Suffered alienation becomes a profitable commodity in the cultural marketplace

Evidence

The word “alienation,” indiscriminately used to signify the most banal of dyspepsias as well as the deepest of metaphysical fears, has become the chief cant phrase of our time. For even the most discerning of observers, reality and pose have become difficult to distinguish. To the horror of those who can genuinely claim to have suffered from its effects, alienation has proved a highly profitable commodity in the cultural marketplace. — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 71

Categorization

• SEED: The commodification of intellectuals’ own suffering and dissent as a market good — worth an essay on how modern artists and academics trade on their own alienation.
• XREF: connects to: Cultural alienation became marketable and co-opted rather than disruptive — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 71; Commodity alienation masquerades as closeness while true culture stays uncomprehended — Theodor W. Adorno, Minima Moralia: Reflections from…, 168; Financialization colonizes culture by fusing economic price with social value — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 561 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Cultural alienation became marketable and co-opted rather than disruptive #corroborates (0.95) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 71
• Commodity alienation masquerades as closeness while true culture stays uncomprehended #expands (0.80) — Theodor W. Adorno, Minima Moralia, 168
• Financialization colonizes culture by fusing economic price with social value #qualifies (0.75) — Max Haiven, Cultures of Financialization, 561
• Cultural criticism that embraces universal commodification becomes indistinguishable from commodity fetishism #expands (0.70) — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 917