--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For Seabrook this 'nobrow' state - where…" description: "\"“For Seabrook this 'nobrow' state - where the old brow distinctions no longer seem to apply - is not only a dumbing down of intellectual culture; it is..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47b/hal-foster-100173_old-world_for-seabrook-this-nobrow-state-where-the_2598102.jpg" --- # For Seabrook this 'nobrow' state - where the old brow… ![“For Seabrook this 'nobrow' state - where the old brow distinctions no longer seem to apply - is not only a dumbing down of intellectual culture; it is also a wising up to commercial culture, which is no longer seen as an object of disdain but as 'a source of status.' At the same time this child of…” quote by Hal Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47b/hal-foster-100173_old-world_for-seabrook-this-nobrow-state-where-the_2598102.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47b/hal-foster-100173_old-world_for-seabrook-this-nobrow-state-where-the_2598102.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47b/hal-foster-100173_old-world_for-seabrook-this-nobrow-state-where-the_2598102.jpg) > ““For Seabrook this 'nobrow' state - where the old brow distinctions no longer seem to apply - is not only a dumbing down of intellectual culture; it is also a wising up to commercial culture, which is no longer seen as an object of disdain but as 'a source of status.' At the same time this child of the elite is ambivalent about the collapse of brow distinctions, caught as he is between the old world of middlebrow taste, as vetted by The New Yorker of yore, and the new world of nobrow taste, where culture and marketing are one. ”” [Hal Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-foster/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The collapse of traditional cultural hierarchies blends high art with commercial marketing, creating a mixed “nobrow” taste. **In simple terms:** Old cultural boundaries dissolve, mixing elite and commercial tastes. Key Takeaway Recognize and critique the merging of culture and commerce. Themes culture commercialism elitism taste media identity Mood critical contemplative analytical Type Old world:1 Commercial Culture:1 Middlebrow Taste:1 Nobrow Taste:1 Taste Culture:1 Middlebrow:1 When to use this quote - art criticism - media analysis - social commentary - academic discourse - personal reflection Key Concepts cultural hierarchy taste politics elitist vs popular marketing influence Questions to Reflect On - How does nobrow affect artistic standards? - Can culture retain depth amid commercial influence? A Different Perspective The blend may obscure critical standards, leading to superficial appreciation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Commercial Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commercial-culture-271377/) [Middlebrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middlebrow-1920443/) [Middlebrow Taste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middlebrow-taste-1920440/) [Nobrow Taste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nobrow-taste-1920441/) [Old world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-world/) [Taste Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taste-culture-1920442/) ## Related quotes > [Publishing has gone very middlebrow. It's turned its back on legacy of modernism and gone into a humanist mode. When people go through art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-mccarthy/publishing-has-gone-very-middlebrow-it-s-turned-its-back-on-legacy-of/) [Tommy McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-mccarthy/) > [The middlebrow, I hate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-fiedler/the-middlebrow-i-hate/) [Leslie Fiedler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-fiedler/) > [I am interested in the highbrow/lowbrow synthesis. My sensibility, I am proud to say, is middlebrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-christgau/i-am-interested-in-the-highbrow-lowbrow-synthesis-my-sensibility-i-am/) [Robert Christgau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-christgau/) > [Style is having the courage of one's choices and the courage to say no. It's good taste and culture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giorgio-armani/style-is-having-the-courage-of-one-s-choices-and-the-courage-to-say/) [Giorgio Armani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giorgio-armani/) > [“You have to taste a culture to understand it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-have-to-taste-a-culture-to-understand-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [London has massively influenced my taste, the culture, how little I want to say and how much I want to say, my accent too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lola-young/london-has-massively-influenced-my-taste-the-culture-how-little-i/) [Lola Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lola-young/) > [“Many Hollywoodians may have good taste and an interest in culture but they certainly hide it. They're afraid they'll be branded as sissies if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-price/many-hollywoodians-may-have-good-taste-and-an-interest-in-culture-but/) [Vincent Price](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-price/) > [“The commercial media … help citizens feel as if they are successful and have met these aspirations, even if they have not. They tend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/the-commercial-media-help-citizens-feel-as-if-they-are-successful-and/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [“In a relentlessly commercial culture, the communication of our private meanings has been vaguely corrupted around the edges by the toxic idioms of merchandising.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baxter/in-a-relentlessly-commercial-culture-the-communication-of-our-private/) [Charles Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baxter/) > [It's becoming increasingly difficult to find kids to hang out with that don't consume a lot of commercial culture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caterina-fake/it-s-becoming-increasingly-difficult-to-find-kids-to-hang-out-with/) [Caterina Fake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caterina-fake/) > [All of us somehow felt that the next battleground was going to be culture. We all felt somehow that our culture had been stolen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kalle-lasn/all-of-us-somehow-felt-that-the-next-battleground-was-going-to-be/) [Kalle Lasn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kalle-lasn/) > [Mainstream media would convince you that there's commercial culture and that's all - but this other music is still here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-shocked/mainstream-media-would-convince-you-that-there-s-commercial-culture/) [Michelle Shocked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-shocked/) > [As I've indicated, most books go out of print within one year. The same is true of music and film. Commercial culture is sharklike.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-lessig/as-i-ve-indicated-most-books-go-out-of-print-within-one-year-the-same/) [Lawrence Lessig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-lessig/) > [What one thing does the world need most today-apart, that is, from the all-inclusive thing we call righteousness? Aren't you inclined to agree that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/what-one-thing-does-the-world-need-most-today-apart-that-is-from-the/) [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) > [“The mission is, not to replace old world mindlessness with new world mindlessness, but to put an end to all forms of brainless authoritarianism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-mission-is-not-to-replace-old-world-mindlessness-with-new-world/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) ## More by Hal Foster > [“Design is all about desire, but strangely this desire seems almost subject-less today, or at least lack-less; that is, design seems to advance a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-foster/design-is-all-about-desire-but-strangely-this-desire-seems-almost/) [Hal Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-foster/) [Explore all 2 Hal Foster quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-foster/) ## More Old world quotes > [“The mission is, not to replace old world mindlessness with new world mindlessness, but to put an end to all forms of brainless authoritarianism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-mission-is-not-to-replace-old-world-mindlessness-with-new-world/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [What one thing does the world need most today-apart, that is, from the all-inclusive thing we call righteousness? 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A hundred of them were already in the service of the Military Government of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-w-tuchman/the-world-remembers-the-battle-ever-since-by-the-taxis-a-hundred-of/) [Barbara W. Tuchman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-w-tuchman/) > [The notion that you could discard the old world and now make a new one. This is what was so bad about Modernism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/the-notion-that-you-could-discard-the-old-world-and-now-make-a-new/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Bird taxonomy is a difficult field because of the severe anatomical constraints imposed by flight. There are only so many ways to design a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jared-diamond/bird-taxonomy-is-a-difficult-field-because-of-the-severe-anatomical/) [Jared Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jared-diamond/) > [“His ex-wife dumped him and the kids." Sophia's gaze lifted from the wine she held, met his. "Dumped?" "Yeah, decided there was a big…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/his-ex-wife-dumped-him-and-the-kids-sophia-s-gaze-lifted-from-the/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [You're in a terrible spot. It's too late for you to retreat but too soon to act. All you can do is witness. You're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/you-re-in-a-terrible-spot-it-s-too-late-for-you-to-retreat-but-too/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [“It was a brave old world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-a-rayner/it-was-a-brave-old-world/) [Mark A. Rayner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-a-rayner/) > [“You must know, my loved one, that there are beings in the elements which almost appear like mortals, and which rarely allow themselves to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-de-la-motte-fouqu/you-must-know-my-loved-one-that-there-are-beings-in-the-elements/) [Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-de-la-motte-fouqu/) > [“If a man couldn't escape what he came from, we would most of us still be peasants in Old World hovels. But, if, having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-graves/if-a-man-couldn-t-escape-what-he-came-from-we-would-most-of-us-still/) [John Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-graves/) > [He became another data point in the American experiment of self-government, an experiment statistically skewed from the outset, because it wasn't the people with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-franzen/he-became-another-data-point-in-the-american-experiment-of-self/) [Jonathan Franzen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-franzen/) > [“There are many in this old world of ours who hold that things break about even for all of us. I have observed for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bat-masterson/there-are-many-in-this-old-world-of-ours-who-hold-that-things-break/) [Bat Masterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bat-masterson/) > [“I am a man of the old world, a seed that was transplanted by the wind, a seed which failed to blossom in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/i-am-a-man-of-the-old-world-a-seed-that-was-transplanted-by-the-wind/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) [Browse all 323 Old world quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-world/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“For Seabrook this 'nobrow' state - where the old brow distinctions no longer seem to apply - is not only a dumbing down of intellectual culture; it is also a wising up to commercial culture, which is no longer seen as an object of disdain but as 'a source of status.' 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