The autonomization of American art

Pierre Bourdieu has been one of the most influential theorists on art and society in contemporary sociology. One of his most important studies was on the autonomization of art fields – the development of subfields of art production based on criteria of judgment independent from the demands of art institutions and commercial art markets. His classic study of the historical genesis of artistic autonomy in the literary and visual arts in nineteenth century France was the foundation for his more general argument on autonomization. He presented a model of autonomy and consecration in modern art fields that explained both the historical genesis of autonomous art and the subsequent dynamics of orthodoxy and heresy that drove innovation in art. Bourdieu acknowledged that the potential and timing of autonomization in a national art field was dependent on the socio-historical context of specific countries. Bourdieu, however, never presented a comparative national case study of autonomization in art. While his general model of art fields has been applied to other national contexts, there remains a significant need for scholarship that applies his analysis of the genesis of autonomization to other national art fields. The present paper argues that a far-reaching transformation occurred in mid-twentieth century American art comparable to the autonomization of French art in the late nineteenth century. It demonstrates through the case studies of music and film that Bourdieu’s analysis of autonomization in French art applies equally well to twentieth century American art. The paper shows, however, a significant difference in the autonomization of the national art fields in France and the United States. This difference forces us to reconsider the role of culture industries and popular art in struggles over autonomy, innovation, and legitimacy in modern art.