Art In The Social Order (1997): 17th Century and Grunge
Art Is To Create A Certain Impression Of Oneself, By Which One Wishes To Be Judged By Others
Weeks ago (and still) multiple articles talk about about Taylor Swift and her potential impact on the 2024 presidential election. One article remarked that 1 in 6 adults said they were more likely to vote if Swift or her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, encouraged them to do so. Another article talked about her influence on the 2018 midterm elections. The singer endorsed Phil Bredsen, a Tennessee Democrat, for Senate and shared a link to a voting registration website which reportedly recorded more than 35,000 new registrations shortly after the endorsement. On the other hand, the Biden Administration has launched the Music Diplomacy Act in 2022 and Global Music Diplomacy Initiative in September of 2023.
Music Diplomacy Act authorises the The Secretary of State to ‘‘partner with the private sector, including through the granting of awards, to recognize musicians whose works or performances have advanced peace abroad’’ (H.R.6498 - PEACE through Music Diplomacy Act, 2022). Likewise, the The Secretary of State must submit ‘‘a strategy for advancing United States foreign policy goals, including conflict resolution and peacebuilding efforts, through music-related exchange programs’’(H.R.6498 - PEACE through Music Diplomacy Act, 2022). Alongside this, the Congress highlights that music is an important conveyer of culture and music artists play a valuable role in cross-cultural exchange. Also, the private sector in music plays a significant role. In my previous post back in October (2023), I talked about the launch of the Global Music Diplomacy Initiative as a strategy to minimise Russian cultural influence through music. I talked about Russian Chanson and also dissident voices. However, this time, I want to offer a discussion on the influence and transformation of the role of musicians (and grunge). Check out these previous posts which all talk about this:
Art in the Social Order: The Making of the Modern Conception of Art (1997)
Musicians have the power to influence politics, bring awareness to social injustices and different causes. With digital media, technology and social changes, the influence of musicians have increased and they are really important members of the society. Nowadays, they are expected to voice their political opinions. In the modern world, musicians play an even greater part in political fundraising and culture than in other decades. Like I said, musicians are important for society and not just politically.
Just because this is a blog dedicated to grunge (the best musical movement of course) a great example is Kurt Cobain and decades before him - John Lennon. Both had acquired a cult following, cult status and became labelled as Gods. In the 1990s, Bill Clinton asked grunge band Pearl Jam on guidance on how he should address the nation after Kurt Cobain’s death. Thus, showcasing how important was Cobain for Americans and how valued was Pearl Jam’s opinion. However, musicians once were in the same rank as beggars on the other side of the world.
In the 18th century Empress Maria Theresia of Austria assigned the lowest social rank to beggars, actors, and musicians. Musicians were not seen as different from a craftsperson who worked for the ruler. In societies where the court is a central unit:
‘‘An inherent status or attribute is represented; representation makes ‘’something invisible visible’’ (Habermans 1989p.7), and is the expression of a shared code of conduct. The function of music within this context was to enhance the established social order. Musicians were appointed and worked on commission, and their work was scarcely heard by anyone outside the courtly circles. With the performance of public concerts this changes. Musical performances now become commodities, and music is no longer tied to specific function of occasion. This is important to the development of aesthetics’’ (Mortensen,1997,p. 82).
Thus, with this change musician status changed. But also the expressive order. Preben Mortensen in Art in the Social Order: The Making of the Modern Conception of Art (1997) also explains that when the moral and social code broke down in the 17th century, expressive order fell into confusion:
‘’The presentation of the self-characteristic of a society where (for example) the court in a central unit is no longer valid. The role ascribed to art (including literature)…is evidently one where part of the interest in art is to create a certain impression of oneself, by which one wishes to be judged by others. ‘‘(Mortensen,1997,p. 88-89).
Thus, music became a psychological reflection of its author and also the society, as remember- music speaks in the plural, no matter how individualistic it may be. And this is also the case in modern music and grunge. Whilst, Chris Cornell sings about his childhood on ‘‘Boot Camp’’ (1996) or desiring to ‘‘Blow Up The Outside World’’ (1996), such music takes on a collective reflection of Generation X and 90s American society. Not only does the musician provide music which he wishes to be judged by, this music reveals the psychological state of a portion of society and its fans/listeners. Thus, music is not pure entertainment but it is a historical and psychological tool. The minute that the musician tells a story or his ideals through art and music, is the same minute the relationship between the listener and artist becomes more personal. The standards that you judge by are the same standards which we judge ourselves. Thus the judging or the analysis of music becomes a personal, more intimate experience as it involves self reflection. Music has the power to generate emotions, good or bad, it doesn’t matter. It has fulfilled its function.
Music has also been used strategically to showcase how inferior a person or minority group is by the dominant group. Music has been used to place exponents of religion like priests or ministers in comical situations. During times of decline of monarchies, operas deflated king and members of nobility. Soviet artists have ridiculed the bourgeoisie in similar ways. However, the commonality of taste is important for society. Politics and religion no longer provided a basis for social harmony in the 17th century, with the emergence of coffeehouses in England. However, ‘‘Commonality of taste’’ was the answer and the:
‘‘possession of the good taste become, in the absence of clear social differentiations created by birth and rank, an indicator of belonging to the right social group. The commonality of the judgment of taste becomes the sign of belonging’’ (Mortensen,1997,p. 82).
The first coffeehouse in London opened in 1652, and by the first decade of the 18th century there were 3`000 of them in London. These coffeehouses were ‘‘meeting places for people with political, literary, scientific, or artistic interests…What we see here is the emergence of a bourgeois public sphere’’ (Mortensen,1997,p. 80). Mortensen explains that one of the key features of these coffeehouses was the presence of formal equality.
These coffeehouses unlike houses of the aristocracy, were open to anyone and made it possible to mingle with wealthy and influential people on an equal footing. ‘‘Ideally, what one had to say mattered, not who said it’’ and alongside other developments, ‘‘it signals the demise of old authorities and the search for new ones’’, he explains. These coffeehouses were so transformative that King Charles in 1675 issued a proclamation forbidding the operation of coffeehouses, explaining that :
‘‘Many tradesmen and others do therein misspend much of their time’’. In particular they ‘‘misspend’’ their time by not minding their own business, but instead spreading abroad ‘‘divers false, malicious and scandalous reports…to the defamation of his Majesty`s government and to the disturbance of the peace and quiet of the realm.’’ (Mortensen,1997,p. 80)
Then in Britain in the early eighteen century , the possession of good taste became a sign of belonging to good company. This includes music! And I would argue that the search for new authorities still continues, especially through music.
This got me thinking about grunge music. Grunge is not a high-class musical or artistic movement, however it got emulated and reproduced by high-class capitalist industries like fashion houses (Marc Jacobs, YSL etc.) Celebrities in the 90s (and still some today) who came from wealthy backgrounds dressed in the grunge attire and emulated the poor, working class attire. Whilst, the conversation is about two different centuries, 17th century and late 20th century when grunge took place, it is interesting to see how notions of taste and belonging have changed. Whilst, I have skipped two centuries of events (read the book! :), what does grunge signify about belonging? If grunge music is considered as one of the most important or greatest musical movements to exist and it depicts anger at humanity, human suffering and strength, what does it say about us? What does it say about us if we seek such heroes and authority?