Paper Summary:

The paper attempts to define that which is meant by the concept of 'modernism' and discusses the early years of rock and roll and how they represented a serious threat to the state of American conservatism. The paper discusses the emergence of groups such as the Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Ramones and the Talking Heads and how the 'political movements' represented would be seen as pop culture phenomena. The paper points out, however, that with these movements, their economic success would overshadow such messages as their explicit anti-establishment and anti-consumer stances.

From the Paper:

"In the manner of greatest importance to its identity, rock music was at its purest to be taken as such a populist notion. Upon its inception into popular consciousness in the 1950s, rock and roll was derided by its critics--informed by no small degree of racism toward a music inspired by black R&B combos of the prior decade--as a form of music requiring the least of talents. At least as its traditions compared to the virtuosity of jazz or the form and precision of classical music, it was true that rock and roll was a more basic, even primitive form of expression. Before such time as the medium would be expanded by postmodern experimentalism, this primitive nature has been regarded by many as rock and roll strongest and most defining feature."

Sample of Sources Used:

• ArtsMIA. (2005). Modernism. The Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Online at http://www.artsmia.org/modernism/>
• Klages, M. (2003). Post-Modernism. University of Colorado at Boulder. Online at <http://www.colorado.edu/English/ENGL2012Klages/pomo.html>
• Lack, T. (1999). Consumer Society and Authenticity: The (Il)logic of Punk Practices. Nothingness.org. Online at <http://library.nothingness.org/articles/SI/en/display/86>.
• McRobbie, A. (1994). Postmodernism and Popular Culture. Routeledge.
• Storey, J. (2005). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: An Introduction. Prentice Hall.

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