Grunge: Music and Memory (Ashgate Popular and Folk Music Series)

Grunge has been perceived as the music that defined 'Generation X'. Twenty years after the height of the movement there is still considerable interest in its rise and fall, and its main figures such as Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love. As a form of 'retro' music it is even experiencing a resurgence, and Cobain remains an icon to many young music fans today. But what was grunge, and what has it become? This book explores how grunge has been remembered by the fans that grew up with it, and asks how memory is both formed by and forms popular culture. It looks at the relationship between media, memory and music fans and demonstrates how different groups can use and shape memory as part of an ongoing struggle for power in society. Grunge was the site of such a struggle, as popular music so often is, with the young people of the time asking questions about their place in the world and the way society is organized. This book examines what these questions were, and what has happened to them over time. It shows that although grunge challenged many social structures, the way it, and youth itself, are remembered often work to reinforce the status quo. "This book explores how grunge has been remembered by the fans that grew up with it, and asks how memory is both formed by and forms popular culture. It looks at the relationship between media, memory and music fans and demonstrates how different groups can use and shape memory as part of an ongoing struggle, as popular music so often is, with the young people of the time asking questions about their place in the world and the way society is organized. This book examines what these questions were, and what has happened to them over time. It shows that although grunge challenged many social structures, the way it, and youth itself, are remembered often work to reinforce the status quo."--Book cover Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 7 List of Figures......Page 9 General Editor’s Preface......Page 11 Acknowledgements......Page 13 1 Introduction......Page 15 2 Theories of Grunge and Memory......Page 29 3 Defining Grunge in the Media......Page 53 4 Defining Grunge in Memory......Page 71 5 The Memory of Kurt Cobain......Page 99 6 Gender and Grunge......Page 119 7 Generation X, ‘the 90s’ and Youth......Page 145 Conclusion......Page 167 Appendix: Outline of Questions for Interviews......Page 171 Bibliography......Page 173 Index......Page 189 This book explores how grunge has been remembered by the fans who grew up with it, and asks how memory is both formed by and forms popular culture. It looks at the relationship between media, memory and music fans and demonstrates how different groups can use and shape memory as part of an ongoing struggle for power in society.