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Ta all, for the recommendations. That Trash Aesthetics thing, looks especially interesting:
Watson even claims that "all cinema is, to a greater or lesser extent, exploitation cinema" (82). This provocative conclusion points to the fact that the distinction between exploitation and the mainstream is artificial, socially constructed and theoretically disabling. Both Chibnall and Watson conclude that the interaction of historical, social and economic discourses on the one hand, and the interaction of fans and critics, on the other, exposes and challenges the limits of film theory and historiography
Which is one of the reasons I'm so interested in pop music fan culture, because the theory and historiography is so much less established, and I have a hunch that it's still at a stage where it can be, and is being disturbed.
But that, say as regards boy bands and 'housewives choice' stuff, there certainly are embedded structures (constructed, as per, by swm middle class journalism, according to the limits of their perceptions of these groups) which these groups disturb. And that are incredibly defensive, and therefore scathing about, for example, the motivations of young girls going to see Take That, or women in their 40s and 50s going to see Barry Manilow. Typically, the sexual component has to be airbrushed out, and this is what interests me.
from this review
And this:
Martin Barker and Roberta Pearson talk about the researcher's moral and ethical responsibility to the world they inhabit and the readerships they are analyzing. Barker focuses on an individual reader of the British comic 2000AD and the influence which the central character, Judge Dredd, has on him. This individual fan reads against the grain of dominant assumptions on the comic and describes himself as fascist, but Barker's position is not informed by the moral panic so common to media studies, rather he explores the "sociological" dimension and the investment of the reader in Judge Dredd.
Again, this got me to thinking about that whole 'do we judge pop music by its morals - the 'why do I want to jump up and down to 'Feels so (empty without me)''question. Although I have a horrible feeling if I go this route, I'm going to end up setting myself up for some long winter evenings with Uncle Immanuel. 
Roberta Pearson's contribution ranks high in the collection for its important and promising observations on how computer mediated communication (CMC) affects fan culture and the nature of historical memory. Her analysis of a "virtual community" (whose status is subject to legal debate), that of the Hounds of the Internet, examines the appropriation of the figure of Sherlock Holmes by fan enthusiasts and its effects on the fans' understanding of history and historical representations
is an interseting angle on some of the discussion that's been going on round here.
Cheers, Haus. This looks great. Have you read it?
Agapanthus, although I think the Sex Revolts does valuable work, I do find its constructions of the feminine and masculine, particularly as related to specific examples of music, rather oversimplified. There's something that borders on essentialism in the examination of the work of people like Tori Amos... I'd be interested in your opinions on this?
Cheers, Kat, I might take you up on that. I know for a fact that MM don't archive their own stuff. Bet they're regretting it now - but is actually an interesting indicator of the culture of the music press... But you've given me the impetus to try and get a card for the UL Library, which I might be able to do...
I've put some of my ideas up here as I want people to pull them apart/comment on them... help me out here? |
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