Club Cultures: Music, Media, and Subcultural CapitalA close look at the music and culture of dance clubs and the "rave" phenomenon.. Focusing on youth cultures that revolve around dance clubs and raves in Great Britain and the U.S., Sarah Thornton highlights the values of authenticity and hipness and explores the complex hierarchies that emerge within the domain of popular culture. She portrays club cultures as "taste cultures" brought together by micro-media like flyers and listings, transformed into self-conscious "subcultures" by such niche media as the music and style press, and sometimes recast as "movements" with the aid of such mass media as tabloid newspaper front pages. She also traces changes in the recording medium from a marginal entertainment in the 50s to the clubs and raves of the 90s. Drawing on the work of Pierre Bourdieu, Thornton coins the term "subcultural capital" to make sense of distinctions made by "cool" youth, noting particularly their disparagement of the "mainstream" against which they measure their alternative cultural worth. Well supported with case studies, readable, and innovative, Club Cultures will become a key text in cultural and media studies and in the sociology of culture. |
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so true
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A foundational text in electronic dance music studies (and club culture studies), and a turning-point in the history of the Birmingham school of subcultural studies. While some of the concepts have become outdated (in particular, scholars have mostly abandoned the concept of "subculture" and the assumptions that often came with it), her adaptation of Bourdieu's "cultural capital" to non-dominant cultural groups (i.e., "subcultural capital") is crucial. Also, her deconstruction of the "mainstream" as a discursive concept remains a reference for discussions of popular music and media.
Contents
Authenticities from Record Hops to Raves | 26 |
Exploring the Meaning of the Mainstream | 87 |
The Media Development of Subcultures | 116 |
Afterword | 163 |
| 169 | |
| 188 | |
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Common terms and phrases
acid house activities acts advertisers American argues artists audience authenticity band became become Britain British called chapter club cultures clubbers clubs and raves considered crowd dance music described disc disco discotheques discourses discussed distinction drugs early effects example experience fact format Frith genres groups ideologies important industry involved issues kinds leisure less listings live music London magazines mainstream mass means moral panic Moreover musicians night offer organizers original particular performance play political popular position practice production promote radio rave ravers reason record companies records relations Report rock scene Second selling sense singles social sound space status studies style subcultural capital tabloids taste techno television tend term tion tracks underground Union venues young youth culture
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Bibliographic information
| Title | Club Cultures: Music, Media, and Subcultural Capital Club Cultures: Music, Media and Subcultural Capital, Sarah Thornton Music / Culture Music Culture |
| Author | Sarah Thornton |
| Edition | illustrated, reprint |
| Publisher | Wesleyan University Press, 1996 |
| ISBN | 0819562971, 9780819562975 |
| Length | 191 pages |
| Subjects | › › Music / General Music / History & Criticism Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural & Social Social Science / Media Studies Social Science / Popular Culture Social Science / Sociology / Urban |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |