Dancing in Spite of Myself: Essays on Popular CultureIn Dancing in Spite of Myself, Lawrence Grossberg--well known as a pioneering figure in cultural studies--has collected essays written over the past twenty years that have also established him as one of the leading theorists of popular culture and, specifically, of rock music. Grossberg offers an original and sophisticated view of the growing power of popular culture and its increasing inseparability from contemporary structures of economic and political power and from our everyday lives. In the course of conducting this exploration into the meaning of "popularity," he investigates the nature of fandom, the social effects of rock music and youth culture, and the possibilities for understanding the history of popular texts and practices. Describing what he calls "the postmodernity of everyday life," Grossberg offers important insights into the relation of pop music to issues of postmodernity and inton the growing power of the new cultural conservatism and its relationship to "the popular." Exploring the limits of existing theories of hegemony in cultural studies, Grossberg reveals the ways in which popular culture is being mobilized in the service of economic and political struggles. In articulating his own critical practice, Grossberg surveys and challenges some of the major assumptions of popular culture studies, including notions of domination and resistance, mainstream and marginality, and authenticity and incorporation. Dancing in Spite of Myself provides an introduction to contemporary theories of popular culture and a clear statement of relationships among theories of the nature of rock music, postmodernity, and conservative hegemony. |
Contents
Replacing the Popular | 1 |
Dancing Popular Music | 27 |
and Power 1984 | 64 |
Rock Territorialization and Power 1991 | 89 |
All Dressed Up with No Place to Go 1988 | 145 |
Postmodernist Elitisms and Postmodern Struggles 1990 | 166 |
Politics Postmodernity and the Popular 1988 | 191 |
Rockin in Conservative Times | 253 |
From Media to Popular Culture to Everyday Life 1991 | 270 |
Notes | 285 |
The Indifference of Television or Mapping TVs Popular Affective | 287 |
| 293 | |
| 301 | |
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active affective alliances affective economy affective investment American appropriate argue articulated assume attempt audience become billboards capitalism cathected celebration commitment communication complex conservatism constituted constructed contemporary context contradictions contradictory counterculture critical cultural practices cultural studies cynicism deconstruct defined describe determined difference disciplined mobilization discourses dominant elitism empowering empowerment everyday example existence experience fact fans forms fragmentation frontier hegemonic hegemonic struggle historical identity ideological inauthenticity increasingly indifference late capitalism lives located logic mass media meaning merely Miami Vice national popular nihilism operating organization particular Pee Wee's Playhouse perhaps pleasure popular culture popular music position possibility postmodern postmodernist postwar produces question reality rearticulate relations relationship resistance rock and roll rock formation rock music rock's roll apparatus sense sensibility significant social formation space specific strategies structures taste television terrain texts textual theoretical theory tion tive transformation youth culture