Nie zu alt? Älterwerden und Popmusik

Abstract

In the study of popular music reception, ageing audiences have never been a major focus of attention. Occasional references to ageing audiences that do appear, both in academic and popular texts, often tend to cast such audiences in a negative light - as cultural misfits or overgrown teenagers. It could, however, be argued that such representations of ageing popular audiences are increasingly out of step with contemporary urban contexts in which definitions of ageing and generational boundaries are radically shifting. Indeed, in this sense popular music may be argued to take on a critical new significance as a form of cultural authority through which ageing individuals construct and articulate identities in everyday urban life. Utilising ethnographic data generated in three specific urban contexts, Canterbury (UK), Lille (France) and Adelaide (Australia), this chapter examines the cultural responses of middle-aged individuals to contemporary popular music genres such as rock, punk and dance music.