Monday, 13 December 2010
Task 2: Lady Gaga
I've chosen Lady Ga Ga's Bad Romance as an example that epitomises Adorno's sentiments of popular music.
The musician, Lady gaga, prides herself in being different from everyone else. One of the main selling points is how 'bizarre' and 'different' she is I know that this is more about the way she performs and dresses. However, I believe that this can still be applied to this idea of standardization in popular that Adorno introduced. In all of Lady gaga's videos, it is expected that there will be something 'weird' and 'freaky' going on. She is known for being 'different' and 'individual'
I think that this is what she is trying to convey to the listeners, the fact that she dresses so different, this makes the listener feel like, because they are listening to her music, they are therefore also a unique individual.
Adorno introduces the idea of 'Pseudo-individualisation ' which he believes is a by product of standardization. It is an illusion one's individuality when there is in fact none, only conformity. listeners believe that by listenign to Lady Gaga, perhaps they are experssing their individuality and the acceptance of her ' freakiness' proves that they are in fact different from everyone else.
this 'Pseudo-individualisation ' is not so much an unintentional by product of standardization but one that has been created. People must believe that they are in fact individual in order for them to be controlled. Standardization should be kept secret while people still believe in choosing the music of their free choice and taste. People who are buying her music must believe that they are different and in fact not part of the huge conforming society.
"Concentration and control in our culture hide themselves in their very manifestation. Unhidden they would provoke resistance. Therefore the illusion and , the a certain extent, even the reality of individual achievement must be maintained." (p.78)
However if you actually listen to the music, it is very repetitive and in fact a great example of a piece of 'standardized' and 'pre digested' music. The lyrics consists of no more than a few sentences and rest is just sounds. It is very mechanical and automatic. If a verse, or part of the chorus is taken away, the listener can easily and automatically fill that missing part in. As mentioned in Adorno's take on popular music and its standardization
eg
I want your loving
And I want your revenge
You and me could write a bad romance
(Oh-oh-oh-oh-oooh!)
I want your loving
All your love is revenge
You and me could write a bad romance
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oooh!
Oh-oh-oh-oooh-oh-oh-oh!
Caught in a bad romance
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oooh!
Oh-oh-oh-oooh-oh-oh-oh!
Caught in a bad romance
Adorno uses classical music as examples of 'serious music' to compare to the standardized popular music. He says that serious music can be characterized by the fact that ' every detail derives its musical sense from the concrete totality of the piece which, in turn, consists of the life relationship of the details and never of the mere enforcement of musical scheme'(p.74). But in popular music, the relationship of each detail in the piece is insignificant.' Every detail is substitutable; it serves its function only as a cog in a machine'( p.75) and that the listener can 'automatically' supply the framework themselves.
Task2: Adorno on popular music
Theodor W. Adorno, a member of the Frankfurt School of German thinkers, wrote an essay ' On popular music' in 1941 expressing his views on popular music through a Marxist Ideology.
Adorno attempts to clarify a difference between 'serious music' and 'popular music'. He explains that there is a fundamental characteristic of popular music which one can identify in order to differ it from 'serious music' and that is standardization. This standardization is "applied to the most general feature( of the song)to the most specific ones"(Adorno.T,1941, On Popular Music, pg 73). Adorno stresses the standardized structure to popular music by giving an example of how "best know is the rule that the chorus consists of thirty-two bars and that the range us limited to one octave and one note."(p.73). He explains that all this mass culture, however different they seem they are all ultimately the same, standardized and predictable.' This inexorable device guarantees that regardless of what aberrations occur, the hit will lead back to the same familiar experience, and nothing fundamentally novel will be introduced'(p.74).
Adorno uses classical music as examples of 'serious music' to compare to the standardized popular music. He says that serious music can be characterized by the fact that ' every detail derives its musical sense from the concrete totality of the piece which, in turn, consists of the life relationship of the details and never of the mere enforcement of musical scheme'(p.74). But in popular music, the relationship of each detail in the piece is insignificant.' Every detail is substitutable; it serves its function only as a cog in a machine'( p.75) and that the listener can 'automatically' supply the framework themselves.
Adorno goes on to talk about the 'Structural Standardization Aims at Standard Reactions' which basically points out that if everything is the same then our responses would then be the same. Notice the work 'aim' rather than 'cause'. Popular music is produced in such a standardized way in order to receive the same standardized reaction. The promoters of the music and the mechanism of the music itself leads the listeners into this 'response mechanism whilly antagonistic t the ideal of individuality in a free, liberal society'. (p.76) We live in a society where each person is longing to be an individual but how can you be individual when you are conforming to the same culture.
Adorno believes that " popular music, is composed in such a way that the process of translation of the unique into the norm is already planned and, to a certain extent, achieved within the composition itself. The composition hears for the listerner' ( p.77). He is saying that this music has already been understood and thought for the listeners reducing there creativity. It is 'pre digested' and therefore the effort needed for listening is minimum.
Adorno continues by introduces the idea of 'Pseudo-individualisation ' which he believes is a by product of standardization. It is an illusion one's individuality when there is in fact none, only conformity. However, this 'Pseudo-individualisation ' is not so much an unintentional by product but one that has been created. People must believe that they are in fact individual in order for them to be controlled. Standardization should be kept secret while people still believe in choosing the music of their free choice and taste.
"Concentration and control in our culture hide themselves in their very manifestation. Unhidden they would provoke resistance. Therefore the illusion and , the a certain extent, even the reality of individual achievement must be maintained." (p.78)
Adorno attempts to clarify a difference between 'serious music' and 'popular music'. He explains that there is a fundamental characteristic of popular music which one can identify in order to differ it from 'serious music' and that is standardization. This standardization is "applied to the most general feature( of the song)to the most specific ones"(Adorno.T,1941, On Popular Music, pg 73). Adorno stresses the standardized structure to popular music by giving an example of how "best know is the rule that the chorus consists of thirty-two bars and that the range us limited to one octave and one note."(p.73). He explains that all this mass culture, however different they seem they are all ultimately the same, standardized and predictable.' This inexorable device guarantees that regardless of what aberrations occur, the hit will lead back to the same familiar experience, and nothing fundamentally novel will be introduced'(p.74).
Adorno uses classical music as examples of 'serious music' to compare to the standardized popular music. He says that serious music can be characterized by the fact that ' every detail derives its musical sense from the concrete totality of the piece which, in turn, consists of the life relationship of the details and never of the mere enforcement of musical scheme'(p.74). But in popular music, the relationship of each detail in the piece is insignificant.' Every detail is substitutable; it serves its function only as a cog in a machine'( p.75) and that the listener can 'automatically' supply the framework themselves.
Adorno goes on to talk about the 'Structural Standardization Aims at Standard Reactions' which basically points out that if everything is the same then our responses would then be the same. Notice the work 'aim' rather than 'cause'. Popular music is produced in such a standardized way in order to receive the same standardized reaction. The promoters of the music and the mechanism of the music itself leads the listeners into this 'response mechanism whilly antagonistic t the ideal of individuality in a free, liberal society'. (p.76) We live in a society where each person is longing to be an individual but how can you be individual when you are conforming to the same culture.
Adorno believes that " popular music, is composed in such a way that the process of translation of the unique into the norm is already planned and, to a certain extent, achieved within the composition itself. The composition hears for the listerner' ( p.77). He is saying that this music has already been understood and thought for the listeners reducing there creativity. It is 'pre digested' and therefore the effort needed for listening is minimum.
Adorno continues by introduces the idea of 'Pseudo-individualisation ' which he believes is a by product of standardization. It is an illusion one's individuality when there is in fact none, only conformity. However, this 'Pseudo-individualisation ' is not so much an unintentional by product but one that has been created. People must believe that they are in fact individual in order for them to be controlled. Standardization should be kept secret while people still believe in choosing the music of their free choice and taste.
"Concentration and control in our culture hide themselves in their very manifestation. Unhidden they would provoke resistance. Therefore the illusion and , the a certain extent, even the reality of individual achievement must be maintained." (p.78)
Thursday, 2 December 2010
The Welle ( The Wave)
The last seminar discussions made me think of this film. I only watched it a few days before the seminar, which was kinda of odd but. I can't remember exactly what were were talking about but it was definitely something about situations that lead to the rise in a dictatorship regime.
Check out the trailer
I know this doesn't have anything to do with the tasks or the module but its interesting and i thought I would share.
Would definitely be worth a couple of hours. ( Richard, this will beat your 7 hour long film about Hungarian farmers )
Check out the trailer
I know this doesn't have anything to do with the tasks or the module but its interesting and i thought I would share.
Would definitely be worth a couple of hours. ( Richard, this will beat your 7 hour long film about Hungarian farmers )
Monday, 29 November 2010
Seminar 2: Culture and Popular Culture
Culture (Elite Upperclass ) and Popular Culture ( masses working classes)
eg.
Classical Vs. Pop
Shakespeare Vs. Harry Potter
Poetry Vs. singles
'culture' is seen as more important
eg.
Classical Vs. Pop
Shakespeare Vs. Harry Potter
Poetry Vs. singles
'culture' is seen as more important
The Church: An example of Panopticism in contemporary society.
An example of Panopticism in contemporary society.
Michel Foucault wrote ' Discipline and Punish', a book about disciplinary in a society focusing on the idea of Panopticism. In short, it is a concept the emerged from an architecture called the Panopticon designed by a philosopher called, Jeremy Bentham. The concept is that an individual is always in a conscious state that he is always being watched and therefore behave in the way in which he/she is expected of. An example of a contemporary panopticism is the church, both in terms of the physical building and the religion itself. The idea of religion is abstract but the ideology of that is enforced through the church, an actual physical Panopticon. The church is used as a mechanism for religion to keep their believers in a disciplinary society: 'The Panopticon is a marvelous machine which, whatever use one may which to put it to, produces homogenous effects of power'.( Foucault in Thomas, 2000, p.66) One of the effects of the panopticon is the idea that one is always under surveillance and is constantly visible causing one and society to self regulates without any physical enforcement. The Church is a great example for this as God is the ultimate surveillance. One has to believe that God can see anything an everywhere and only God can see them, never the other way round. 'He(the subject) is seen, but he does not see; he is always the subject of information, never the subject of communication(p.65). God is visible and unverifiable. We see constant reminders of the existence of God through signs such as the cross, images of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and et cetera. But we never see God himself.
"Power should be visible and unverifiable. Visible: the inmate (believer) will constantly have before his eyes, the tall outline of the central tower from which he is spied upon. Unverifiable: the inmate must never know whether he is being looked at any one moment, but he must be sure that he may always be so.”(p.65)
Referring back to the church being a perfect mechanism for a disciplinary society. In church, as it is believed to be the house of God and also, the typical architecture of churches are normally panopticon-like, one is not only visible to God but also to the priest and all the other believers. Alters are normally at the front of the church and raised so the priest can see everyone in the building. Some churches even place the alter in the middle which is even more panopticon-like. Also, there is often a large round window at the front of churches letting a lot of light it signifying the presence of God: 'Full lighting and the eye of a supervisor capture better than darkness, which ultimately protected. Visibility is a trap'(p.64) The attendees become docile bodies through self-regulation. There are certain behaviors that one immediately excludes, or include when one is in church. There is a certain dress code, everyone has to sing hymns and there is no swearing in a church. Anyone who doesn’t follow those certain rule are seen as the leper.
“Hence the major effect of the Panopticon: to induce in the inmate a state of conscious and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power. So, to arrange things that the surveillance is permanent in its effects, even if it is discontinuous in its action……..the inmates should be caught up in a power situation of which they are themselves the bearers.”(p. 65)
Sunday, 28 November 2010
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