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Progress, Restoration, and the Life of Rock After Alternative

Moon, Joshua D.
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2037-6975
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1426865642

Abstract Details

2015, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, Interdisciplinary Arts (Fine Arts).
This dissertation engages the state of rock music in Western popular culture over the past twenty years. Taking inspiration from the philosophy of Theodor W. Adorno, the project utilizes the concepts of progress and restoration to describe how musicians, scholars, and journalists have confronted challenges facing the continued practice of rock music into the twenty-first century. I argue that the tension between this progressive impulse in rock and a restorative response provides an explanation for aspects of rock’s recent history and its creative challenges. Via interpretations of musical texts, references to artistic statements, and engagement with aesthetic theory, the chapters reveal how these concepts have been navigated in the evolving state of rock, including responding to anxieties such as the “death of rock.” Emphasis includes advocacy for a renewed focus in academic scholarship on rock as a musical phenomenon. This approach asserts that stylistic and formal development are integral to thinking about the music’s social history and cultural impact. As a critical study of the recent history of aesthetic ideas, I argue that progress and restoration influence rock culture, and that diagnosing their function within the genre is vital for understanding rock’s history and trajectory.
Vladimir Marchenkov (Committee Chair)
William Condee (Committee Member)
Judith Grant (Committee Member)
Garrett Field (Committee Member)
232 p.
Aesthetics; Music; Philosophy
aesthetic theory; rock music; theodor adorno; popular music studies; progress; smashing pumpkins; mars volta; white stripes; rock and roll; alternative rock; philosophy

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Moon, J. D. (2015). Progress, Restoration, and the Life of Rock After Alternative [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1426865642

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Moon, Joshua. Progress, Restoration, and the Life of Rock After Alternative. 2015. Ohio University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1426865642.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Moon, Joshua. "Progress, Restoration, and the Life of Rock After Alternative." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1426865642

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1426865642
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© 2015, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.