Masaryk University Faculty of Education DepartmentofEnglishLanguageandLiterature A COURSE DESIGN : CULTURAL IMAGES OF CONTEMPORARY BRITAIN IN POPULAR LYRICS Diploma Thesis Brno2007 ŠárkaMlčochová Supervisor: Mgr.Lucie Podroužková,PhD. Prohlašuji, že jsem diplomovou práci zpracovala samostatně a použila jen pramenyuvedenévseznamuliteratury. ____________________ ŠárkaMlčochová I would like to thank Mgr. Lucie Podroužková, PhD. for her kind and patient supervision and for the advice she provided to me during my work on this diploma thesis. CONTENT 4 _______________________________________________________________________ 1. INTRODUCTION 6 1.1. ARGUMENT 6 1.2. POPULAR CULTURE 7 1.3. LEARNING A SECOND CULTURE 10 1.3.1. WHY POPULAR LYRICS ? 12 1.4. HOW TO USE THE TEXTBOOK 12 1.5. PREFACE TO THE TEXTBOOK 14 2. THE TEXTBOOK 16 2.1. MONARCHY , POLITICS AND CLASS 16 2.1.1. GOD SAVE THE QUEEN 16 2.1.2. MR. CHURCHILL SAYS 18 2.1.3. POST WORLD WAR II BLUES 20 2.1.4. SHIPBUILDING , ISLAND OF NO RETURN 21 2.1.5. GHOST TOWN 24 2.1.6. A DESIGN FOR LIFE 24 2.1.7. COCAINE SOCIALISM , TONY BLAIR 25 2.1.8. I’M WITH STUPID 27 2.1.9. GORDON BROWN 28 2.2. LIFESTYLE , LEISURE AND MEDIA 30 2.2.1. TOO YOUNG TO BE MARRIED 30 2.2.2. YOUNG TURKS 31 2.2.3. NO CLAUSE 28 32 2.2.4. KASHKA FROM BAGHDAD 33 2.2.5. PROBLEM CHILD 34 2.2.6. HERE COMES THE WEEKEND , POOR PEOPLE 35 2.2.7. TWO PINTS OF LAGER AND A PACKET OF CRISPS PLEASE , 37 HURRY UP HARRY 2.2.8. HURRY UP ENGLAND , WORLD AT YOUR FEET 39 2.2.9. WEST INDIES CRICKET SONG 40 2.2.10. COUNTRY HOUSE 41 2.2.11. ROY ROGERS 42 2.2.12. RADIO GA GA 43 2.2.13. A DAY IN THE LIFE 44 2.2.14. INTERNET LOVE 45 CONTENT 5 _______________________________________________________________________ 2.3. ETHNICITY AND MULTICULTURALISM 47 2.3.1. LONDON IS THE PLACE FOR ME 47 2.3.2. SHANTY TOWN 48 2.3.3. HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY 49 2.3.4. REDEMPTION SONG 50 2.3.5. WHITE RIOT 51 2.3.6. IT DREAD INNA INGLAN 52 2.3.7. THE GUNS OF BRIXTON 53 2.3.8. MUNDIAN TO BACH KE 55 2.3.9. THE GROUND BENEATH HER FEET 56 2.3.10. SGUABAN ARBHAIR 57 2.3.11. SCOTS WHA HAE , FLOWER OF SCOTLAND 59 2.3.12. INTERNATIONAL VELVET 60 2.3.13. EBONY AND IVORY 61 2.4. YOUTH CULTURES AND TRENDS 63 2.4.1. GAMBLIN ’ MAN 63 2.4.2. MY GENERATION 65 2.4.3. (I CAN ’T GET NO) SATISFACTION 66 2.4.4. ALI BABA ’S CAMEL , LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS 67 2.4.5. SKINHEAD MOONSTOMP 69 2.4.6. ANARCHY IN THE UK 70 2.4.7. REJECT OF SOCIETY 71 2.4.8. TAINTED LOVE 72 2.4.9. BATTLE OF THE BEANFIELD 73 2.4.10. THEIR LAW 74 2.4.11. END OF A CENTURY 75 3. CONCLUSION 77 RESUMÉ 79 BIBLIOGRAPHY 80 DISCOGRAPHY 85 INTRODUCTION 6 _______________________________________________________________________ 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. ARGUMENT This diploma thesis tries tograsp a new concept of understandingcontemporary Britishcultural phenomena.It attempts todesigna textbook basedonthe investigation of cultural features in popular lyrics composed in Britain in the second half of the twentieth century. The textbook may be used as both self-study material for English teachers and a textbookfor advancedlearners of the Englishlanguage.Above all,it is intended as alternative course material for universitystudents witha particular interest inBritishcultural studies.The textbookalsocomplies withthe requirements of cross- curricularapproachtoteachingandlearning. The incentive todesignthe course originatedfrom the author’s practical needto outline some kindof procedure tocomprehendandinterpret selectedcultural images of contemporaryBritain.The keyconceptionis basedonthe propositionthat a great deal of what is recognized as a British cultural attribute is integrated into British popular lyricsandmaybetransparentlypresentedinacompactform that thelyricsoffer. The textbookdoes not necessarilyprovide readymade lessonplans, but contains short backgroundreadingonthe selectedissues that are to be further developedby the analysis of the lyrics attached. Should both teachers and students like to use the textbook, they are to adapt the individual cultural images to their own purposes and approachthem creatively. Eventhoughthe content of the textbookis basedona variety of topics andphenomena,it is tobe usedas a supplementarysourcebook andalways in conjunctionwithotherkindsof materialandfurtherreading. Infour self-containedchapters,the thesis strives tocover selectedimages of four extended areas of contemporary British cultural background and their reflection in popular lyrics.The methodof structuring the content of the chapters maybe labelledas a topic clusters stratification, which means that issues being described are classified accordingtotherelevantareaofcultureinwhichtheymanifestthemselves. Chapter one of the textbook emphasizes the role of the British monarchy, politics and class as creators of British culture. Besides the attention paid to leisure, Chapter two examines to what extent British culture coincides with its lifestyle and depicts the cultural backgroundof specific media outcomes.Chapter three traces back INTRODUCTION 7 _______________________________________________________________________ Britain’s transformation into a multicultural and multiethnic society. Chapter four comments on the power youth cultures attained throughout the second half of the twentiethcenturyandtrends whichhave influencedthe contemporaryBritishcultural climate. Toestablish the criteria for the choice of cultural phenomena andlyrics included in the text, the author searched for themes that are supposed to raise one’s level of general knowledge inthe fieldof British cultural studies,suchas political power,race prejudice and generation gap. However,peculiarities of different areas of culture and thehugevolumeofavailableinformationhadtobecriticallytakenintoconsideration. Since the traditional concept of investigating Britishcultural studies has proved tobe that of anacademic discipline, sources from Britishstudies,cultural studies and popularculturesections arediscussedthroughoutthe text. The purpose of this diploma thesis is not toprovide students andlearners witha complete outline of Britishculture.The mainaim is tomotivate them toawakentheir interest in selected contemporary cultural issues via popular lyrics, an attractive and easilyapproachable kind of educational material, andconsider the idea that it is the past five decades whichform what maybe regardedas the cultural image of contemporary Britain. 1.2. POPULAR CULTURE Theories of popular culture have fed into the conception of this thesis.However, the theories diverge in their estimation what exactly might be covered by the term ‘popular culture’. The expressions ‘popular’ and ‘culture’ are concepts of several semanticlayers.Storey(2005),forinstance,discussessixdefinitionsof popularculture: 1. Theculturethatiswidelyfavoured. 2. Theculturethatis “leftover”whenitisdecidedwhat‘highculture’is. 3. Massculture.Acommercialculture, mass producedformassconsumption. 4. An authentic culture of the people. However, defining and identifying what authenticityisandwhothe peoplearemaybea problem. 5. Asiteofstruggle betweentheresistanceofsubordinategroupsinsocietyandthe forcesofincorporationoperatingintheinterests ofdominantgroupsinsociety. INTRODUCTION 8 _______________________________________________________________________ 6. A postmodernapproachwhichnolonger recognises the distinctionbetweenhigh andpopular culture. Strinati claims that the theories of popular culture are tobe conditionedbythree relatedthemes.The first concerns whoor what exactlydetermines popular culture.The second concerns the influence of commercialism and industrialisation on popular culture.The thirdconcernstheideological roleof popularculture.(1995) Eventhoughthe thesis is not primarilyconcernedwiththe proposedarguments, it spontaneouslypresumes that it is people or groups of people,bothelites andthose from ‘below’, who determines the popular culture. However, the idea of the thesis is based on the conviction that popular culture does not emerge just from the people themselves as anexpressionof their interest,but it is partly imposedfrom above bya typeofsocialandpoliticalcontrolandthoseinpositionsof power. Furthermore,the thesis asserts that products of popular culture are conditioned rather byprofitabilityandmarketabilitythantheir qualityandintellectual legacy.The thesis alsoclaims that popular culture emerges from the urbanisationof the industrial revolution. Strinati questions whether popular culture indoctrinates people to adhere tothe values of those whoexercise power over them or if it is about oppositiontothe social order. (ibid.) The thesis holds the view that in society there exists some kind of resistance to those inpower inthe form of rebellion,whichfrequentlycreates dominant waysofthinkingandactingwithinthe public . Storey(2005) further emphasises the experience of living ina postmodernand capitalist society,which is a wayof life increasinglydominatedbythe mass media.The comingof the mass media and increasingcommercialisationof cultural artefacts seem tothreatentodestroythe pure groundof the theories mentionedabove.O’Brienrefers tothis phenomenonas “culture contamination”.(2004: 4) It seems that transformations associated with the rise of industrial production have destabilised the values which theoriesof‘highculture’ pushedforward. Fiske claims that in a capitalist society, everyone is a consumer and that consumption is the only way of obtaining the resources for life. (1989) Cultural scientists refer to such a consumer society, in which industrialisation unties bonds betweenpeople,as a mass society.The