Kleinberg (1992) notes that camp is an ironic sensibility as related to a product (or often, a work of art) because the physical object itself conceals a deeper, hidden meaning beneath a facade of absurdity.Ĭamp is the aesthetic taste which might prompt someone to exclaim, 'its so dreadful! Its wonderful! The juxtaposition of the two opposite sentiments in this statement should be noted carefully. According to Sontags essay, it is the 'homosexual aesthetic which is 'off, exaggerated, or gently comical. Camp is manifested in goods or practices which are highly stylish but not substantial. Since Sontags (1964) now famous essay, little has been written about it within the social sciences literature, but it has been discussed in the gay and lesbian studies work (eg. THE ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS WORLD OF CAMP MEANINGĬamp may be considered the product of a sensibility-a mode of feeling- and an aethetic-a form of artistic expression. This branch of the discipline is of great imporance, as broad yet intangible cultural forces shape consumption practices and meanings, and in turn, peoples consumption shapes culture (Wallendorf and Arnould 1991). These and other works illuminate a host of social occasions in our society during which people gather and obtain social benefit by the public use or sharing of goods or consumer experience. Celsi, Rose, and Leigh 1993 Arnould and Price 1993 Wallendorf and Arnould 1991 Holbrook and Hirschman 1982) and considerable progress in understanding the deeper meanings of possessions (Richins 1994, 1994a Belk, Wallendorf, and Sherry 1989 Belk, Sherry, and Wallendorf 1988). In previous works, consumer researchers have made progress in addressing the conceptual and theoretical aspects of the consumption of experience (e.g. Moreover, it is arguable that the empirical study of camp-as a set of meaning tied to gay subculture and as manifested within certain goods and services- has a great potential to enrich the consumer behaviour literature, as consumer researchers have the opportunity to both expand the understanding of this strange, elusive, and somewhat ineffable mode of consumption and expand the knowledge domain of hedonic consumption (Holbrook and Hirschman 1982). According to Sontag (1964), the camp aesthetic-along with 'Jewish moral seriousness-are the most importance influences upon our modern culture. Camp is a consumption phenomenon which has been neglected in the consumer research literature. The purpose of this article is to empirically explore 'camp sensibility within the contexts of the larger, theoretical question of meaning transfer from culture to product as expounded by mainstream consumer researchers such as McCracken (1986, 1989) and cultural semioticians such as Gottdiener (1995, 1985). Directions for future research in this topic area are noted. Camp phenomena are subsequently discussed in the context of meaning transfer between the homosexual subculture and the dominant, mainstream culture. This research uses long, semi-structured interviews and participant observation in order to explore the homosexual subcultural style known as 'camp. Three themes emerged from the data: camp products, camp celebrities and people, and gender subversion.
Hedonic and experiential modes of consumption are important, yet relatively unexplored areas of the consumer research discipline. Kates, University of Northern British Columbia SENSIBILITY: AN EXPLORATION OF THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF CAMP MacInnis, Provo, UT : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 132-137.Īdvances in Consumer Research VolPages 132-137 Sensibility: an Exploration of the Lived Experience of Camp", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 24, eds.
ABSTRACT - Hedonic and experiential modes of consumption are important, yet relatively unexplored areas of the consumer research discipline.