In the text Avant-Garde and Kitsch Greenberg touches on two cultural and artistic phenomenons, “avant-garde” and “kitsch”.
Avant-garde first emerges within the first scientific revolution throughout Europe in the early 19th century. Greenberg argues that the movement is more the efforts to continue pursuing culture in the middle of an ideological upheaval, rather than an experiment itself. The text emphasizes that avant-garde is heavily embedded in the living society, as its main component is the imitation of imitating.
On the contrary, kitsch is depicted as a result of the industrial revolution and the growing literacy of the society. Kitsch constantly changes due to current pop-phenomenons or societies values, but stays the same in its core. Due to the industrialisation, everything can be turned into kitsch, as it can be manufactured mechanically, therefore making it “cheap”.
Greenberg illustrates avant-garde and kitsch as competing and contrary artistic movements, but also shows how both claim their rightful place in society, underlining the importance of the coexistence.