{"id":63329,"date":"2022-04-05T06:37:55","date_gmt":"2022-04-05T10:37:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=63329"},"modified":"2022-04-22T09:39:47","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T13:39:47","slug":"bergers-ways-of-seeing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bergers-ways-of-seeing\/","title":{"rendered":"John Berger\u2019s Ways of Seeing: Book Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is John Berger\u2019s Ways of Seeing<\/em> about? What is the key message to take away from the book? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his book Ways of Seeing<\/em>, John Berger argues that, throughout history, the way we see art has been manipulated by a privileged minority to preserve their social and economic dominance. Berger\u2019s premise is that the dominant class<\/a> has always used art and art criticism to \u201cmystify\u201d the working class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s a brief overview of Ways of Seeing<\/em> by John Berger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

John Berger\u2019s Ways of Seeing<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

John Berger\u2019s Ways of Seeing<\/em> challenges the idea that, to understand and appreciate works of art, we need experts to \u201ctranslate\u201d them for us. Rather, Berger urges us to pull back the curtain and look at the images before us with our own eyes. Using Marxist-feminist theory, Berger demonstrates how the elite mystifies art analysis and, by doing so, preserves the very capitalism<\/a> that he’s criticizing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Book’s Author<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

John Berger (b. 1926, d. 2017) was a modern renaissance man: He was a painter, teacher, poet, Booker Prize winning novelist, essayist, screenwriter, playwright, journalist, and\u2014most famously\u2014art critic. He is best known for his BBC television series \u201cWays of Seeing\u201d and its companion book: Ways of Seeing<\/em>. Berger was born, raised, and educated in London, England, but spent the second half of his life in France, where he died at the age of 90.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though never an official member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, Berger kept close ties with the association and was a leading figure in the British New Left<\/a>\u2014a political movement with strong ties to Marxist thought and which advocated for a range of progressive changes to society. Berger\u2019s social and political views greatly influenced his work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publicly Available Works by John Berger:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n