The Social Significance of Postmodern Music - Essay Example

EXAM QUESTIONS by The of the The of the School The and where it is located The Date Exam Questions Question Three There is no clear, generally accepted definition of postmodernism. It is mostly so because postmodernism is the notion used to describe several things such as a certain style, a movement, a set of economic factors, a distinctive trend in philosophical thinking, a type of politics, and a form of cultural analysis. Due to this, the identification of what comprises postmodern film, television, and music is also ambiguous. When it comes to defining and analyzing film in terms of postmodernism, it is necessary to mention that there is no massive body of critical works compared to other theoretical perspectives. Still, it is possible to define features of film industry that do show its relation to postmodernism. In accordance with Hill (2000), the first feature that allows speaking of film in terms of postmodernism is the organization of film industry. In particular, Hill mentions the development of the forms of independent production as well as the incorporation of film industry into larger conglomerates. Secondly, films tend to exemplify the themes developed in the postmodern discourse and present the depiction of the postmodern society. For instance, sci-fi films represent the postmodern idea of loss of faith. Finally, films reflect the aesthetic features of postmodernism, among which are death of grand narratives, and eclecticism (Hill, 2000). Among film, music and television, it is the latter that is believed to have the closest connection to the notion of postmodernism. In fact, very often, television is regarded as the essence of postmodernism while postmodernism, in its turn, is called “television culture”. Accordingly to Collins, television is in the center of the informational explosion, which takes place these days, and it plays the major role in it. It is really so due to the fact that television contributes to the devaluation of meaning characteristic of postmodernism as well as to the creation of artificial universe with endless simulations. What is more, television is characterized by the high levels of intertextuality. Collins writes that from its very beginning, television has depended from the representation of Hollywood films and programs from the past, which are not only rearticulated but altered as well. The references, in their turn, take part in the creation of the hyperconsciousness, which is referred to as a “hyperawareness on the part of the text itself of its cultural status, function, and history, as well as of the conditions of its circulation and reception” (Collins). Finally, television is also considered as a form of bricolage, which is the implementation of the principle of eclecticism characteristic of the postmodern culture. This means that on television the established canons are destroyed and new conventions, more diverse and heterogeneous, are adopted, which results in the production and transmission of conflicting messages. Music has been also influenced by postmodernism. First of all, it is the appearance of crossover between high and low, or serious and popular music that characterizes music of postmodernism (Scott, 2011). When postmodernism came into power, the collapse of high and low culture took place, which resulted in the emergence of new genres. Another representation of postmodern tendencies in music of the second half of the twentieth century is death of the author. This is so mostly due to the development of music technology, such as sampling, which presupposes reusing, combining, missing, restructuring, blending the parts of tracks challenging the composer’s presence (Scott, 2011). In this case, it is also possible to speak of circulation and changing of meanings and intertextuality, which are also characteristic features of the postmodern culture. As postmodernism questioned and challenged thoughts of modernism, music of postmodernism was formed as the opposition to music of modernism. One of the representations of such opposition is the advent and introduction of minimalism to classical music as the reaction and opposition to the elitism. Among the composers who worked with relatively simple textures and consonant harmonies peculiar to the minimalistic trend were Terry Riley, Bradley Johnson, Lou Harrison, George Crumb, Steve Reich and others. Apart from that, commercialization is what characterizes and defines music of postmodernism. Commercial music includes all the styles and genres that the audience can easily hear from the media. The term “commercial music” also presupposes that such kind of music brings money, which consequently, leads to capitalization of the sphere. In other words, like any other sphere, music has been impacted by consumerism and commodification. Question Four Music plays a wide range of roles in the life of the society with the entertaining role as the central and the most important one. Without music and art in general, people’s life would be filled only with work, problems, deadlines, duties, and legal procedures. In fact, without music, other types of entertainment, such as films, television, theatre etc., would be unavailable as well. Apart from that, music also performs more serious role. In particular, music tends to reveal the climate of opinion that prevails in the society and, more importantly, even instigate resistance; thus, it appears to be the tool of the development and evolution of the society. Perhaps, the most well-known kind of music, which can be regarded as a form of symbolic resistance, is African American music that slaves from Africa performed during and after their hard work. These songs conveyed the cruel attitude of slave owners towards slaves and reflected slaves’ longing for freedom. The songs of slaves, usually with improvised lyrics and melody, contained the sentiment of resistance to the planter authority expressed implicitly though due to the fact that any kind of disobedience led to cruel punishment. When Christianity came to African American communities, new themes, such as justice, salvation, independence, redemption came into focus. At the same time, in the majority of spirituals, the motifs of gaining freedom and coming home still remained central ones (Rojas and Eades, 2013). With the development of the genre of gospel and it becoming more and more popular and well-recognized, the voices of African Americans became heard at last. Among other forms of music of African Americans, such as jazz and blues, it was black gospel music that focused on the statements of the civil rights movement and was based on the rhetoric of resistance. One of the most popular and influential gospel singers was Mahalia Jackson, who was a real celebrity in the 1960s. Craig Werner, an African American historian, once said that “if Martin Luther King gave the civil rights movement a vision, gospel singer Mahalia Jackson gave it a voice” (Rojas and Eades, 2013). The music of African Americans did not only brought the ideas of resistance on the surface and raised the awareness of struggles African Americans faced but also influenced other artists, such as Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan. One more example of a kind of music as a form of symbolic resistance is reggae. The matter is that reggae originated as a “deeply political form of protest and contestation against the colonial and imperialist forces” in Jamaica (Lacey, 2005). Reggae is in the close relationship with Rastafari culture, representatives of which fought against classism and racism established by the colonial system. They were also the first to accept Arica as the source of their identity. In the 1960s and 1970s, reggae became the means to fight for freedom and against colonialism and oppressive social conditions. Lyrics of reggae music were full biblical allusions, symbols and images with the Babylon system as the most common and powerful of them. For example, lyrics of one of the most famous representative of the Rastafari culture, Bob Marley, contained criticism of the oppressive government of Jamaica at that time. Very often, reggae songs were banned, which showed that it was a form of resistance the government of Jamaica wanted to control (Lacey, 2005). Among the modern styles of music, it is rap that can be also regarded as the form of symbolic resistance. Its roots are in African-American rhyming games, which share their potential for political advocacy with rap. Rhyming games were the means to resist slavery. More specifically, they “encoded relations between African-American slaves and their white masters in a way that allowed them to pass the scrutiny of suspicious overseers” (Blanchard, 1999). In other words, rhyming games performed almost the same role as spirituals. Just like their predecessors, who used to code their messages using metaphors, modern rappers do the same. Overall, rap has developed as a form of resistance to “subjugation of working-class African-Americans in urban centers” (Blanchard, 1999). Apart from its entertaining role, rap also performs an important social role addressing political and economic issues. Very often, hip-hop is blamed for instigating violence through its lyrics. In accordance with Blanchard, hip-hop should be regarded as the consequence of social violence rather than its cause (1999). From this, it follows that rap is the form of resistance that addresses the class discrepancies created in the society of the United States and attracts attention to the idea of necessity to deal with this discrepancy to cease violence. References Blanchard, B. (1999). The social significance of rap and hip-hop culture. [online] EDGE. Available at: https://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/mediarace/socialsignificance.htm [Accessed 15 Jan. 2015]. Collins, J. (n.d.). Television and postmodernism. [online] Available at: http://academic.uprm.edu/mleonard/theorydocs/readings/JCollins.pdf [Accessed 15 Jan. 2015]. Hill, J. (2000). Film and postmodernism. In: J. Hill and P. Church Gibson, ed., Film Studies: Critical Approaches, 1st ed. Oxford University Press. Lacey, K. (2005). Rastafari, reggae, and resistance. [online] E-misterica. Available at: http://hemi.nyu.edu/journal/2_1/lacey.html [Accessed 15 Jan. 2015]. Rojas, E. and Eades, L. (2013). Sounds of resistance. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger. Scott, D. (2011). Postmodernism and music. In: S. Sim, ed., The Routledge Companion to Postmodernism, 3rd ed. Routledge. Read More