On kitsch and kic: Comparing kitsch concepts from Bavaria, Serbia and Slovenia

Abstract

The German word kitsch has been internationally successful. Today, it is commonly used in many modern languages including Serbian and Slovenian (kič)-but does it mean the same? In a pilot study, thirty-six volunteers from Bavaria, Serbia and Slovenia rated two hundred images of kitsch objects in terms of liking, familiarity, determinacy, arousal, perceived threat, and kitschiness. Additionally, art expertise, ambiguity tolerance, and value orientations were assessed. Multilevel regression analysis with crossed random effects was used to explore crosscultural differences: Regardless of cultural background, liking of kitsch objects was positively linked to emotionally arousing items with non-threatening content. Self-transcendence was positively linked to liking, while ambiguity of the parental image was concordantly associated with kitschiness. For participants from Serbia and Slovenia, threatening content was correlated with kitschiness, while participants from Bavaria rated determinate items as kitschier. Results are discussed with regard to literature on kitsch and implications for future research.

Kitsch and Perception: Towards a New ‘Aesthetic from Below’

“…This 'reading frenzy' of the early 1800s also gave reason to a controversy among writers and literary critics foreshadowing some of the main tropes of the later kitsch discourse (Schöberl, 1984;Niehaus, 2002): Pulp literature was rejected as trivial and sentimental, produced for the sole purpose of giving immediate affection and cheap thrills in exchange for quick money. By the end of the 1920s, the word kitsch had entered many modern languages (see Ortlieb, Stojilović, Rutar, Fischer, & Carbon, 2017) and its context of use gradually extended beyond bad taste in painting and literature (Cǎlinescu, 1987): Today, it applies to music (e.g., folk-like pop music), filmmaking (e.g., romantic love films), TV formats (e.g., telenovelas), and gardening (e.g., garden gnomes), as well as to architecture (e.g., fake antique columns), fashion (e.g., heart-shaped sunglasses), furnishing (e.g., Cuckoo clocks), and interior decoration (e.g., plastic flowers). Yet there still are certain limitations to its use: Curiously, the word kitsch is not applicable to anything smelt, tasted or touched, although the adjectives "touching" and "tasteless" may be used interchangeably.…”

A Functional Model of Kitsch and Art: Linking Aesthetic Appreciation to the Dynamics of Social Motivation

“…Unlike other labels of bad taste, the German word kitsch was adopted by most modern languages (see Ortlieb et al, 2017) and has entered new contexts of use. Meanwhile, it may refer to “virtually anything subject to judgments of taste” (Cǎlinescu, 1987, p. 235): from painting, sculpture, and literature to music, cinema, and TV programs, not to forget architecture, interior decoration, and furnishing.…”

“…Research on the so-called “mere-exposure effect” (Zajonc, 1968) shows that liking is positively correlated with exposure rates; a finding which is not limited to the visual domain but expands to other modalities as well (haptics; Jakesch and Carbon, 2012). In a cross-cultural study on kitsch, a positive interrelation between self-transcendence and liking of decorative everyday objects was found (Ortlieb et al, 2017). Another rating study using the same stimulus material in combination with the Motive Profile Following the Zurich Model (MPZM; Schönbrodt et al, 2009) showed that decorative day-to-day objects were perceived as less kitschy and more likable by participants who valued security over arousal (Vlasova et al, 2018).…”

“…Kitsch is a truly international term (see Ortlieb et al, 2017). However, any culture (or subculture) will place its stamp on the innate mechanism of social motivation by putting special emphasis on certain needs (e.g., autonomy) and by devaluing others (Dissanayake, 2015).…”

In the Mood for Kitsch? : Linking Aesthetic Appreciation to the Dynamics of Social Motivation

“…After making its way into art theory in the 1920s, the German "kitsch" also entered many modern languages . In a first cross-cultural comparison, Ortlieb, Stojilović, Rutar, Fischer, and Carbon (2017) found kitsch concepts from Bavaria, Slovenia, and Serbia to be largely congruent apart from some aspects that invite closer examination (see Chapter 2.6 and cumulus A.5 for details). For this inquiry art theory is the most important context of use with the main focus lying on kitsch judgements about visual stimuli.…”