Dick Hebdige

Hebdige's thesis in this text that subcultures form out of different and often oppositional reactions to the hegemonic social structure (as informed by any number of socio-political variables). As the reaction materializes into a subculture it represents danger that the hegemonic structure seeks to make "normal" in response.

this text for good reason is looked upon as must read in terms of studying culture. It certainly hold but most writers on subcultures reference Hebdige's work making it worth a least perusing. What I found most interesting was Hebdige's explanation of cultural diffusion (or perhaps more accurately cultural appropriation) of black subcultural styles in order to add weight and legitimacy to subcultures generally thought of as white (e.g. Rastas & Rude Boys influence on Punk and its children). In a time where there's a lot of discussion about cultural appropriation and the framework with which to point it out is still on somebodies anvil somewhere (as far as I am aware) this is worth sinking your teeth into.… (altro)

As scholars go, Hebdige is a pretty good music writer. Theoretically informed, but the theorizing never completely overwhelms the music or the immediate cultural context of the music. In fact, that's what he's *really* good at--letting you know how a piece of music was received when it first hit the streets of London--what it was saying, who it seemed to be talking back to, how it helped young people establish who they thought they were.

If you are looking for straight-up music history form the producer's (i.e. artist's) point of view, this is probably not your ticket.

But if you want to know what Caribbean music meant to its audience in London, this is a well-written and well-thought-out account.… (altro)

Hebdidge wrote this while the events, trends and practices he describes were all pretty recent and he tries very hard to imbue the punk and post-punk world with a social and political relevance that I'm afraid it just didn't have. Not that what Hebdidge talks about meant nothing, just it didn't really carry the deep, mainly political, significance he'd have liked it to. Style has a meaning, but we always knew it did--we just thought it was ephemeral meaning. Hebdidge doesn't manage to disabuse us of this notion.… (altro)

Hebdige's text, my own personal introduction into cultural studies, was something of an enigma to me because my initial thought, and the one that sustained itself throughout my reading (up until the penultimate page), was, "Why write a book on punk?" Because, I answered to myself, once you define what punk is and explain how to be punk, doesn't punk self-destruct?

The answer, as it turns out, is yes, but the way in which Hebdige explores the artificiality of punk and the manner in which it has become an empty amalgamation of many different, more meaningful subcultures, offers an interesting take on WHY that emptiness exists.

To that end, though this text really applies only to its cultural moment (late 1970s England), it has a certain amount of relevance to the American punk scene as it has survived today.

A concise, clear, and surprisingly complex study, well worth the brief amount of time it will take to read.… (altro)