This book illustrates how social meanings provided by music are experienced throughout the course of life. To this end, the author examines in depth the concepts of self, identity, socialization, and the life course itself.
Social scientists have traditionally focused on music experiences among different generations, one at a time, with an emphasis on young audiences. This book explores appreciation for and use of music as a dynamic process that does not begin when we enter adolescence, nor end when we become adults. It demonstrates the relationship between the experience of music and the experience of self as a fundamental feature of the more general relationship of the individual to society. Music completes the circle of life. The author bases his analysis on observations made through a variety of qualitative studies and methodologies, as well as his own music autobiography.
Clear and jargon free, this book is a timely application of key concepts from the everyday life sociologies for scholars and students in the sociology of music and culture and other related disciplines such as anthropology and ethnomusicology. It will be of interest for upper-division undergraduate and graduate courses in culture, music, symbolic interaction, social psychology, and qualitative research methods.
Author(s): Joseph A. Kotarba
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 158
City: London
Cover
Endorsement
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Figures
Acknowledgments
Introduction
The Self, and the Life Course
Socialization and the Self
The Self and the Life Course
The Becoming of Self
Phenomenology and the Authenticity of Self
Music in the Life Course
From Music in the Life Course to Music in the Course of Life
In the Remainder of This Book….
A Word On My Methodology
1 Early Childhood: The Music-Self as Being
Children’s Music and the Media
Children’s Culture and the Emerging Music-Self
Cross-Generation: Peppa Pig in Trouble?
Conclusion
2 Later Childhood/Early Adolescence: Experimenting With the Music-Self
Music as Play for Teenagers
Cross-Generational Self Experiences: Van Halen
All-Ages Rock Music Clubs
Cross-Generational Self Experience: Christian Rock Music
Rave Parties
Teenager Affinity for Children
“It’s Just Like TV, Mom, That’s All….”
Cross-Generational Music Experience: GWAR
Social Class Distinctions in Music as Play
3 Later Adolescence and the Becoming of the Music-Self
The Online Discussion of Illegal Club Drugs
Music and Drug Discourse
Drug and Music Connoisseurs
Conclusion
4 Becoming of the Music-Self in Early Adulthood
The Concern for Authenticity in Music Among Young Adults
Authentic Bands
Rappers
The Impact of Music On Emerging Selfs
The Parental Self
The Working Music-Self: The Biomedical Research Scientist
The Self-Identity of the Scientist
Science and Music
Conclusion
5 Adulthood: “Still Becoming”
Authenticity in Adulthood: Seeking Honesty for the Music-Self
The Experienced Parental Self
The Normalized E-Self
The Cautiously Political Self
The Sociable Self
Cross-Generation Case Study: Established Latinx Music Scenes
Cross-Generation Case Study: Blues Music
The Blues Heritage in Houston and Its Impact On Rock ’n’ Roll Culture
Ezra Charles
Carolyn Wonderland
Discussion
Cross Generation: Blues Societies
Cross-Generation: Black Men, Black Voices
Conclusion
6 International Experiences of the Adult Music-Self
Cross-Generations: Poland
A Brief History of Popular Music in Poland
The Birth of the “Teenager” in Poland
The Role of Music Videos in Polish Popular Culture
Traditional Polish Videos
Modern Polish Videos
Postmodern Polish Videos
Return to Traditions
Cross-Generation: Adolescent and Adult Music in Poland
Cross Generation: Sweden… and More Beatles!
Music in and for the Family
More Beatles
Comparing Swedish and American Music Experiences in the 1960s
The Study
War
Social Policy
Religion
Music Education
Pirate Radio
The Beatles
Ethnicity
Key Finding
7 The Early Elders’ Music-Self as “Been There”
Susanna’s Kitchen
Patriotic Events
The Believing Self
John Michael Talbot
Other Music Experiences Among the Early Elders
8 Community as the Vortex for Music and the Self
Saturday Evening in Reston, Virginia
Music in the Community
The Band
Beatles for Families
Beatles for Retired Couples
Beatles for Senior Citizens
9 Compassion for Later Elders and Music at the End of Life: The Music-Self Comes Full Circle
The Later Elder as a Situational Phenomenon
Music as an Act of Compassion
The Easter Parade During COVID-19
A Shared Conversation
Sharing Music Together: Andrea Bocelli
Music Compassion Through the Window
Music as a Clinical Intervention: The Case of Dementia
Music Compassion and Intervention Through Music and Dance
Case Studies: Music in Everyday Life With Dementia
Music at End of Life
Conclusion
References
Index
