The Consumption of Music as a Construction of Self
Date
2020-04
Authors
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Publisher
University of Calgary
Abstract
The construction of self has been a divisive topic within the realm of sociology in the past century. Theorists such as Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann, as well as Pierre Bourdieu have either explicitly constructed a theory relating to the construction of self through the discussion of primary or secondary socialization, or implicitly through the theory of the habitus respectively. These theories come together similarly, that the self should be regarded as a singular entity that is determined in early socialization, and ideas that compete against the established notion of the self are readily discarded and neglected. However, with the introduction of Bayesian theory that proposes the self is produced in a multi-faceted manner, argues against the construction of the self as a rigid entity incapable of changing. In this paper, beginning with a description of Tia DeNora's research on the usage of music in everyday life, the author compares the empirical evidence that DeNora discovered in her usage of qualitative interviews with the existing theories on the self, and proposes that the self can be better described through a multi-faceted framework by reconciling with concepts such as dramaturgy posed by Erving Goffman and the cultural toolkit posed by Ann Swidler. Although the goal of the paper is to create a coherent theory on how the construction of the self is better understood, it may fall short in that regard. Hopefully, it paves the way for further research and theorization towards how the self should be interpreted as using music as corroborating evidence.
Description
Keywords
Music, Sociological Theory, Cultural Studies
Citation
Kuk, B. (2020). The Consumption of Music as a Construction of Self. Calgary, AB: University of Calgary.