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Then Was The Beat, And It Was Good. Electronic dance music in Singapore: a case of an emergent post-subculture

Povarich, Polina LU (2009) SIMT05 20091
Graduate School
Master of Science in Global Studies
Abstract
Electronic dance music has been a subject of scientific scrutiny for the past four decades. Many-coloured global club culture is most often seen as lacking political and social agenda, purely pastime-related occurrence within youth subculture. However, in different cultural backgrounds electronic dance music may play different roles and occupy different places. This thesis researches the case of electronic dance music in Singapore. It is studied a newly emergent subcultural formation in the city-state, which somewhat opposes local mainstream youth culture. The main argument is that electronic dance music can be described as a local expression of a global post-subculture of electronic dance music, influenced by factors such as cultural... (More)
Electronic dance music has been a subject of scientific scrutiny for the past four decades. Many-coloured global club culture is most often seen as lacking political and social agenda, purely pastime-related occurrence within youth subculture. However, in different cultural backgrounds electronic dance music may play different roles and occupy different places. This thesis researches the case of electronic dance music in Singapore. It is studied a newly emergent subcultural formation in the city-state, which somewhat opposes local mainstream youth culture. The main argument is that electronic dance music can be described as a local expression of a global post-subculture of electronic dance music, influenced by factors such as cultural globalisation, specificities of local music tastes, and cultural and media policies of the state. The work examines factors, influencing the local development of electronic dance music, with a special attention to the nation-building processes of Singaporean state and their impact on popular culture development. An attempt to classify the local electronic dance music scene as a subcultural formation is made. Certain predictions about the possible future of its development are attempted. The study is conducted on the basis of interviews with scene participants and professionals, as well as media and historical analysis.

Words: 31,262 (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Povarich, Polina LU
supervisor
organization
course
SIMT05 20091
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
post-subculture, electronic dance music, Singapore, globalization, nation-building
language
English
additional info
This thesis wouldn’t be possible without help and support of many people.
I would like to thank Global Studies Master’s Programme administration for giving me the wonderful chance to study in Sweden and travel to Singapore for my research, and the Swedish Institute, especially Michael Skoglund, for making it possible. Kind regards to my friends and colleagues in Singapore, whose help was very valuable. Thanks to my supervisor Annette Hill for her thorough guidance and constructive criticism. Many thanks to my friend Mia, who always picked me up, academically and not only. Special thanks and much love to Florian for always standing by me. And, of course, to my mom, simply the most amazing woman in the world.
id
1398269
date added to LUP
2009-07-02 09:28:13
date last changed
2010-06-04 15:55:17
@misc{1398269,
  abstract     = {{Electronic dance music has been a subject of scientific scrutiny for the past four decades. Many-coloured global club culture is most often seen as lacking political and social agenda, purely pastime-related occurrence within youth subculture. However, in different cultural backgrounds electronic dance music may play different roles and occupy different places. This thesis researches the case of electronic dance music in Singapore. It is studied a newly emergent subcultural formation in the city-state, which somewhat opposes local mainstream youth culture. The main argument is that electronic dance music can be described as a local expression of a global post-subculture of electronic dance music, influenced by factors such as cultural globalisation, specificities of local music tastes, and cultural and media policies of the state. The work examines factors, influencing the local development of electronic dance music, with a special attention to the nation-building processes of Singaporean state and their impact on popular culture development. An attempt to classify the local electronic dance music scene as a subcultural formation is made. Certain predictions about the possible future of its development are attempted. The study is conducted on the basis of interviews with scene participants and professionals, as well as media and historical analysis.

Words: 31,262}},
  author       = {{Povarich, Polina}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Then Was The Beat, And It Was Good. Electronic dance music in Singapore: a case of an emergent post-subculture}},
  year         = {{2009}},
}