‘Well-worn Grooves’ – Music, Materiality, and Biographical Memory

Taylor, Iain A. (2020) ‘Well-worn Grooves’ – Music, Materiality, and Biographical Memory. Popular Music History, 12 (3). ISSN 1743-1646

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Abstract

Recorded music, as both aesthetic listening experience, and as material culture, has a deep mnemonic resonance for a great many people. Starting from Csikszentmihalyi’s (1993) theorisation on the significance of artefacts in the structuring of ‘well-worn grooves’ of consciousness, this article considers the biographical function of the metaphorical (and literal) ‘well-worn grooves’ of music-based artefacts such as records. Building upon existing arguments from material culture studies and popular music studies, this article used excerpts from research interviews with self-identified ‘music enthusiasts’ to argue that an attentiveness to the complex and intertwined relationships between popular music listening, and it’s materiality, presents possibilities for looking beyond a broadly canonic understanding of popular music history, arguing for a greater attentiveness to the richness of the individual music-based biographies as a means of exploring the relationship between popular music and the past.

Item Type: Article
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.41832
Dates:
DateEvent
13 August 2020Accepted
13 November 2020Published Online
Uncontrolled Keywords: Music; Memory; Records; Collection; Materiality; Biography
Subjects: CAH15 - social sciences > CAH15-01 - sociology, social policy and anthropology > CAH15-01-04 - anthropology
CAH15 - social sciences > CAH15-01 - sociology, social policy and anthropology > CAH15-01-01 - social sciences (non-specific)
CAH24 - media, journalism and communications > CAH24-01 - media, journalism and communications > CAH24-01-05 - media studies
CAH20 - historical, philosophical and religious studies > CAH20-01 - history and archaeology > CAH20-01-01 - history
CAH25 - design, and creative and performing arts > CAH25-02 - performing arts > CAH25-02-02 - music
Divisions: Faculty of Arts, Design and Media > Birmingham Institute of Media and English > Birmingham School of Media
Depositing User: Iain Taylor
Date Deposited: 21 Aug 2020 09:38
Last Modified: 13 Nov 2022 03:00
URI: https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/9712

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