Song and democratic culture in Britain : an approach to popular culture in social movements / Ian Watson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Watson, Ian, 1946- author.

Series:

Routledge Library Editions: Folk Music

Routledge Library Editions: Folk Music ; Volume 11

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Music--Social aspects.

Music.

Folk music--Great Britain--History and criticism.

Folk music.

Folk songs, English--Great Britain--History and criticism.

Folk songs, English.

Popular culture--Great Britain--History.

Popular culture.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (203 p.)

Place of Publication:

London : Routledge, 2016.

Summary:

Originally published in 1983. Song has always been a natural way to record everyday experiences - an expression of celebration, commiseration, complaint and protest. This innovative book is a study of popular and working-class song combining several approaches to the subject. It is a history of working-class song in Britain which concentrates not simply on the songs and the singers but attempts to locate such song in its cultural context and apply principles of literary criticism to this essentially oral medium. It triggered controversy: some critics castigated its Marxist approach, others enthused that 'such unabashed partisanship amply reveals the outstanding characteristic of Watson's book'. The author discusses the way in which the popular song, from Victorian times onwards, has been forced by the entertainment industry out of its roots in popular culture, to become a blander form of art with minimal critical potential. The book ends by considering the possibilities for a continued flourishing of a genuine popular song culture in an electronic age. It has become a standard title in bibliographies and curricula. Much has changed since 1983, not least in music; but this then innovative book still has a lot to say about popular song in its social and historical context.

Contents:

Cover; Half Title; Title Page; Copyright Page; Original Title Page; Original Copyright Page; Table of Contents; Dedication; Acknowledgements; 1. Sounding Off: Aims and Approaches; 2. Roots: Industrial Folk Song and other Song Types; 3. The Folk and the Revivals; 4. Two Cultures; 5. Song and the Reaction to Social Change; 6. Song and Work; 7. The Dialectics of Oppression and Resilience; 8. Towards Criteria for Aesthetic Assessment; 9. Introducing Jim Brown; 10. The Contribution of Ewan MacColl; 11. The Movement: Prospects and Suggestions for a Cultural Policy; Bibliography; Record List; Index

Notes:

First published in 1983 by Croom Helm Ltd.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-317-35774-4

1-315-66731-2

1-317-35773-6

9781315667317

OCLC:

958109405