An astrocentric universe

Abstract

The star system, or the astrocentric universe characteristic of mass culture, is analyzed through a sequence of three daily experiences which are common to the contemporary North American. In the wake of Nietzsche’s and Adorno’s critiques, this dispersed universe is shown to have emerged on the ruins of older systems of valuation and to have expanded via its insistent exposure to the uncritical mass and via the marginalization of otherness. In an astrocentric universe highbrow and lowbrow phenomena are exposed to each other to the point of non-distinction, which is instrumental in propelling the popCulture star in the sphere once occupied by high art. This article delivers, in philosophical prose, a combination of comparative and cultural studies, critical theory and cultural history.