AMCULT 208 1st Edition Lecture 7 Outline of Last Lecture I. Subcultures as NoiseOutline of Current Lecture II. Technology and ChangeIII. Urban HipIV. Cultural CloutV. GenerationsCurrent LectureTechnology & Change- “The medium is the message”- In the early 20th century, technologies like radio, film, and the record player further blurred and complicated racial thinking in America- Hip flourishes during times of technological or economic change- These changes are divisive, threaten mainstream culture, and are fraught with anxiety for mainstream culture- Youth organizes itself around new technologies to produce new modes of language, newstyles, and new attitudes- Hip began to be codified predominantly in multi-cultural, youthful cities like New York and Chicago- Hipness was urban, smart, literate, disaffected, and using popular culture to achieve what they didn’t have access toThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.- Hip transformed from a philosophy to a social reality- This causes mainstream society to look for scapegoats- The scapegoat is hipness itself, meaning it transcends gender, race, religion, etc.- Mainstream culture tends to retrench towards a time, place, or ideology that it finds better (“the good ol’ days”)- Meanwhile, the hip are taking advantage of these new changes to forge something new which exhibits itself as coolUrban Hip- Cities contain an anonymity that is impossible in a rural environment- Lots of young people- Multicultural- In the early 20th century, immigrants were flocking to cities- Many of these immigrants were fleeing fascism in Central Europe- These immigrants also brought new philosophies of socialism, and even communism- This caused a shift in popular culture which changed things from “of the future” to that “of the now”- While hipness does want to espouse its individualism, it cannot exist without numbers, so it grows in cliques- Greenwich Village in lower Manhattan became a bastion of hipness and marginality- The clique that developed there believe in “the modernist faith that margins shape the mainstream”- The forces which shape society never come directly from the mainstream, but from the edges of it- Therefore, they thought that by their example, they could show mainstream society what life could be like, and, in turn, shape it- Women played a leading role in this movement- They espoused ideas of free love, contraception, and socialism- The pre-WWI Greenwich Village group shared ideas which would become known as the “cultural front”- This group excelled not only in taking liberties with American freedom and individualism,but also in their own marketing- Mabel Dodge, for instance, opened her apartment to create a salon, bringing together varieties of people involved in the arts, black and white, to create a new “scene”Cultural Clout- Pre-1900 America didn’t have the clout that Europe had- Despite the best efforts of the OGs and others, American still took its cultural cues from Europe- In 1913, the Armory Show in New York City brought abstract art to the attention of Americans (this goes hand-in-hand with the wave of artsy urban immigrants)- The art show led to riots, particularly Matisse’s painting Blue Nude- Paradoxically, Europeans actually began to validate American art, especially American music such as jazz- Following WWI, many of America’s youth, especially those already bent toward the new left culture of the Village became disenfranchised with America- Individuals like Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, e.e. cummings, and others saw a post-warAmerica that they believed was full of hypocrisy and failure- In 1919, the Palmer Raids occurred- The Treaty of Versailles and post-WWI events lead to the lost expat generationThe Lost Expat Generation- The WWI expats left for Europe where they believed their art and lifestyle would be better appreciated- This generation lived through the war, became enchanted with the postwar world, and gave themselves over to art and living for the present- They lived in hip’s present tense, found hollowness in glory or honor, and engaged in a hedonistic lifestyle- This was not a true subculture, but it laid the foundation for future movements (Beats, etc.)Blacks Finding a Generation- Rejection of culture was easy for white raised before the war...different story for blacks- They fled the South for the industrialized North- In 1900 blacks constituted 22% of the urban population. By 1930 that number increased to more than 40%- Black arrival in the North signaled hip’s great juxtapositions: urban with rural, hard poverty with high life, and the detachment of the Blues with a new sense of arrival- Black arrival in the North led to increased tension and race riots, but a new group of whites would be become fascinated with their culture- The “Negrotarians” would have an influence on popularizing African American culture- Carl Van Vechten was the most notable, but despite his interest in the culture, even he was simply a