Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2020 February 12

= February 12 =

General idea of an old work attracting today's audience
I'm looking for an article about general concept for how well a work of any medium—be it a classic, a masterpiece, a generic piece, or a forgotten and overlooked piece—can hold up over the years, despite specific period settings of respective works, and may still attract mass audience... or specific demographics (maybe a niche?). I'm not asking for specific works; just the general idea/concept. George Ho (talk) 05:19, 12 February 2020 (UTC)


 * Well, Staying Power didn't help much. Maybe google has something better. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 07:38, 12 February 2020 (UTC)


 * Timeless classic maybe? https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/timeless 41.165.67.114 (talk) 07:44, 12 February 2020 (UTC)


 * Consider the concept of canonization. Good luck! Almostds (talk) 12:51, 12 February 2020 (UTC) (I'm a librarian from Toronto Public Library)


 * The test of time. 2601:648:8202:96B0:0:0:0:7AC0 (talk) 14:01, 12 February 2020 (UTC)


 * Nostalgia. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 20:47, 12 February 2020 (UTC)


 * The above are all terms related to timeless value, but the questioner seeks to find an article discussing the concept. Why do the plays of Shakespeare keep attracting audiences while those by Marlowe are largely forgotten? Why are people today still moved by the songs of Dowland? Surely there must be some articles or books that address such questions? --Lambiam 21:34, 12 February 2020 (UTC)
 * There's a little bit about this in Classic book but not much. Some of the references there may cover it. --ColinFine (talk) 18:37, 13 February 2020 (UTC)
 * If you consider functional enclosures "art", there are many specific examples of who keeps bringing them back around and why at Revivalism (architecture). Standing back and looking at them together almost makes the whole thing seem like some general overview. Or maybe I just don't "get" neoclassical post-Modern thought. InedibleHulk (talk) 06:13, 17 February 2020 (UTC)