Meaning in popular music in the context of cultural identity

The dissertation entitled "Meaning in Popular Music in the Context of Cultural Identity" is concerned with a conceptual analysis to define the concept of popular music through a descriptive approach, within the framework based on the context of cultural identity as a way to understand what a popular music and how meaning comes out of it. Part one of the first chapter includes a survey of theories concerning popular culture and mass culture. The dissertation is not aimed as a whole to focus on mass culture and popular culture and to suggest and alternative for appreciation. The need for such a survey of theories and concepts is based on both the title "popular" and their effect on the tendencies for criticism and remodeling studies on popular music. The second chapter deals with the extensive spectrum of popular music studies. Discussion on the conflicts about the popular music in its historical development is to contribute to the study of a popular music which is appropriate for such an analysis. The purpose is to understand how people give meaning on music, not what popular music is, which entails an emphasis on plurality of popular music. This perspective points out that there is no prevailing factor that determines dynamics of popular music as a whole, and thus, that one should not go after a "unique" linear development. Part two entitled "Standardization and Change in Popular Music" discusses contradictions in industrialized quality of the larger part of popular music production. The main focus develops from industrial production of music, its media dissemination and its discussion of technological determinism. The third chapter refers to sociology in which the concept of meaning has been studied extensively, to cultural studies, to cultural anthropology and to ethnomusicology for meaning in music, and modifies them for popular music analysis. Emphasizing what music means rather than what it expresses makes possible production of diverse meanings. What comes forward here is not 'text' as music itself, but the 'context' that denotes all of the conditions in determining its meaning. In the part where aesthetic, pragmatic and symbolic meaning in particular is concerned, data collected through observation and interview are used for analysis in association with theories depicted. The peculiarity of popular music that can be connected to variety of cultural identities. The forth chapter surveys theorectical background and analytical methods on how cultural identities must be conceptualized. This study suggest that cultural identity is a combination ofelements that distinguish social groups of nay scale and quality. Variety of popular musics is considered not suitable to describe on the level of social structures, and, symbol as expression in the sense of structural anlysis is suggested as analytical point that may come forward as much as structure. Popular musics as depot af symbolic meanings are as reflexive as to convey construction and transformation of identity. Consequently, this study hopes to contribute to popular music studies through an interdisciplinary approach. It presumes that meaning of popular music as perceived by its audience is a product resulting from the processes of building symbolic meaning in the context of cultural identity. Hence, it suggest both context of cultural identity and symbols produced in this context as all of the conditions contributing to determine meaning of popular music are important points for consideration of popular music studies.