Lecture Notes, 4/21/03:

Music: Celebration or Despair? Key Concepts

What is culture?

1. Culture is related to civilization.
Matthew Arnold:
“The revolution against taste, once begun, will land us in irreparable chaos.”

2. Anthropological view of culture
Raymond Williams – culture = lived experiences of all people

3. “Culture industries”
Frankfurt School:
Herbert Marcuse: “this illusion [that popular culture authentically speaks of the desires and pains of peoples’ experiences] has a real effect, producing satisfaction…[in] the service of the status quo.”

Celebration

Popular Culture is Polysemic, and Audiences Determine Meanings

Despair

Popular Culture = Anarchy; Frankfurt School: Culture = Conformity, False Consciousness