Culture

Confident protocols of cultural judgement have gone. Today, amid the competing voices of 'relativism', 'essentialism' and the hectic production of culture and opinion, 'our own response' to the arts is no simple matter, writes John Corner

Duncan Wu enjoys the intensity and obsession in a portrayal of a ballerina losing touch with reality

Gary Day enjoys a feast of detective fiction over Christmas, made all too poignant by real events

Reality TV is the consequence of liberalisation, a mix of the idiotic and the sublime. Clive Bloom surfs the multichannel-verse in search of entertainment

Duncan Wu suspends his disbelief to enjoy Russell Crowe as a gun-toting, all-action college teacher

The butterfly encourages people's imagination to take flight, says Gary Day, but are its days numbered?

Hytner's Hamlet seethes with family betrayals and Soviet-era political intrigue, writes Peter J. Smith

Gary Day on poetic sensibilities, the iconic couch of the subconscious and the beauty of mathematics

Artist Rooms enlightens places other exhibitions do not reach. Alex Danchev lauds Anthony d'Offay's efforts to bring art to all

Fifty years old today, Coronation Street redefined commercial television. Clive Bloom celebrates the quietly socialist institution, once radical, now nostalgic, that offers us a vision of working-class heroism

Heroes exist in every arena, says Gary Day, and their passion and valour add colour and zest to history

Duncan Wu applauds a nightmarish tale of a rock climber caught for five long days in a very hard place

David Hockney's love of digital art is on show at an exhibition in Paris. Julian Stallabrass asks: is it just a fad?

Gary Day runs out of excuses and watches The X Factor, only to find he is bemused rather than amused

A fresh take on an old tale impresses Duncan Wu, but leaves him with misgivings about exploitation

Duncan Wu finds unexpected depth in a tale of a fearful assassin, but not in the lead's acting

An exhibition celebrating the diversity of English throughout history prompts Matthew Reisz to wonder if it is ever possible to halt a language's evolution

Like cleaning skyscraper windows, the job of helping children in need is never finished, says Gary Day

From BBC Radio 4 to St Peter's, Oxford, Mark Damazer has worked to put scholarship in the spotlight. Matthew Reisz reports

Duncan Wu on the sheer delight of Arcimboldo's punning, painstaking and peerless portraits

Those who sleep rough have pasts full of pain. Gary Day watches a fight for survival in lives of misery

Exposure to Matisse's dancing forms led Peter Hill to a eureka moment: it is art, not science, that truly evokes the future

Anne Hogan finds the Merce Cunningham dancers exude technical prowess but also detects diffidence

Chilled by a Faustian tale, Gary Day finds an analysis of the UK's national debt both alarming and alarmist

Shifting ideas of 'honour' have played a role in atrocities such as foot binding and the slave trade, but the concept can also be used to change entrenched views and end injustices, philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah tells Matthew Reisz

Alex Danchev salutes the inexplicable mastery of Cézanne, subject of a scrupulous exhibition

The National Grid spread light, but the unemployed still just hang on in the shadows, learns Gary Day

Artist-in-residence schemes create a fertile breeding ground for fresh ideas, as scientists and engineers share their knowledge and insights with those in the humanities. Hannah Fearn discovers how the collaborations pay off

Willy Maley on a brooding two-hander's twitchy vision of the end of love - and possibly the end of times

Can dreams predict the future - or even influence it? Gary Day watches a personal investigation

For decades, gay men lived in a 'virtual' world outside the mainstream, so links between the subculture and the web are both logical and ripe for scrutiny. Matthew Reisz cruises the 'queer digital spaces' with academic Sharif Mowlabocus

Duncan Wu applauds the sensitive approach to a tale set in an inhumane world with twisted morals

Gary Day learns that nothing is not necessarily what we think it is, and is inspired by a tale of aspiration

Old flames quaff too much Chianti over lunch, says Gary Day, while a copycat killer stalks the East End

Paul Gauguin is the subject of a major international exhibition. Alex Danchev considers the Conradian life of the artist, his restlessness, his knack for self-publicity, his carefully crafted 'savage' persona - and how his legacy was secured

Musical-loathing Duncan Wu is won over by the bright-hued cheek of an Aboriginal song and dance