Ethnography and Popular Music Studies

Author(s): Sara Cohen

Source: Popular Music, Vol. 12, No. 2 (May, 1993), pp. 123-138
Published by: Cambridge University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/931294
Accessed: 19-08-2015 14:19 UTC

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/
info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content
in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship.
For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Cambridge University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Popular Music.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 139.184.14.159 on Wed, 19 Aug 2015 14:19:13 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
PopularMusic (1993) Volume 12/2.Copyright( 1993 CambridgeUniversityPress

Ethnographyand popular music

studies
SARA COHEN

Simon Frith(1982) once bemoaned the factthat students would rathersit in the
libraryand studypopular music (mainlypunk) in termsof the appropriatecultural
theory,than conduct ethnographicresearch which would treatpopular music as
social practiceand process. Ten years later the literatureon popular music is still
lacking in ethnography.
The term'ethnography'generallyrefersto data derived fromdirectobserva-
tion of behaviour in a particularsociety. It was a research method initiallydevel-
oped within social anthropology to tackle the problems of studying 'other'
cultures,but it has become more popular across a wide varietyof disciplines,and
the range of methods and termsused to discuss researchof an ethnographictype
has become ratherbroad.' Consequently, much confusion surrounds ethnogra-
phy, which is why this article defines the term in a narrower,and again more
anthropological sense. Using case-studies, the potential of an ethnographic
approach forthe study of popular music will be explored.
Whilst significantadvances have been made in our understandingof issues
surroundingpopular music productionand consumption,it will be suggested that
particularemphases withinpopular music studies (e.g. upon music as commodity,
media, capital and technology),and a reliance upon theoreticalmodels abstracted
fromempiricaldata, and upon statistical,textualand journalisticsources, needs to
be balanced by a more ethnographicapproach. Ideally, thatapproach should focus
upon social relationships,emphasising music as social practice and process. It
should also be comparative and holistic; historicaland dialogical; reflexiveand
policy-oriented.It should emphasise, among otherthings,the dynamiccomplexi-
ties of situationswithinwhich abstractconcepts and models are embedded, and
which theyoftensimplifyor obscure. The social, culturaland historicalspecificity
of events, activities,relationshipsand discourses should also be highlighted.

The anthropologicaluse of ethnography

Withinanthropologythere has been much debate on ethnography,especially its
status as a formof knowledge, and the ethnographerhas been variouslydefined.2
Generally speaking, ethnographyin the anthropologicalsense is the description
and interpretationof a way of life (or 'culture'). It involves a 'microsociological'
focusupon the beliefs,values, ritualsand generalpatternsofbehaviour underlying
social relationshipsor networks,hence anthropologists'concern with concepts of
relatedness embodied in terms such as 'kinship', 'ethnicity','identity','society',

123

This content downloaded from 139.184.14.159 on Wed, 19 Aug 2015 14:19:13 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
124 SaraCohen

'culture'and 'community'.When analysingethnography,a comparativeapproach

is also important,comparing differentgroups or cultures and how they might
classify people in differentways and organise and conceptualise relationships
differently. Anthropologyhas also tended to be 'holistic'in thatsocial relationships
and activitiesare seen to have differentdimensions: cultural,political,economic.
The co-existenceof these is examined in specificcontexts,but they may also be
situatedwithina broaderand more historicalcontextin orderto look, forexample,
at the interrelationshipof political, economic and cultural systems in particular
times and places.
Ideally, ethnography involves a lengthy period of intimate study and
residence with a particulargroup of people, knowledge of the spoken language,
and the employmentof a wide range of observationaltechniques, includingpro-
longed face-to-face contactswithmembersof the local group, directparticipationin
some of that group's activities,and a greateremphasis on intensive work with
informantsthan on the use of documentaryand surveydata. Basic to the conduct
of research, therefore,is the development of relationships 'in the field'. Thus
ethnographydepends upon a complex interactionbetween the researcher and
those who are researched. The anthropologistaims to learn the culture or sub-
culturethey are studyingand come to interpretor experienceit in the same way
that those involved in that culturedo, that is, to discover the way in which their
social world or realityis constructed,and how particularevents acquire meaning
forthem in particularsituations.
Early anthropologists(for example, Mead and Malinowski) tended to view
themselvesas objectiveand neutralobservers,to claim experientialauthorityand
detachment,and to presenttheirethnographictextas ifitwere an interpretation of
the natives' pointofview. Lateranthropologists(such as Geertzand Sperber)acted
readingexperienceas ifit were a textembodying'unruly
like 'literaryinterpreters',
meanings', but leaving out of the 'final, representativetext' any account of the
actual researchprocess and the relationshipsinvolved. Anthropologistshave con-
sistentlyemphasised that, by coming to understand 'another' culture through
ethnographicresearch,the researchercan acquire a certainobjectivitynot available
to membersof thatculturewho live withinit and mightthereforebe unconscious
of some of its distinctivefundamentalassumptions. But the 'objective', 'unrecipro-
cal' stance of anthropologistshas rightlybeen questioned, and the dichotomiesof
them and us, self and other, objective and subjective, challenged in favour of a
more negotiated, reflexive,discursive or intersubjectivemodel of ethnographic
practice.Such a model mightalso be referredto as dialogical,in thatthe researcher
visiting'the field' entersa dialogue already in process, wherebyrelationshipsand
practicesare shaped by social context,and are partofan ongoing historicalconver-
sation (see Lipsitz 1989).
The ethnographerhas come to be recognised as an active participantin the
researchprocess whose presence affectssituations'in the field'. Consequently,the
ethnographictextbecomes a version of realitycreated or concoctedby the anthro-
pologist in collaborationwith her informants.Culture has come to be seen less as
something 'out there' to be studied, and more as something'invented' (Wagner
1975) or 'manufactured,both by informantsand anthropologistsand, in the pro-
cess, as contested' (Caplan 1992, p. 69). Relations 'in the field' have thus come
under closer scrutiny.Whilst it is importantthat ethnographersrecognise and
respectthe existenceand legitimacyof different perspectivesand ways of knowing

This content downloaded from 139.184.14.159 on Wed, 19 Aug 2015 14:19:13 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 andpopular
Ethnography musicstudies 125
which are historicallyand culturallyspecific,theyshould at the same timeadopt a
criticalperspective,recognisingthe power relationsembedded withinthe research
situation, and those formsof belief or perspectives that limitor restricthuman
freedom.
'Western' anthropologistshave only relativelyrecentlybegun to conduct
research'at home' withintheirown societiesand cultures.They are stillcommonly
typifiedas seekingout an exotic'other',and withinand outside Britishand Ameri-
can anthropologytherehas been much debate about the applicabilityof anthropo-
logical methods to the study of Westernindustrialsociety. Many have raised the
issue of objectivitytogetherwith new problemsregardingrelationsin the fieldand
linked issues of ethics, accountability,politics and so on. Lawrence Grossberg
(1989), forexample, argues thatthe appropriationof ethnographyin the anthropo-
logical sense into the field of culturalstudies must involve a rearticulationof the
ethnographicprojectand practice.He suggests thatanthropology'sfocusupon the
'other', its boundaries between us and them,bear littlerelationto the situationof
ethnographywithinthe contemporaryadvanced industrialworld of mass media,
where the relationshipbetween the strangeand the familiaris increasinglydifficult
to define,and it is increasinglydifficultto locate and identifyconsistent,isolable
communitiesor bodies of textsand practiceswhich can be taken as constitutiveof
the cultureor the community.
But anthropologycannot be characterisedas the study of isolable communi-
ties (how many such communitiesexist?).Anthropologistshave a long established
traditionof studyingsocial networksor interestgroups in theirinteractionwith
other social collectivitieswithin urban settings. Furthermore,many anthropo-
logists deliberatelyadopt a position of naivete and distance when writingeth-
nographies in order to make the familiarseem strange; and for some time now
anthropologistshave emphasised the relationalcharacterof the Other, thatis 'the
Other, not as a self-enclosedor independent object of study, but, rather,as an
object that can be defined only in its relation to the researcher' (Grenier and
Gilbault 1990, p. 393).3 Hence strangeness,familiarity, othernessare shiftingcate-
gories. A situationor friendcan be both strange and familiarconcurrentlyor at
differenttimes and in differentcontexts,and one can alter perspective,engaging
with and distancingoneself fromrelationshipsand activitiesaround one. A musi-
cal performancein an Africanvillage would certainlybe verydifferent froma rock
gig in Liverpool, yet therewill also be similarities,and both require knowledge of
the specificsocial contextin order to understand them. Likewise, contrastsand
comparisonscould be made between a rockgig and a classical concertin Liverpool,
and in all situationspeople tend to act in surprisingor contradictory,as well as
predictableways.
Ethnographyin the anthropologicalsense has its limitations.It is small-scale
and face-to-face,and this raises the problemof typicality- whetherthe small part
studied can represent the whole - and the problem of incorporatingdetailed
descriptionwhich may seem banal or tedious. It also depends upon building up
good relations with people and gaining access to their lives, and it can conse-
quentlyrequireconsiderableinvestmentof timeand emotion. For many, it may be
easier not to bother, but whilst an anthropologicalapproach cannot simply be
transferredor added on to that of other disciplines, culturaland popular music
studies could learn much fromcurrenttheoriesand debates withinanthropology,
and vice versa.

This content downloaded from 139.184.14.159 on Wed, 19 Aug 2015 14:19:13 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
126 SaraCohen

Popular music studies

Much important,innovativeand excitingwork has been, and is being, conducted
in relation to popular music. The following few paragraphs select only a few
aspects ofjust some ofthe workon rockand pop, not to criticise,but to indicatethe
potentialforan alternativeor complementaryethnographicperspective.It is com-
mon, forexample, forjournalisticor statisticalsources to be used in the study of
rock music, though theyare notoriouslyunreliableand embody institutionalcon-
straintsand manipulations (for instance, of magazines, record companies and
radio stations;see Middleton 1990,p. 5). Frith(1982) has pointed out thata reliance
upon such sources can lead to an acceptance of the ideology of rocktheypromote.
That ideology has influenced the choice of focus within popular music
studies, leading, forexample, to a concentrationupon the small minorityof pro-
fessional performersand 'stars', ratherthan the vast majorityof amateur music-
makers. Middleton (1990, pp. 5-6), furthermore, refersto the privilegingof the
of
category youth within popular music studies, and the neglect of older age
groups who may use different musics and in differentways. It should be added
thatit is stilloverwhelminglymaleyouth (particularlyof the workingclass) which
has been privileged,and thatthe focus on youthhas oftenbeen accompanied by a
concern with fast-changingcommodities and trends which downplays the ele-
mentsof continuitythatmightalso be present.Middleton (ibid.)points out thatthe
focus upon commoditiesand theirexchange has led to a neglectof the role of such
commoditiesin culturalpracticeor 'way of life',and of non-commodity-form musi-
cal practice.
Much researchon rock has been more influencedby linguistic,semioticand
musicological traditionsthan by the social sciences, and has relied upon textual
sources and analysis. Tagg and Negus (1992) have noted thatmusicologistsstudy-
ing popular music stilltend to ignoresocial context.Hence lyricaland musical texts
may be deconstructedand their 'meaning' asserted, but the importantquestion
'meaning forwhom?' is oftenneglected.4Rock music is also frequentlyanalysed in
terms of the music industryand its networks of production, distributionand
marketing,and in termsof technology,mass communicationand global culture
and capital. The latter are commonly depicted as acting upon individuals like
'forces'or 'flows', and as comprisingvarious 'levels' (global and local, forexample,
or microand macro) which seem to take on an existenceof theirown.
There has, forexample, been a focus upon global processes of homogenisa-
tion or diversificationand the fearsor resistancestheyprovoke, the conditionsof
fragmentation,placelessness and timelessness they give rise to (McLuhan 1967;
Myerowitz1985; Berland 1988; Wallis and Malm 1984). Theories of musical 'theft'
describe new culturaland aestheticattitudes,and new technologies,which have
supposedly resultedin the plunderingof different culturesor eras and the bringing
of
together rhythms, sounds and images from a multitude of diverse sources
'which oftenbear no apparent "natural" historicalor geographicalrelationto each
other' (Hebdige 1988). 'Musical and cultural styles ripped out of other contexts,
stripped of theirinitialreferents,circulatein such a manner that they represent
nothingotherthan theirown transitorypresence', wroteChambers (1985); this,he
asserts, signifiesthe end of the logic of origins and the romantic 'moment of
authenticity'(1985, p. 199).

This content downloaded from 139.184.14.159 on Wed, 19 Aug 2015 14:19:13 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 and popularmusicstudies
Ethnography 127

Reynoldscelebrateswhat he terms'schizoid music', which representsthe loss

of a sense of past and future,spurns narrativeand takes us 'nowhere ... no place'
(1990, pp. 138-9). Hip hop, forexample, is described as a 'perpetual now', 'shal-
low, an array of surfaces', representing'an end of historyand an end of geo-
graphy'. Meanwhile, Grossberg(1984, p. 231) suggests thatrock'n'rollrepresents
'modes of survivalwithinthe post-modernworld'. It reflectsthe aestheticof post-
modern practicewith its 'emphasis on discontinuity,fragmentation and rupture;a
denial of depth and a subsequent emphasis on the materialityof surfaces'. To
anthropologistsconcerned with classificationand differenceinvolving the con-
structionof identityand meaning, this focus upon a blurringof levels and cate-
gories, of places, spaces, times and identities, might seem rather naive. Such
assertions,based upon littleinformation about theways in whichpeople actuallyuse
and value thismusic,have been challengedby moreethnographicworkbased upon
individuals and social groups,and upon theirpractices,meanings and discourse at
a 'micro' level (see Lipsitz 1989; Porcello 1991; Cohen forthcominga and b).
Withinpopular music studies,and even more withinculturalstudiesgenerally,
there has been a recentshiftin perspectivefromthe study of the global to that
of the local, and from work on production to consideration of consumption,
subjectivityand identityin the contextof everydaylife(Morley 1986; Csikszentmi-
halyi and Rochberg-Halton1981; De Certeau 1980). Yet although some of this
researchhas been referredto as 'ethnography',it is usually not ethnographyin the
anthropological sense. Many studies rely upon preformulatedquestionnaires,
surveys,autobiographiesor unstructuredinterviewswhich study people outside
their usual social, spatial and temporal context. Their discourse is consequently
disconnected fromtheirday-to-dayactivities,relationshipsand experiences (and
obviously, what people say they do oftendiffersfromwhat they actually do, or
fromwhat theythinkthey do).5
Frith(1982) pointed out ten years ago that 'verylittlehas been writtenabout
howcommercialdecisions are reached. We stilldon't know much about howmusi-
cians make their musical choices, how they define their social role, how they
handle its contradictions'(Frith1982, p. 9). Our knowledge of such issues may
have increased slightly,but it is still the case that assumptions are made about
popular music practicesand processes supported by littleempiricalevidence.

Popular music ethnography

An ethnographicapproach to the study of popular music, used alongside other
methods (textualdecoding, statisticalanalysis etc.), would emphasise thatpopular
music is something created, used and interpretedby differentindividuals and
groups. It is human activityinvolvingsocial relationships,identitiesand collective
practices. Ruth Finnegan's The HiddenMusicians(1989), forexample, is about the
hithertoignored amateur or 'grassroots' musicians in Milton Keynes, and it des-
cribes the extent,varietyand richnessof theirmusic-making.6
The focus upon people and theirmusical practicesand processes ratherthan
upon structures,textsor products, illuminatesthe ways in which music is used
and the importantrole that it plays in everyday life and in society generally. It
contrastswith orthodox sociological accounts of media effects,'passive' leisure,
class characteristics,and so on. Finnegan considers the types of people involved

This content downloaded from 139.184.14.159 on Wed, 19 Aug 2015 14:19:13 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
128 Sara Cohen

withmusic in MiltonKeynes and findsa greatmixture;thisquestions assumptions

about musical practicebased upon class, academic ability,even age.
She showshow difficult
itis empirically
to drawstraightlinesbetweensocialcharacteristics
and musicalactivity.
Theusualsocialindicatorsofmusicaltastes(class,age, gender)arenot
goodindicatorsofmembership ofmusicalworlds... Music,inshort,is notsimplyused as a
markerof existingsocial differences(Finnegan's work implicitlychallenges Pierre
Bourdieu'scrudermappingof the culturalterrain),perhapsbecause it is (uniquely?)a
symbolicpracticewhichis open to contradictory
validations.(Frith1991,pp. 200-1)

Finnegan uses the termmusical 'worlds', taken fromBecker'sArt Worlds(1982), to

describe the differentmusical styles she discusses. The termemphasises the fact
thateach styleoutlasts the comingand going of the individuals who participatein
it; and it embodies 'the differingand complex cultures of ideas and practice'
incorporatedin each style,the shared social conventions,'values ... understand-
ings and practices,modes of conventionsand distribution'of those involved, and
the 'social organisationof theircollectiveactivities'(Finnegan 1989, p. 32). Each
world is treatedas 'valid in itself,presentedat least in partfromthe viewpointofits
participants',an approach 'necessary forunderstandingthe conventionsin these
differing worlds in theirown terms',and seeing each 'as of equal authenticitywith
others' (ibid.).
Finnegan brieflydescribes the characteristicsof each style,asking 'the same
questions of all musics (fromclassical to punk) and all musicians (fromchurch
choirsto heavy metalbands)' (Frith1991,p. 200). She then discusses contrastsand
comparisons between styles in relation to musical learning, creativity,perform-
ance, and institutionaland organisationalsupport. Consequently, Finnegan chal-
lenges 'the usual distinctionsof high and low culture'(ibid.),depictingrockmusic,
forexample, not as a particularlyyouthfulor glamorouscommercialactivity,but as
one particular musical world sharing similar organisation, administrativeand
musical conventionsand constraintswith otherworlds (classical, folk,jazz, etc.).
Finnegan's comparativeapproach thus highlightsthe factthat these are not
enclosed worlds but overlapping ones, with shiftingboundaries that extend
beyond local boundaries in terms of institutions,organisations,ideology, tradi-
tions, festivalsand publications. This, in addition to the factthat music is a part-
timeactivityformost people, involvingvaryingdegrees ofindividualparticipation,
leads Finnegan to explorealternativetermswhich mightbe more appropriatethan
'worlds' in describinglocal music-making.She rejectstermssuch as 'community',
'interestgroup' and 'network'in favourof musical 'pathways', which are depicted
as a series of known and regularroutesthatpeople choose to keep open, maintain,
and extendthroughtheiractivity,hard workand commitment.Some pathwaysare
narrow and individual, others are wider, well-troddenand more familiar.They
overlap and intersect,and people leave and returnto them. They are only some of
the many pathways in people's lives. Hence the metaphorof the pathway places
more emphasis upon the flowand fluxofbehaviour,the practicesand processes of
music-making.
People choose music as a pathway, suggests Finnegan, because it provides a
contextforactivitiesand relationships,and a means forthe expressionof personal
and collectiveidentityand value; and because itallows forthe meaningfulstructur-
ing of theiractions in time and space. An example of this is the way in which we
create time by markingintervalsin social life which are framedby music (wed-
dings, Christmas,etc.). Finnegan thus shiftsattentionaway fromthe more familiar

This content downloaded from 139.184.14.159 on Wed, 19 Aug 2015 14:19:13 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 and popularmusicstudies
Ethnography 129
view ofmusic as a linearprogressionmarkedby changes in musical style,to a more
cyclicalview of time based around lifecycle and calendar rituals. In doing so she
challenges the familiarbut facileassumption that industrialsocieties are rational,
clock-dominated,and less ritualisedthan non-industrialsocieties. A comparative
approach (whether comparing musical genres, concepts, cultures, or people in
relationto the structureof theirsociety)can thus address differencesand similari-
ties in the use and interpretationofmusic (by differentindividuals, groups, institu-
tions, media, etc.) within a particularsociety,as well as the ways in which it is
conceptualised by different societies (forexample, musicianshipas somethingpas-
sed on withincertainlineages, as somethingthatcan be taught,as somethingthat
only men do, etc.).
In a study of rockbands in Liverpool (1991a) I too focused upon 'grassroots'
music-makingand music as social practice and process. I spent a year living in
Liverpool gettingto know musicians and theirsocial networks,and participating
in, and observing, their social activities. The final text reflectedan attempt to
interpretand introducea certainway of life,thatof a particulartype of rockband,
to a readership thatwould be largelyunfamiliarwith such a culture(a readership
thatincluded academics at OxfordUniversitywhere I was based and whose inter-
est, support and approval I was reliantupon). The text concentratedupon two
specificbands. It looked at particularhurdles theyconfrontedin theirstrugglefor
success (such as the ideological opposition between creativityand commerce);and
at the ways in which various tensions within the bands were dealt with (for
instance,throughthe exclusion of women fromthe bands' activities).
During more recentresearchon popular music I have triedto build upon that
study, and address some of its weaknesses and absences, by adopting a more
historical,comparativeand reflexiveperspective,and exploringmore 'gendered'
and 'proactive' research methods. That research continues to study musicians in
the context of specific social networks. Following Finnegan, a broad varietyof
music genres is incorporated,but more emphasis is placed upon theirhistorical
dimension, and upon the role of music within households, kinship groups and
wider social collectivitiesdefined according to factorssuch as religion,ethnicity
and class. Much of the researchinvolves face-to-faceinterviews,oral historyand
archivalresearch,but it is ethnographicin thatinterviewsand materialsare contex-
tualised in timeand space throughobservationofrelationshipsand participationin
relatedactivities.
One of the main themes of the researchis the constructionof the concept of
localitythroughmusic on the part of different individuals, institutionsand social
collectivities.The resultingrepresentationsof local music practicesand sounds are
compared and contrastedand related to the social, politicaland economic agendas
of those promotingthem. The term'locality'(which, like 'identity',is rathervague
and all-encompassing)is used to referto a sense of communityor affinity that is
linked to notions of place and to the social constructionof spatial boundaries.
The project is perhaps best illustratedthroughwork in progress on Jews in
Liverpool. There have been several waves of Jewish immigrationto Liverpool,
most notably,perhaps, the influxof Jews fromEastern Europe during the latter
part of the nineteenth century. The rapid economic, social and geographical
mobilityof these immigrantsafterarrival in Liverpool led to shifts:frombeing
Russian or Polish Jews to being Anglo Jews; fromnotions of a Jewish'quarter' to
notions of a Jewish 'district';fromthe split between established and immigrant

This content downloaded from 139.184.14.159 on Wed, 19 Aug 2015 14:19:13 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
130 Sara Cohen

Jewsto notions of a single Jewish'community'.Today, conceptualisationsof that

'community'tend to be strong,particularlyin view of the population's social and
economic homogeneity,and its rapidly dwindling numbers.7This cohesiveness
has come about partly because of the emphasis upon assimilation and social
mobilitywhich is characteristicof BritishJews generally. It thus reflectsa dual
concern with being both English and Jewish, the latter drawing loyalties and
networksof communicationwell outside of particulardistrictsand cities.
The shiftin the situation,experiencesand attitudesof Jewsin Liverpool can
be examined in the contextof the modern entertainmentindustriesin Britain,the
beginningsof which coincided with immigrationfromEastern Europe and attrac-
ted many enterprisingimmigrants. The access and opportunities offered by
popular or 'low' culturehelped many Jewsto advance economically,but the con-
cern with social advancement transformedthe class position of many Jews, and
notions of 'community'and Jewishnessbecame more commonlydefined through
so-called 'high' culture. Biographical details on several Jewish people from
Liverpool involved in entertainmentillustratethis tension between accessibility
and respectability.
The ethnographic research I am conducting on Liverpool Jews today
examines their social relationships, activities and networks in relation to this
historicalcontext,and focuses upon theirconcepts of locality. Individuals inter-
viewed have differingdegrees of loyaltyto, or affinitywith, Liverpool; differing
conceptualisations of the city; and differingways of characterisingits music,
although this is usually done in opposition to the music of other cities such as
London and Manchester. These differencesreflectcontrastsin age, gender and
education, and in the type of musical activitiesthe individuals are involved with.
At the same time, however, their conflictingexperiences clearly have wider
resonance in the contextof Jewsand Jewishness.
Kevin and Simon, forexample, are both involved withrockmusic, the former
as a manager, the latteras a producer,performerand songwriter.They come from
similarbackgrounds, and they are unusual in that these days few Jews living in
Liverpoolaim fora careerin popular music. Both resistedthe pressureto join their
father'sbusiness in orderto fulfilthisaim, yetboth were influencedby familyand
local Jewish role models in their chosen careers. In addition, both perceive
Liverpool and its music as creativevis-a-visother places (especially London). For
Kevin that creativityis about an entrepreneurialadventurousness that dis-
tinguisheshim and his social networkin Liverpool fromhis friendsin London who
are trainingto be accountants and are concerned with settlingdown and with
stability.For Simon, that creativityis about a rathermore general and defiant
assertionof difference,whetherthatmeans differencefromLondon and Manches-
ter,or fromcommercialtrends. Hence the two men differin that Simon opposes
creativitywith commerce,whilstKevin links the two.
Kevin seems the least committedto the cityand its fortunes,and he is the
most educated and travelledof the two, whilstSimon has a wife and child which
mightmake him feelmore rooted. In addition,whilstKevin sees himselfas partof
a Jewish'community',and is open about his Jewishness,Simon sees himselfas
outside thatcommunity.He is regardedby Kevin as a mysterious,ratherintriguing
person who has rejectedhis Jewishnessand 'removed' himself.Simon's depiction
of the Liverpool attitude,particularlywith regard to music, as a rejectionof the

This content downloaded from 139.184.14.159 on Wed, 19 Aug 2015 14:19:13 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 and popularmusicstudies
Ethnography 131

mainstream,doing thingsin one's own unique way, mightthus have some connec-
tion with his own personal experiencesgrowingup in Liverpool's Jewishdistrict.
So whilst Kevin presentshis involvementwith music in a way that seems to
complementthe social and economic background and concerns of his familyand
'community',Simon presentshis experiencesas being outside them,althoughhe is
neverthelessclearlylinked to them in various ways (forexample, in his romanti-
cisation of Jewish heritage and traditionexpressed through his account of his
grandfather,and in the way in which he relates what he sees as characteristicsof
Liverpool's Jewishcommunity- its 'self consciousness' and 'cliqueyness' or isola-
tion forexample - to his own personality).At the same time,both identifythem-
selves and theirattitudeswith Liverpool as a city.
Representations of locality through music by individuals like Kevin and
Simon contrastwith each other,and furtherethnographicstudy should highlight
ways in which each of themmightportraylocalitydifferently accordingto different
situations involving differentsets of people and relationships. Their represen-
tations also differfrom those promoted by institutions.As far as numerous
organisationsin Liverpool are concerned, popular music is currentlyhigh on the
agenda, yet spokespersons for the Jewish'community'do not seem particularly
concernedto representtheircommunityin ways which connectit to popular music
(largely for reasons discussed earlier, to do with class and notions of respect-
ability). It would be illuminatingto go a stage furtherand compare and contrast
different social or 'ethnic'collectivitiesin Liverpooland theirrepresentativeinstitu-
tions. They are likelyto constructthe concept of localitythroughmusic in different
ways, for differentreasons, using differentsources and channels of access and
influence.
Elsewhere (Cohen forthcominga) I have writtenabout the way in which the
so-called Liverpool Sound is being described and discussed by various people
livingin the city.The discussions highlightthe discourses ofplace and authenticity
surrounding the notion of an identifiableLiverpool Sound. These discourses
involve a series of oppositions, whereby Liverpool and its music are contrasted
with London and Manchester, and distinctionsare made with regard to music
across the Merseyside region which revolve around issues such as class, religion
and ethnicity.The music of Liverpool's North End is contrastedwith that of its
South End, for example; and music from Black and catholic districtsis dis-
tinguishedfromthatof white or protestantones.
Hence throughmusic (including its related sounds, role models, anthems,
stereotypesand so on) households, kinshipgroups and wider sets of relationships
act as transmitters of collectiverepresentationsof nation, city,district,community
and family,and of collective conceptualisations of place, home and belonging.
Concepts of territoriality, boundaries and relatedness are constructedthrough
interactionsbetween people. The focus should thus be upon individuals and their
social relationshipsand networks,networksthat intersectwith different'groups'
or 'subcultures' (which, like Finnegan's 'worlds', are obviously not bounded enti-
ties), and revolve around collectiveidentitiesand assertionsof difference.
This focushighlightsthe ways in which such concepts shiftand conflict,even
amongsta relativelyhomogenous group, being influencedby factorssuch as genre
and generation,"as well as by ethnicity,class and the relationsof power involved.
Jewishindividuals in Liverpool are influencedby different social networks,includ-

This content downloaded from 139.184.14.159 on Wed, 19 Aug 2015 14:19:13 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
132 SaraCohen

ing those of kinship which may be bound up with a historyof geographical and
social mobility,and with a tension between assimilation and distinctiveness
(Englishness and Jewishness). Accordingly,theirconcepts of localitymay reflect
transformations in class position, reflectingand addressing relationsof power in
local, regional,national and internationalcontexts.
Identityshould thus be conceived 'not as a boundary to be maintainedbut as
a nexus of relationsand transactionsactivelyengaging a subject' (Clifford1988, p.
72). Considered ethnographically,identityis relationaland conjunctural.A sense
of distinctivenessand authenticityis constructedvis-a-visothers. Essences exist
only as 'a political, culturalinvention,a local tactic' (ibid., p. 12). An authentic
'Liverpool Sound', forexample, is constructedin termsof a series of oppositions
(technological/acoustic, synthesised/raw,contrived/authentic) in which Liverpool
is principallyopposed to Manchester. Hence meaning does not reside within
musical texts, but depends upon the interactionbetween individuals and texts.
or
Identity(like locality tradition) is therefore
not a fixed essence to be assem-
bled and possessed, or somethinginfluencedby abstractforcesor technologies.
Rather,identityis always in the process of being achieved, negotiated,invented,
symbolised,ofbecoming,and is itselfa source of social change (see Strathern1992;
Clifford1988, p. 289). The emphasis in culturaland popular music studies upon a
macro 'level', and upon conceptssuch as 'globalisation','the West', or 'culture'and
'society', which appear to exist as objectiveforcesof a technological,economic or
politicalnaturethat somehow act upon individuals and groups, is ethnocentricin
that it depends upon a taken-for-granted Western sense of self and society (see
Strathern1992; Clifford1986, p. 272). Grenierand Gilbault,paraphrasingMartin-
Barbero(1988), wrote:
The worldpoliticaleconomyis not a forceimposedfrom'above' upon totallydeprived
individualsand groups.Rather,itis a complexset ofinstitutions, socialrelationships,and
economicpracticesthatare sociallyand historically mediated,and thatare the subjectof
multipledifferentiated by individualsand groupswithintheirrespective
actualisations
environment. (Grenier and Gilbault1990,p. 389)
An ethnographicfocus upon individuals and social relationshipscould reveal the
processes throughwhich concepts are socially and historicallyconstructed,and
thus the culturalspecificityof beliefs, values, systems of classification,and con-
cepts of personhood and sociality.This could add an importantperspectiveto the
analysis of culturalexperience and knowledge, and the ways in which identities
are produced and acquired; and it could help in the understandingboth of dif-
ferencesbetween persons and of one's own culturalconstructs.9

Analysis and description

Ethnographicresearchcan bringthe researcherin 'the field'into contactwithsocial
realityin a way thatno readingof secondarysources or 'armchairtheorising'could
ever accomplish. Most importantly,therefore,ethnographytakes the formof a
directencounter,a shiftfromstrictlytheoreticalformulationsto a domain that is
concrete and material. Consequently, it is often used to counter the dangers of
formalismor focusingon a purelytheoreticallevel. However, whilstthereis pure
formalismat one extreme,at the other there is pure descriptionor an interestin
experience for its own sake, which should also be avoided. Ethnography is
meaningless in the absence of theory, but theoreticalmodels are not simply

This content downloaded from 139.184.14.159 on Wed, 19 Aug 2015 14:19:13 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 and popularmusicstudies
Ethnography 133

imposed on field situations and data; rather,they provide an orientationto the

research which can be developed by the researcherover the course of analysing
data. This allows one to begin to develop theoryin a way thatprovides much more
evidence of the plausibilityof differentlines of analysis than is available to the
armchair theorist or survey researcher. It has been labelled the 'bottom up'
approach, in that one moves fromthe particularto the general (although theory
does not somehow arise naturallyfromthe data, but is informedby it).
At the same time,the general is studied withinthe particular.Concepts such
as community,city,world, diaspora and tradition,forexample, are not given but
are continually negotiated, defined and redefined in the transactionsbetween
individuals. The levels of micro and macro, local and global, are dynamically
interrelatedand inseparable. Detailed interviewswithinformantsand observation
of theirmusical activitiesand relationsis of fundamentalimportancebecause, as
Geertz has pointed out (1975, p. 17), 'it is throughthe flow of behaviour ... that
culturalformsfindarticulation'.
Marcus has discussed furtherthe ways in which ethnographycan be 'directed
to answering macrosociologicalquestions about the causes of events or the con-
stitutionof major systemsand processes, usually representedmore formallyand
abstractlyin other conceptual languages' (Marcus 1986, p. 167). Grenier and
Gilbault (1990, p. 393), on the other hand, have suggested that if popular music
studies, with its emphasis upon the 'macro', began to concentratemore upon the
'micro':
researchersmay well arriveat new insightson how certaindimensionsof a musical
phenomenoncan actuallycontributeto itsveryconstructionon theinternational
level,and
how its meaningsand practicesdiffer
in each context.In thissense, then,the local and
international
meaningsand practicesrelatedto a musicalphenomenonwould be seen as
feedingone another.
The interrelationoftheoryand description(in itselfa theoreticaltool) can thus
allow forcomplexityand provide interpretative power. Furthermore, to insistupon
the separationof theoryfromempiricaldata mightbe to reproduce thatof anthro-
pologist and informant,or to neglect the fact that all theoryis historicallyand
culturallysituated and ideologically influenced. Researchers who directlyand
intenselyexperienceanotherculturecan be made aware of theirown biases, world
views, values, aesthetics, categories and theories, and have them challenged,
which can increase self-understanding. In thissense ethnographicresearchmay be
farmore instructivethan pre-formulated questionnairesor interviewschedules, or
macro-economic'objective' theoriesimposed upon a cultureand based upon little
knowledge of the categoriesand views of the people concerned.

The presentationand use of ethnography

The increased emphasis (mentionedabove) upon reflexivity and the subjectiveand
dialogical nature of the ethnographicprocess, particularlyby postmodernanthro-
pologists,10has shiftedthe focus to the examinationofhow experience'in the field'
gets transformedinto text."11Ethnography,in this sense, is not the practice of
reflecting,representingor revealing culture, but of translatingand writingit.
Alongside this,followingdevelopmentsin culturalstudies and literarycriticism,is
the emphasis upon readership: the effectthatit has upon writing,and the way in
which texts are read and interpreteddifferently by differentpeople at different

This content downloaded from 139.184.14.159 on Wed, 19 Aug 2015 14:19:13 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
134 SaraCohen

times. Consequently, the authorshipof textshas come under scrutiny.Anthropo-

logists have been concerned with ways of representingthe authorityof their
informants:whether to describe them 'as authors, collaborators,assistants, col-
leagues' (Ellen 1984); and how to experimentwith ethnographicwritingin ways
thatcould evoke the fragmented,multiple-voicednatureof ethnography.
During researchon popular music in Liverpool I have always had to negotiate
different ways of presentingmyselfin 'the field'. Factorssuch as age, gender, class
and ethnicityclearly have implications regarding the situations I experience,
involvingrelationsof similarity, but also of difference;equality,but also inequality.
Obviously such relationsinfluencethe way in which the researchis finallytextu-
alised. Afterwritingup the research on rock bands, I returnedto Liverpool to
presentthe textto the musicians involved, and to ask them whethertheywanted
to make alterationsto it; add theirown postscript;or allow me to representtheir
responses in a postscript.They chose the last option. Since then I have come to
appreciate the importance of incorporatingalternativeperspectives and greater
self-reflexivityduringthe researchprocess and throughout the writtenversionof it.
Issues of ethics, accountabilityand relevance should also be addressed in
relation to the uses and implicationsof the research and research materials. A
surveyof the music industrieson Merseyside, undertakenon behalf of Liverpool
City Council, for example (see Cohen 1991b), heightened my awareness of the
need to consider the policy implicationsof research, looking not only at what it
could contributeto policy-makingprocesses, but at the ways in which it could
potentiallybe misused by those in positionsof power and authority.Policymakers
tend to demand quick responses to particularproblems;shorttermsolutionsrather
than deeper understanding; concrete conclusions and recommendationsrather
than detailed descriptionor theorising.Ethnographymay not seem ideally suited
to the task but it could contributemuch to policy making. By focusing upon
individuals, forexample, looking at theiractivitiesand relationships,and at the
ways in which they constructmeaning and identitywithin particularstructural
constraints,the impact of policy can be properlyexamined. This should highlight
the interactionbetween people's lived experience and the assumptions of policy
makers,and it mightemphasise ignoranceor short-sightednesson the part of the
latter.Ethnographycould also be used to undertake case studies fromwhich to
draw general proposals; to study the policy makers themselves and the
bureaucraticinstitutionswithwhich theymightbe involved; and to contributenew
perspectives,informationand conclusions (througha more thorough process of
public consultation,gatheringinformationon individuals and social groups and
the relationshipsbetween them),which surveys,marketresearchand otherforms
of statisticalanalysis mightmiss.
A growingawareness of the importanceof adapting the presentationand use
of researchon popular music to a range of differentneeds and abilitiesled us (at
the Instituteof Popular Music, Liverpool University)to appoint a Research Co-
ordinatorto our currentproject on popular music in Liverpool who has a back-
ground in communityrelations. Her main role is to encourage us to use the
informationand materialswe are gatheringin innovativeways in orderto reach a
wider audience than most academic research does. We are planning to target
general and specificgroups (forinstance, school pupils, tourists,elderlyor blind
people), using a varietyof different media (exhibitions,radio programmes,tapes,
booklets,workshops, reunion and reminiscenceevents, etc.).

This content downloaded from 139.184.14.159 on Wed, 19 Aug 2015 14:19:13 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 and popularmusicstudies
Ethnography 135

Conclusion
The study of popular music has flourishedrapidlywithina relativelyshortperiod
of time. Its furtherdevelopment and impact, however, would be considerably
enhanced ifit incorporatedan ethnographicapproach thatfocused on individuals
and theirsocial relationships.
Individuals produce and consume music within specific social contexts
(households, neighbourhoods,etc.); at specifictimesor historicalmoments;within
specific networks of social relationships (involving kin, peers, colleagues, etc.),
relationshipsthathave different dimensions (social, political,economic). People's
experiences of music, the uses they have forit, and the meanings they construct
around, or throughit, are bound up with these specificities,and withthe intercon-
nections between them. This emphasises the importance of adopting a holistic
perspective in the study of music and its role in people's lives, cultures and
societies. Practicesand discourses need to be examined across a range of intersect-
ing contextsand networks(whetherthey involve music or not) in order to make
sense of the meaning derived frommusic withinone particularsetting.
A textualapproach can contributemuch to such a study,but the importance
of social contextmust be emphasised to make it clear that the meanings derived
froma textrelate to readings by specificpersons, at specifictimes,withinspecific
places. Whilst a life historyapproach could add to this, revealing the important
ways in which textualinterpretations mightrelateto people's pasts, thatdiachronic
perspective needs to be related to a synchronicview highlightingthe range of
different activitiesand relationshipsthatpeople are involved withat the timeofthe
study,which influencethe ways in which musical pasts are constructedwithinthe
present.
An ethnographicapproach to the study of popular music, involving direct
observationof people, theirsocial networks,interactionsand discourses, and par-
ticipation in their day-to-day activities, rituals, rehearsals and performances,
would encourage researchersto experience differentrelationships,views, values
and aesthetics,or to view familiarcontextsfroman alternativeperspective. This
exercise could increase self-awareness and challenge preconceived notions or
'ungrounded' assumptions. Finnegan's work, forexample, questions assumptions
about musical practicebased upon age and class, and dualities such as high/low
culture. Research on kinship, tradition,ethnicityand the politics of locality in
relation to rock music in Liverpool complements, and sometimes questions, the
common view of that music (and of popular culture in general) as being charac-
terised by rapid change, peer groups and the production and consumption of
commodities. It also contrastswith the view of popular music as embodying a
conditionof placelessness and timelessness(what does it actuallymean to say that
a particularstyleor piece of music represents'a perpetual now', 'an end of
history
and an end of geography',an 'emphasis on the materialityof surfaces'?).
Hence ethnographywould increase our knowledge of the details of popular
music processes and practices. Only with such knowledge can we be justifiedin
makingmore general statementsabout popular music (e.g. regardingglobalisation
and its effects,the natureof popular music as mass culture,processes of consump-
tion and production,etc.). More importantly,perhaps, such an approach would
remind us that general statementstend to mask the complex interrelatenessof
contexts,events, activitiesand relationshipsinvolved with popular music. Finne-

This content downloaded from 139.184.14.159 on Wed, 19 Aug 2015 14:19:13 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
136 SaraCohen

gan, for example, shows how hard it is to make generalisationsabout music in

relation to social difference.Similarly,a comparison of the constructionof the
concept of localitythroughmusic by different individuals, institutionsand social
collectivitiesin Liverpool highlightsits shiftingand conflictingnature.
In relation to each other, the identities,values and concepts of Kevin and
Simon seem incongruous,cross-cutby issues of age and education. In relationto
the so-called Jewish'community'(and its representativeinstitutions),Kevin and
Simon may seem misfitsthroughtheirinvolvementwith rockmusic. In relationto
other social collectivitiesin Liverpool, the city'sJewishpopulation may appear to
be 'close-knit'and socially and economicallyhomogenous. In relationto Jews in
other cities, Liverpool Jews may be depicted as more 'creative'. Yet examined
historically,and in relationto the observable networksof relationshipswithwhich
they are involved and which intersectwith the above social and geographical
divisions,the values, discourses,and activitiesofKevin and Simon can be properly
contextualised.
There is some evidence that an ethnographic approach to the study of
popular music mightbe slowlydeveloping. Recently,more attentionhas been paid
to the studyof local popular music practices,12and a few ethnographiesof pop and
rockhave been, or are being, conductedin Scandinavia,13France,14Germany,15 and
America,16 as well as in Britain.17What should be particularlyencouraged,
perhaps, is the dialogue between ethnomusicologyand popular music studies.
Ethnomusicologists have typically shown concern with non-western musical
styles, and with theirdecline or revival (music in the contextof social change),
focusingupon small or isolated communities,or upon music in relationto urban
migration.More recently,a few ethnomusicologistshave turned to the study of
more 'popular' (as opposed to 'traditional')or 'commercial'music, and theirwork
should be seen as an importantcontributionto popular music studies.1sThese
developments will hopefully ensure that the study of music as social practice
becomes firmlyembedded in the futureof the discipline.

Endnotes
1 E.g. fieldwork,participantobservation, case- studies' (1990, p. 390). They stressthe benefits
study, micro-sociology, interpretive pro- for popular music studies of following
cedure, symbolicinteractionism,unstructured anthropologyby addressing the Other and the
interview, life or oral history, network processes of its representation.
analysis. 4 This despite the recent emphasis in media
2 E.g. as 'archivist', 'translator', 'midwife', studies on the differentpossible readings of a
'writer of fiction', 'trickster', 'bricoleur', text.
'inquisitor', 'intellectual tourist', 'plagiarist', 5 Erni (1989) and Silverstone(1990) make similar
'ironist'(Geertz 1975; Clifford1986). Some so- points in their critiques of audience studies
called 'postmodern' anthropologists have withinculturalstudies.
broadened the definitionof ethnography,con- 6 As Frithpoints out (1991, p. 200), the 'hidden'
flatingit with life history(e.g. Shostak 1983), in Finnegan's titleis meant ironically.
or seeing it as an explicitand radical formof 7 The population has declined from 11,000 in
culturalcritique(e.g. Clifford1988). 1914, to between 4,000 and 5,000.
3 Grenierand Gilbault's examinationof current 8 Particular musical periods and genres
debates withinanthropologyfocuses upon the obviouslygive rise to theirown specificideolo-
key issue of the Other. It 'points out how some gies, in which place plays a part. Thus rock,
of the dimensions of the issue of the Other unlike pop, may be discussed and authenti-
emphasised in the anthropological debate cated within certaincontextsin termsof par-
have been overlooked in popular music ticularplaces and roots. This opposition could

This content downloaded from 139.184.14.159 on Wed, 19 Aug 2015 14:19:13 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 and popularmusicstudies
Ethnography 137

also have parallels with the 'world' versus Caplan 1992; Strathern 1987; and Hartsock
'global' music duality. 1990).
9 Within anthropology this focus has 11 E.g. the influentialcollectionof essays (Writing
highlightedthe Westernbias of many anthro- Culture)edited by Cliffordand Marcus (1986)
pologists, and questioned their translationof which focus on deconstructionand interpreta-
the meanings of other cultures into Western tion of ethnographictexts.
termsand categories. 12 This is apparent in proposals forpapers to the
10 The various, and often valid, criticismsto sixth and seventh IASPM international
which postmodernism has been subjected conferences.
could also be pointed out. That forexample, it 13 E.g. work in progressby H. Jarviluomaon the
is: not as innovative as is often claimed (see Finnish folk music movement, and by J.
Caplan 1992,pp. 70-1); oftenethnocentric(see Fornas on rock music and youth culture in
Clifford1988, p. 264; Chen 1989, p. 47); ideal- Sweden.
isticand utopian (see Ang 1989,p. 28); a-politi- 14 A. Hennion's ethnographies of recording
cal, especially in its focus upon text and studios and music conservatories(e.g. 1981).
meaning, subjectivity and consumption, 15 Peter Wicke's project on youth culture in
rather than upon the relations of production Berlinconducted withhis students.
and power surrounding the text and how 16 There is, of course, the influentialwork of
these might be challenged and changed (see Becker (1963), and Keil (1966). More recent
Caplan 1992; Grossberg1989; Ulin 1991, p. 77; researchon rockbands has been conducted by
Erni 1989; and Ang 1989, p. 35). It has also Bennett(1980); Gay (1991); and Kruse (1993).
been pointed out that feminismanticipated 17 E.g. White (1983); Finnegan (1989); Cohen
many of the issues now preoccupying post- (1991).
modernism,but has incorporatedthe import- 18 E.g. Waterman (1990); Baily (1981); Stokes
ant dimension of power and political action (1992); Nettl (1972); Merriam (1964); and Feld
lacking in much postmodernistwriting (see (1982).

References
Ang, I. 1989. 'Beyond self-reflexivity', CulturalStudies,3:2, pp. 27-9
Baily,J. 1981. 'Cross-culturalperspectivesin popular music: the case of Afghanistan',PopularMusic, 1,
pp. 105-22
Becker,H. S. 1963. Outsiders:Studiesin theSociologyofDeviance(New York)
1982. ArtWorlds(Berkeley)
Bennett,H. S. 1980. On Becoming A RockMusician(Amherst,Massachusetts)
Berland,J.1988. 'Locatinglistening:technologicalspace, popular music, Canadian mediations',Cultural
Studies,2:3, pp. 343-58
Caplan, P. 1992. 'Engenderingknowledge: the politics of ethnography',in Personsand Powers,ed. S.
Ardener(Oxford),pp. 65-87
Chambers, I. 1985. UrbanRhythms: Pop Music and PopularCulture(London)
Chen, K. H. 1989. 'Deterritorializing"critical"studies in "mass" communication:towards a theoryof
"minor" discourses', CulturalStudies,3:2, pp. 43-55
Clifford,J. 1986. 'Partialtruths:introduction',in WritingCulture:thePoliticsand PoeticsofCulture,ed. J.
Cliffordand G. E. Marcus (Berkeley),pp. 1-26
1988. The Predicamentof Culture: Twentieth-Century Ethnography, Literature,and Art (Cambridge,
Massachusetts)
Clifford,J.and Marcus, G. E. (eds.) 1986. Writing Culture:thePoliticsand PoeticsofCulture(Berkeley)
Cohen, S. 1991a. RockCulturein Liverpool:PopularMusic in theMaking(Oxford)
1991b. 'Popular music and urban regeneration:the music industrieson Merseyside', CulturalStudies,
5:3, pp. 332-46
(forthcoming Place and theLiverpoolSound(Oxford)
a). Identity,
(forthcoming b). 'Popular music and kinship:a case study', in PopularMusic Perspectives, ed. P. Wicke
(Berlin)
Cohen, S. and McManus, K. 1991. HarmoniousRelations(Merseyside)
Csikszentmihalyi,M. and Rochberg-Halton,E. 1981. TheMeaningofThings:DomesticSymbolsand theSelf
(New York)
De Certeau, M. 1980. ThePracticeofEveryday Life(Berkeley)
Ellen, R. (ed.). 1984. Ethnographic Research:a GuidetoGeneralConduct(London)

This content downloaded from 139.184.14.159 on Wed, 19 Aug 2015 14:19:13 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
138 SaraCohen

Erni,J. 1989. 'Where is the "audience"; discerningthe (impossible) subject', CulturalStudies,13:2, pp.
30-41
Feld, S. 1982. Soundand Sentiment: Birds,Weeping,Poeticsand Songin Kaluli Expression(Philadelphia)
Finnegan, R. 1989. TheHiddenMusicians:Music-Makingin an EnglishTown(Cambridge)
Frith,S. 1982. 'Britishpopular music research',IASPM UK Working Paper,No. 1
1991. Review of TheHiddenMusiciansby R. Finnegan, in SociologicalReview,39, pp. 199-201
Geertz,C. 1975. TheInterpretation ofCulture(London)
Gay, L. 1991. 'Commitment,cohesion and creative process: a study of New York City rock bands',
unpublished Ph.D. (Columbia University)
Grenier,L. and Gilbault, J. 1990. '"Authority" revisited:the "other" in anthropologyand popular
music studies', Ethnomusicology, 34, pp. 381-97
Grossberg,L. 1984. 'Anotherboringday in paradise: rock and roll and the empowermentof everyday
life',PopularMusic, 4, pp. 225-58
1989. 'On the road with threeethnographers',CulturalStudies,3:2, pp. 23-6
Hartsock,N. 1990. 'Foucault on power: a theoryforwomen?', in Feminism and Postmodernism,ed. L. J.
Nicholson (London), pp. 157-75
Hebdige, D. 1988. Hidingin theLight(London)
Hennion, A. 1981. Les professionnels du disque(Paris)
Keil, C. 1966. UrbanBlues(Chicago)
Kruse, H. 1993. 'Subculturalidentityin alternativepopular culture',PopularMusic, 12:1, pp. 33-41
Lipsitz, G. 1989. TimePassages:Collective Memoryand AmericanPopularCulture(Minnesota)
Marcus, G. E. 1986. 'Contemporaryproblemsof ethnographyin the modern world system',in Writing
Culture:thePoliticsand PoeticsofCulture,ed. J.Cliffordand G. E. Marcus (Berkeley),pp. 165-93
McLuhan, M. 1967. TheMediumis theMessage:an Inventory (London)
ofEffects
Merriam,A. 1964. TheAnthropology ofMusic (Evanston, Illinois)
Middleton,R. 1990. StudyingPopularMusic (MiltonKeynes)
Morley,D. 1986. FamilyTelevision:CulturalPowerand DomesticLeisure(London)
Meyrowitz,J.1985. No SenseofPlace: theImpactofElectronic Media on SocialBehaviour(New York)
Nettl,B. 1972. 'Persian popular music in 1969', Ethnomusicology, 16, pp. 218-39
Porcello, T. 1991. 'The ethics of digitalaudio-sampling:engineer's discourse', PopularMusic, 10:1, pp.
69-84
Reynolds,S. 1990. BlissedOut: theRapturesofRock(London)
Shostak, M. 1983. Nisa: theLifeand Wordsofa !Kung Woman(Harmondsworth)
Silverstone,1990. 'Television and everydaylife:towards an anthropologyof the televisionaudience', in
PublicCommunication: theNew Imperatives, ed. M. Ferguson (London), pp. 173-89
Strathern,M. 1987. 'An awkward relationship:the case of feminismand anthropology',Signs,12:2, pp.
276-92
1992. AfterNature:EnglishKinshipin theLateTwentieth Century(Cambridge)
Stokes, M. 1992. TheArabesqueDebate(Oxford)
Tagg, P. and Negus, K. 1992. 'The primarytext:back to square one?', IASPM UK Newsletter, September,
pp. 3-4
Ulin, R. C. 1991. 'Critical anthropology twenty years later: modernism and postmodernism in
anthropology',CritiqueofAnthropology, 11:1, pp. 63-89
Wagner, R. 1975. TheInventionof Culture (Englewood Cliffs)
Wallis, R. and Malm, K. 1984. Big SoundsfromSmallPeoples(London)
Waterman,C. 1990. Juju:a SocialHistoryand Ethnography ofan AfricanPopularMusic (Chicago)
White, A. 1983. Conventionand Constraintin the Operationof Musical Groups: Two Case Studies,
unpublished Ph.D. thesis,Universityof Keele

This content downloaded from 139.184.14.159 on Wed, 19 Aug 2015 14:19:13 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions