Like take cuisine. In the US “home made” versions of classic dishes (chili, barbecue, apple pie) are first-class members of public identity theater. If you have a great chili recipe you’ll likely enter contests or otherwise become known for it.
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To the extent that we’re all Victorian now, especially in the middle classes around the world, it’s going to be a challenge for all of us, adapting to a world where front-stage public theaters is no longer the essence of civilization.
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The idea that we all belong in a universal “story of humanity” is peculiarly Victorian I think. I see few signs of it in other times/places. The closest is evangelical religions, which act like everyone will eventually either be part of their one true faith or condemned to hell.
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Addendum: I think a big part of the Great Theatricalization of Victorian-descended middle-class societies is that they started seeing their lives reflected in TV and movies. For most of the world, movies and TV, even local rather than global-Hollywood, is Not About Us.
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Which incidentally gets at why representation in movies/tv (the mirror of the theatrical society) is such a flashpoint. You’re not a real free human until you’re represented on screen as a fictional free human, and you can’t access political power until you are.
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