--- ---  # Science Explains the Difference Between 'Camp' and 'Kitsch' by [Improbable Research](https://time.com/author/improbable-research/) ## Improbable Research Mar 18, 2015 3:54 PM UTC  High angle view of a person's hands playing the piano High angle view of a person's hands playing the pianoGetty Images by [Improbable Research](https://time.com/author/improbable-research/) ## Improbable Research Mar 18, 2015 3:54 PM UTC For those unsure about the sometimes-misunderstood difference between ‘Kitsch’ and ‘Camp’, [Dr. Freya Jarman,](http://www.liv.ac.uk/music/staff/freya-jarman/) who is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Music at the University of Liverpool, UK, provides a concise definition: --- > “” --- Dr. Jarman researches how ‘camp’ works, musically. See, for example: ‘[Notes on Musical Camp’](http://www.academia.edu/216198/Notes%5Fon%5Fmusical%5Fcamp), in: _The Ashgate Research Companion to Popular Musicology_, ed. Derek B. Scott. (Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing, 2009), 189-203, which cites this 1969 performance by (the late) Liberace: Unfortunately, another reference-video cited in the paper, Charlotte Church – _Don’t Rain On My Parade_ appears to be damaged, so instead, with the definition above in mind _. . ._ Here is an Improbable mini-cornucopia of possible camp / kitsch renditions which might serve as a starting point for comparisons along the lines of – Camp? Kitsch? Neither? Both? * [Deee-Lite – _Groove Is In The Heart_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzoEK545j64) * [Queen – _I Want To Break Free_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4Mc-NYPHaQ) * [Cliff Richard – _Bachelor Boy_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz9zusc7gqk) * [Pet Shop Boys – _Go West_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SezoGW%5Fz9w0) * [Rammstein – _Seemann_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShFfd9NTsk4) * [The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band – _Canyons Of Your Mind_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjJy-GD%5Fo3w) * [Boney M – _Daddy Cool_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtxlCsVKkvY) * [Bee Gees – _Stayin’ Alive_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I%5FizvAbhExY) * [Lang Lang – _Schubert Standchen (Serenade)_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arqouwfIKzU) * [Mick Jagger & David Bowie – _Dancing In The Street_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G4jnaznUoQ) * [Robbie Williams – _You Know Me_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyg3RtALnwg) * [Kenneth Williams – _The Marrow Song (Oh! What a Beauty!)_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyTPEVv-hNE) * [Katy Perry – _California Gurls (featuring Snoop Dogg)_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F57P9C4SAW4) _This_ [_article_](http://www.improbable.com/2015/02/25/camp-music-investigations/) _originally appeared on_ [_Improbable Research_](http://www.improbable.com/)_._ Science Explains the Difference Between 'Camp' and 'Kitsch' ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3735909/camp-kitsch-difference/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3735909/camp-kitsch-difference/"},"headline":"Science Explains the Difference Between 'Camp' and 'Kitsch'","datePublished":"2015-03-18T15:54:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:59:04.960Z","description":"“Camp enjoys and glorifies its own awfulness where kitsch doesn‘t realise it”","url":"https://time.com/3735909/camp-kitsch-difference/","keywords":["Science topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb78bc50275777d78/6987829755a859fdf1a86304/86002726-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Improbable Research","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/improbable-research/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb78bc50275777d78/6987829755a859fdf1a86304/86002726-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"hands-playing-piano","caption":"hands-playing-piano","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3735909/camp-kitsch-difference/","name":"Science Explains the Difference Between 'Camp' and 'Kitsch'"}}]}] ```