MIDDLE ROAD

Robert Chianese asks that The Times divide coverage of popular/mass-produced culture from more elite forms (Letters, May 19). “Low” culture, he writes, “tries merely to titillate or shock, or to make one feel good by presenting no challenges and confirming cliched notions.”

The boundary that distinguishes “high” from “low” culture is an arbitrary one. That line serves many ideological purposes (to demarcate social class, for example).

I also disagree with the notion that pop culture presents no challenges. On what level? Politically? Intellectually? Popular culture can be and is one of the more progressive spaces in this society. Where else do you see political resistance and challenges to hegemonic ideologies? Courtney Love’s transgressive performance style is a perfect example. She makes us feel uncomfortable with her deployment of a white-trash aesthetic--we’re forced to confront our fears of and distaste for the “lower” classes.

If Mr. Chianese is looking for intellectual challenges, I suggest he attend a rap concert. I saw/heard Aceyalone perform improvisational rap rhymes the other day. He has a quick mind and brilliantly utilizes his grasp of language and knowledge of political and social issues to create a new language that also serves to critique dominant ideologies.

TERESA ESPANA

Santa Barbara