CAT 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Counterargument, Spoonie Gee, Simon Frith
Identifying culture
● Homology: a structural parallel between a given culture/society and an expression (e.g.
dance, literature, visual art, etc.)
○ Shared values are repeated through the expression
○ Ex. heavy metal headbanging as a demonstration of power and speed
○ Ex. Aaron Copeland’s “Hoedown”
■ Ideal “American” music
Object and literature as culturally symbolic
● Objects: demonstrable products of cultural values
○ Ex. weapon-like instruments in metal produced by themes of power, violence
● Literature: texts can be “read” to identify cultural values
○ Ex. Allen Ginsburg’s poem Howl as demonstrating 1950s/60s era counterculture
■ Rejection of conservative and mainstream America in 1950s
○ Ex. opera, ballet, and orchestral music owe to the values of middle nad upper-
class society (e.g. wealth, opulence and grandeur)
Simon Frith
● British cultural theorist specializing in popular music
● Part of the “Birmingham school” of sociology
○ Focus on the mass media
○ “Post-structuralist “ thought
“Culture as process”
● Culture as an accumulation and interlocking of activities
○ What ‘we do’, not what ‘already is’
○ Sharing an experience together
● Our ability to change culture comes from action
○ People may change the structure, people are not defined by the structure
● Musical activities are the cause of culture
○ More than symbolic of cultural values
The relationship between identity (self) and culture (us)
● Social groups form groups (cultures) through individual/social interests and cultural
activity, not by values
“The Mobile Self”
● Music offers a sense of both self and others, of the subjective in the collective
○ Subjective - how we see ourselves relative to others (being a part of, or separate
from)
● How we see ourselves and understand our relationship to others can be defined or
rewritten through musical activities
What are the music related activities that give rise to culture?
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Document Summary
Homology: a structural parallel between a given culture/society and an expression (e. g. dance, literature, visual art, etc. ) Shared values are repeated through the expression. Ex. heavy metal headbanging as a demonstration of power and speed. Ex. weapon-like instruments in metal produced by themes of power, violence. Literature: texts can be read to identify cultural values. Allen ginsburg"s poem howl as demonstrating 1950s/60s era counterculture. Rejection of conservative and mainstream america in 1950s. Ex. opera, ballet, and orchestral music owe to the values of middle nad upper- class society (e. g. wealth, opulence and grandeur) British cultural theorist specializing in popular music. Part of the birmingham school of sociology. Culture as an accumulation and interlocking of activities. What we do", not what already is". Our ability to change culture comes from action. People may change the structure, people are not defined by the structure. Musical activities are the cause of culture. The relationship between identity (self) and culture (us)
