Ohmann and Culture

Before reading Ohmann, I had never thought before of exactly how much culture and society influences the books that we read. We read things because we are told to read them, and so that we can participate socially with what we’ve read.

Ohmann really hits the nail on the head when he states that “culture is itself a core industry and a major source of capital accumulation” (NA 1889) because, and this goes for any type of culture, we as humans buy into culture; we see what culture presents, and we want to be a part of it and want to participate in it. When it comes to our literary culture, we hear the books that are being raved about, or the books that are presenting great controversies, and so we read them to be active in the industry of culture.

Ohmann also says that culture “is inseparable from the making and selling of commodities” (NA 1889), that is, commodities practically fuel culture, and are completely engrained in the culture that we live in. Books as commodities was something I had never thought twice about, but they are marketed to the general public in a certain way, targeting specific audiences for profits, just like any other commodity. I never before realized that this would affect the literary canon, and Ohmann proves that it does.

Also on culture, Ohmann states that we have a “rapidly changing cultural process that calls for new and flexible ways of thinking about culture” (NA 1889). In what kinds of ways do we need to be thinking about culture, especially literary culture? Ohmann is obviously making a call to action, and he argues that we need to think differently about social classes and Marxist ideas to begin to understand this new, changing culture that is based on the buying and selling of commodities (NA 1889).