Write an essay of 2,500 words on the following topic: ‘With reference to two contrasting musical forms and cultural traditions, discuss the role of music in forming and transforming identities.’ Introduction This essay will explore the role of music with regards to the formation and transformation of identities within the ‘emo’ subculture contrasting it to the dance music tradition. The subculture of emo music engulfed many young adults of today’s generation including myself and those who were drawn to its spectrum and their affiliation to the music will allow for an in-depth analysis of points made by scholars which will allow me to contrast the emo subculture to that of dance music. Dance music has become increasingly popular in the current popular music scene and it offers a distinct contrast to emo music. Therefore, this provides a genuine contrast that can be anaylsed and by exploring the contrasting features of these two music forms and their cultural traditions, it will be possible to conclude the role of music in how it forms and transforms identities today.
Before delving into the meaning of emo I will first explore the definitions of culture and in particular, youth subculture, to which emo is linked with. A culture as Stuart Hall describes is a way in which groups of people “handle the raw material of their social and material existence” and also notes Marx in saying that culture is the practice of realising group life in meaningful shape and form (Marx,
(Simond 2007) These are set behaviours and the people who fit themselves to this new classification of emo adopt these, illustrating as dynamic nominalism proposes, “people spontaneously come to fit their categories”. (Hacking 2002:100) We then see the manufactured society and the people within it working together, fulfilling their new role of expressing emotions showing “classifications and our classes conspire to emerge hand in hand, each egging the other on”(Hacking 2002:106) As will be shown next classifications are not stagnant and through life individuals may choose to affiliate with another label.
For as long as mankind has walked on this earth, music has been an important part of our culture and lifestyles. Each walk of life beats to a different drum. Different cultures use music for many aspects of their lives; for religious purposes, for celebrations, for comfort, for sorrow, for relaxation, for sports, for dances, for energy, for learning, for sleeping, and for sexual experiences. Everyone uses music for something. Music connects with people and reaches them in ways that words simply cannot. Music is a representation of what feelings sound like. It expresses emotion and brings that characteristic out from within us; it tells us a story. Every generation has its’ own sound and different music styles have emerged and become
Popular music is often one of the best lenses we have through which to view our own cultural orientation. Many of the artistic and experimental shifts in popular music have mirrored changes in our own society. For instance, the emergence of Elvis Presley as a public figure would signal the start of a sexual revolution and the growth in visibility of a rebellious youth culture. Similarly, the folk and psychedelic music of the 1960s was closely entangled with the Civil Rights, anti-war and social protest movements. In this regard, we can view popular music as an artifact through which to better understand the time and place in which it is produced. In light of this, the state of popular music today may suggest troubling things about our society.
Coming from a western society, musical identity can often become very clouded. Music is usually produced for a global audience in western culture and intended to top the charts, meaning it can be difficult to find one identity in this music. Saying this doesn’t mean that music wont play a role in ones identity in western culture, on contrary music makes its way into many parts of who we are. From personal experience music has influenced who I spend time with, as a community is created with people who share musical preferences with myself. Another example comes from the University of Glasgow, they preformed a number of studies on music and identity, finding that the music you relate to from your teenage years is music that stays with you throughout your life, making it a part of your identity. Residing in a western culture, we are familiar with the
The majority of society does not believe that music is an influential component of social inequality, social deviance and social networks. When in reality music has been proven to be both beneficial and important in society to stimulate our appreciation, learning and understanding of this contemporary art. In so we must learn about the history and the role it plays in placing our understanding of human kind. Additionally, from the day music was developed in this world the artists, industry, music’s fans have changed. As we are approaching the 21st century, we tend to see music as “commodity” instead of understanding the effect it has on the history of human kind. Through this paper, I will attempt to explain the two genres on the topic of
Although some may suggest music can only serve for entertainment, music imposes a direct impact on the ideals and actions of today’s culture. In the past, the music of a culture greatly impacts the people and speaks what the people felt afraid to express. Different types of music reach different areas of the human brain, thus affecting the way people act in various ways. Music possesses such a deep impact on human brains it affects the way we act and process different situations we go through. Although music can serve entertainment purposes it affects our brains and actions deeply.
A frequent misinterpretation of youth, specifically in high school, is that the popularly conversed group of people called emos are over emotional suicide drove teenagers. Unfortunately, people are not able to rationally think through certain situations. Emo people start to be chastened and anathematized for showing their fondness for punk rock style of music known as screamo. Emo teenagers face oppression in modern-day Russia, Mexico, Iraq, and America through threats, stereotypes, and microaggressions. People who consider themselves apart of the emo community have been demonetized and undervalued for the past twenty years. The Guardian, a news publisher website, announced that emo cultures negative outlook may encourage depression, social
Emo - is a style of hardcore 80s. Originally, the word "emo" was an insulting joke punk scene, is a group deviated from the social poetry toward depression and personal texts. Then gradually it stood out the special direction. At the moment this style of music is divided into: emo, emocore, san diego hardcore (hardcore emo) emo violence , screamo, screamo jacket.
Goth and Emo tend to be used interchangeably as synonyms for one another. Usually classified under labeling people who dress in black and have a negative outlook through life, many people find it difficult to distinguish the difference between the two subcultures. Paul Hodkinson, sociologist and a goth himself, admits that goth and emo are “not easy groups to define.” Although both music-based scenes share similar characteristics including drawing to dark themes and consciously rejecting the mainstream, these two subcultures are entirely separate from one another, from its structural context to lifestyle to its significance These nuances of similarity and differences is what makes these two groups subcultures entirely of its own.
Many young people seek to use music to help themselves be more accepted in the world, so that they can be easily categorisable in the mainstream. Many girls of ages 9 13 may have an interest in a popular boy band' of the time. This is an example of how, though a girl's identity could be partly influenced by such a band, ultimately, their music and appeal is limited in scope because after four or five years the band is likely to have split up. The media promotes such a band because it targets girls who are seeking to find an identity and because these years
In today’s society there are many different subculture tendencies amongst young people, they are various and interpenetrating, but to the bigger part of them is leading the element music and above all such kind of music, that is with a history of many years, transformed in classic for many generations. But recently one very different from the entire subcultures tendencies phenomenon, called emo style, especially strongly caused a sensation. It is different not only at the way of clothing, at the type of music preferences, at the type of behavior, but it is different at the way, it understands the world and itself. It is one “sad” subculture to a great degree namely because of the way, it perceives the ambient reality.
Various people trace the beginning of ‘emo’ music to Rites of Spring, a post-hardcore band from Washington D.C. Though the band only lasted for two years - 1984-1986 - they are often referred to as the founders of emo. Formed in March 1984, Rites of Spring was “an emotionally charged brand of hardcore punk marked by introspective, personal lyrics and intense catharsis (Huey).” The lyrics were “by turns nostalgic, heartbroken, confused, and desperately searching, expanding hardcore's range of subject matter into territory rarely covered (Huey).”
Emo, short for Emotional; this group is generally constructed as a group of teenagers who desperately try to escape the social class they have been put into. Mostly an underground scene the term “Emo” began as a music genre in the mid 1980’s with a group of bands set on redefining punk rock music. They based their music on emotions and feelings and this quickly spread throughout America. This lasted until the early 2000’s when the bases turned to (some say) over-the-top emphasis on self expression and negative connotations were implied; emotion and sadness thus stereotyping the word we so often hear today. With this derogatory, implications followed. Emos began to be marginalized due to
Groups of individuals continue being misunderstood by society leading to exaggerated misconceptions of what is true about them. Emos are one of the many groups who are strictly misunderstood because of their appearance and personal preferences. They are usually portrayed as being in their teens, having long black hair, and wearing skinny jeans with a shirt of their favorite bands. While the description does apply to them, it does not always mean that every person dressed like that is considered an Emo. The simple meaning of a person who is classified as an Emo is that they are very emotional towards situations, the cause usually being a horrific past experience. Rock and metal music is the preferred music genre of the group which
Media takes all forms of shapes, from video games to music it influences people daily because we are always surrounded by it. Music especially impacts individuals because in a lot of ways it can say what we want to say in times when we as individuals cannot say it. In those times we lean on music to help us understand the hardship we are going through, or as a mechanism to face our feelings or to block them out. Interpersonal violence which is defined as an individual using power over another in the form of violence whether that be emotional, physical, or sexual. With the many forms of interpersonal violence it’s apparent that it has been expressed in the form of music for quite a while, and sometimes not always in a preventative way. By