Avant garde Quote by Alain Robbe-Grillet
““The word "avant-garde," for example, despite its note of impartiality, generally serves to dismiss-as though by a shrug of the shoulders-any work that risks giving a bad conscience to the literature of mass consumption.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: The Avant-Garde and Mass Literature, 1970
The term “avant‑garde” is often used to dismiss works that challenge mainstream tastes, pretending to be neutral while actually marginalizing dissenting art.
In simple terms: Avant‑garde is used to reject challenging art under a guise of neutrality.
Key Takeaway
Question the neutrality of labels that dismiss unconventional work.
Themes
art
culture
critique
power
language
Mood
critical
skeptical
Type
analytical
philosophical
When to use this quote
- Literary criticism
- art exhibitions
- publishing decisions
- educational curricula
Key Concepts
Aesthetic theory
censorship
mass media
Questions to Reflect On
- How does labeling affect the reception of experimental art?
- What alternative frameworks could protect avant‑garde works?
A Different Perspective
Labels can silence innovation and reinforce dominant tastes.
![“Le lecteur, lui non plus, ne voit pas les choses du dehors. Il est dans le labyrinthe aussi. The reader [as well as the main character] does not view the work from outside. He too is in the labyrinth.” quote by Alain Robbe-Grillet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/d22/alain-robbe-grillet-35989_character_le-lecteur-lui-non-plus-ne-voit-pas-les_1976067.jpg)
![“Avant-garde theatre, with its distrust of the individual (that bourgeois invention), tends to go beyond [character] and the psychological approach in search of a syntax of types and characters which are "deconstructed and post-individual.” quote by Patrice Pavis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/c22/patrice-pavis-72351_approach_avant-garde-theatre-with-its-distrust-of_59690.jpg)
