Reading: Hebdige "Hegemonic Discourse"
While reading this in preparation for class, I admittedly had a very difficult time with the content of Hebdige arguments. One area that I struggled with was the language that he chose because I ended up researching many of his terms, including the title itself. I found that "hegemony" is the control of one state over another state, in other words the theory that some people in culture have more influence and control than other people. This holding or not holding of power is due to the ideologies that people hold, according to my individual analysis of Hebdige. I identified his terminology of subculture as a distraction from the desire to hold power by focusing your energy on a smaller part of society. In other words, Hebdige believes that people are aware that they are being controlled by more powerful and richer states in culture and are satisfied with that reality. In order to distract themselves from their lack of power, people create subcultures within which they can find their own power and interfere with the natural existence of power in culture.
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