The Opera Fanatic
Ethnography of an Obsession
- Contents
- Review Quotes
- Awards

List of Illustrations
Preface
Introduction
Part 1: Background
1. An Opera House for the “Paris of South America”
2. “It was love at first sight”: Biography and Social Trajectory of Standing-Room Dwellers
Part 2: Foreground
3. Becoming an Opera Fan: Cultural Membership, Mediation, and Differentiation
4. Moral Listening: Symbolic Boundaries, Work on the Self, and Passionate Engagement
5. Heroes, Pilgrims, Addicts, and Nostalgics: Repertories of Engagement in the Quest for Transcendence
Part 3: Finale
6. “They were playing in their shirtsleeves!” Downfall, Memory Work, and High-Culture Nationalism
7. “We’ve told you all about our life”: Conclusions and Implications
Notes
References
Index
“Opera inspires passionate responses among audiences. This engaging, subtle book explains how one society shapes those passions. For Benzecry, operagoing in turn illuminates experiences of national honor, of belonging to a city, and of local loyalty to others. Wit and pleasure are not usually found in works of sociology, but they overflow these pages.”
“In this imaginative and deeply researched study, Benzecry provides a powerful alternative to the notion that people engage culture to gain distinction over others. He shows that meaning and passion are central, that people are looking for transcendence, and that opera feels like love. This theoretically sophisticated work will help to change the conversation about cultural consumption.”
“The wonder of The Opera Fanatic is that nobody wrote this book before. An ethnography of opera fans in the Buenos Aires area, this study pinpoints a phenomenon that is worldwide in scope today. Challenging the common sociological wisdom that attending high-culture events expresses the need to establish class distinctions and to build cultural capital, Benzecry provides a convincing alternative model of operagoing that, at least for a sizable public, portrays this activity as affective, quasi-religious, and addictive.”
American Sociological Association: ASA Distinguished Book Award
Honorable Mention
ASA Culture Section: Mary Douglas Prize
Won
Music: General Music
Sociology: Sociology of Arts--Leisure, Sports
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