Thornton, S. (1996). Club Cultures. Hanover: Wesleyan University Press. (intro chapters)

Notes

Club cultures are ad hoc communities of taste which contain their own hermetic logics about what is good, bad, hip and square.

Three key distinctions:

- authentic vs. phoney

- hip vs. mainstream

- underground vs. media

centers aesthetic change within a sociopoliticalcultural setting.

Mainstream/media is a strawman against which (even white, straight) club culture opposes itself.

Departs from Birmingham def. of subculture, uses it to mean the same as “underground”

Focus on 2 periods:

- evolving authenticity of records vs. performance post-WWII

- ethnography of acid houseàrave 1988-92

subcultural capital clouds class backgrounds, focus on age as relevant identifier

many of her observations re: music listening habits have changed drastically in the last decade (i.e. the use of portable music devices among different age groups, role of internet).

Argues against Birmingham assertion that subcultures “win space” for the young

- success often comes in the form of being successfully financially exploited

- preexisting social strata are often reproduced (i.e. quotas on black men at clubs)

Quotes

In club cultures, “records are the original, whereas live music has become an exercise in reproduction.” (4) – echoes gracyk on rock

“subcultural ideology implicitly gives alternative interpretations and values to young people’s, particularly young men’s, subordinate status; it re-interprets the social world.” (5)

“approving reports in mass media like tabloids or television, however, are the subcultural kiss of death.” (6)

“commercial culture and popular culture are not only inextricable in practice, but also in theory.” (9) – departure from Birmingham

“I’ve come to conceive of ‘hipness’ as a form of subcultural capital . . . [which] confers status on its owner in the eyes of the relevant beholder.” (11) – a la Bourdieu, but with media consumption habits added.