Narratives of popular music heritage and cultural identity

The affordances and constraints of popular music memories

Bibliographic Data

ID8066641
AuthorsArno Van Der Hoeven (0000-0003-3248-9069, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume21
Issue2
Pages207-222
Publication date2015-11-24
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEuropean Journal of Cultural Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1367-5494 • E-ISSN: 1460-3551
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1367549415609328
OpenAlexW2387026915
LanguageEN
Citations received19
References cited49

This article examines the relationship between popular music, memory and cultural identity. It draws upon narrative approaches to memory and identity in order to explore how engagement with music from the past can both afford and constrain identity construction. On the basis of in-depth interviews with, among others, heritage practitioners and audience members, I discuss how practices in the cultural and heritage industries affect the way in which popular music’s past is narrated. Although those narratives offer a sense of belonging and identity through their connection to experiences of time and place, there are also factors that compromise this potential. The article discusses limits to the accuracy of memories and impediments to representations of local diversity. Furthermore, I argue that copyright regulation affects which stories about popular music’s past can be told

Aesthetics · Affordance · Art · Compromise · Cultural heritage · Cultural identity · Cultural memory · Diversity (politics · Identity (music · Literature · Media studies · Narrative · Popular music · Social science · Sociology · Visual arts · Anthropology · Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation · Diverse Musicological Studies · History · Music History and Culture · Psychology

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Open DOISci-HubOpen Access