„Biały” etos wykluczenia wczesnego rock and rolla. Przyczynek do etnicznych i klasowych uwarunkowań kultury rocka

• Authors: Rafał Szczerbakiewicz

Title variants

EN

The ‘white’ ethos of exclusion in early rock and roll. Contribution to the ethnic and class conditions of rock culture

Abstracts

EN

The foundations of pop-culture revolution in music were laid with various elements of different subcultures and traditions, resulting in a universal ethos of ethnic and class exclusion. The reception of early rock and roll was shaped by racial politics inasmuch as the unification of music was preceded by a profound social and cultural segregation. However, the ‘black’ origins of rock and roll need to be supplemented with a ‘white’ element – the socially and class-wise marginalised ‘hillbillies’. The history of pop as a homogenising language of musical emotions cannot ignore the complex identity of ‘white’ musicians and music producers from Memphis interested in ‘black’ inspirations and shaped by the perspective of their own ‘culture of scarcity’. Elvis Presley is a symptomatic example of a relationship between ‘white’ rock and roll and class exclusion. Both the musicians and audiences of early rock culture, regardless of the colour of their skin, were members of a disadvantaged group. Featuring as an aggressive prototype of a rocker on stage, Elvis inadvertently became their tribune. His radicalism echoed in the genetic mix of his songs from across a variety of genres and types. He was a mimetic model setting a direction for the emancipation of both ‘whites’ and ‘blacks’. This was the first time when teenagers disobeyed the adult culture so openly and explicitly. Presley’s song-writing also coincided with society’s melancholic reintegration with the officially repudiated traditions, helping young people move beyond the existing divides towards a greater unity.

Keywords

PL

rock and roll; subkultura hillbillie; narcystyczny mimetyzm; segregacja rasowa; wykluczenie ekonomiczne

EN

rock and roll; the ‘hillbillie’ subculture; narcissistic mimicry; racial segregation; economic exclusion

• Publisher: Narodowe Centrum Kultury
• Journal: Kultura Współczesna. Teoria. Interpretacje. Praktyka
• Year: 2021
• Volume: 114
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 16-30

Contributors

author

Rafał Szczerbakiewicz

• https://orcid.org/0000000235061669

Identifiers

DOI

10.26112/kw.2021.114.02

Biblioteka Nauki

1944363