Dear Blog,
After reading Sarah's blog post about Dick Hebdige's theory on culture and ideology, I am struck by her last few sentences. Our theorist includes many theorists that we've discussed this semester and connects them in a seamless way; more importantly, Hebdige further proves Pierre Maucherey's theory about intertextuality. When we question authenticity or originality, it is interesting to throw theorists into the conversation because all of their ideas and thoughts are based off of or in response to other theorists.
On another note, I found Hebdige's thoughts on subcultures to be really thought provoking. He writes, "As soon as the original innovations which signify 'subculture' are translated into commodities and made generally available, they become frozen" (132). Again, we're bringing up this idea of originality, and maybe a lack thereof. What I understand this quote to be saying is something like this: within a culture there are new ideas/"innovations," which lead us to create subcultures and then lead consumers down a rabbit hole they cannot escape. I wonder if subcultures are created and then employers, companies, whoever, get to profit the new fascination of this subculture. The first media example that came to mind was MTV. I remember us talking about it in class, but I thinking specifically of the ways in which MTV was transformative for the music industry (a culture) and in creating a subculture: the new art of music videos. I can see how subcultures, such as music videos, are translated into money-making schemes but I haven't worked out what Hebdige means by them becoming frozen. I guess certain subcultures never really cease existing but maybe that stop being the phenomenon they once were. If we continue using the example of music videos, I wouldn't say they are incredibly popular today. Once upon a time, in the late 90s and early 2000s, music videos were all they hype and whenever you wanted to listen to a song you'd watch the corresponding video. Now, when you want to listen to a song you go to whatever streaming service you pay for and have an auditory experience. I wonder if Hebdige meant that these subcultures can become frozen in time, they lack the same evolutionary patterns as cultures which can ebb and flow with the progression of time. Music videos, in a way, exist in a prior era where we can gawk at the clothes people wore, the trends celebrities thought were in, etc. Songs and lyrics can exist throughout generations but music videos capture a time and place and they are stuck there, frozen on the Internet.
I'm not sure if that's exactly what Hebdige meant in the latter part of this quote but it's just some food for thought.
Signing off,
mg
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