called gay-icons and objects are chosen as such because they are camp. In the UK, the television series Absolutely Fabulous, as well as personages like Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen, Lulu, Graham Norton, Lesley Joseph, Cliff Richard, Cilla Black, and the music hall theatre tradition of the pantomime are considered to be camp elements in popular culture (by the general populace).

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Academic appropriation or proliferation of camp", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki