Choice Outstanding Academic Books 1996 Notes From Underground offers the first Western sociological study of rock music and counterculture in Russian society. Based on participant observation, in-depth interviews, and life-history analysis, the author provides a detailed ethnographic examination of the origins and local meanings of rock music and the countercultural way of life of rock musicians in St. Petersburg during the socialist period of Russian history. Rock music served as the basis for alternative forms of individual and collective identity which stood as beacons of difference and resistance in the bleak cultural environment of socialist industrial society. Cushman explores the experiences of members of the St. Petersburg musical community after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in order to shed light on the following questions: What happens to oppositional "underground" culture when it "comes up from the underground" What is the fate of Russian rock music and those who make it under new conditions of the rapid capitalist rationalization of post-Soviet Russian society? The book traces the experiences of musicians in new capitalist culture markets, both in Russia and in Western societies to illustrate the more general process of "commercialization of dissent" which is taking place in post-communist societies. Russia's entrance into the path of Western capitalist modernity is viewed not so much as a path to freedom and cultural autonomy, but as the intersection of two trajectories of modernity that has given rise to new and unique cultural dilemmas. It concludes with an examination of important theoretical issues about the problematic relationship between capitalism, cultural freedom, and democracy in contemporary Russian society.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Thomas Cushman is Associate Professor of Sociology at Wellesley College and a Fellow at the Harvard Russian Research Center.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
What a disappointment!,
By Big Beat (Somewhere in cyberspace) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Notes from Underground: Rock Music Counterculture in Russia (S U N Y Series in the Sociology of Culture) (Hardcover)
What a disappointment! As "the first Western sociological study of rock music counterculture in Russian society", this book immediately caught my attention. At last, I thought, somebody finally realized what an important subject this uncharted territory represents. Unfortunately, Mr. Cushman reduced this exciting cultural and musical phenomenon to a dry, lifeless, longwinded and limited textbook. Not only will this book turn off the curious layman, it will also frustrate anyone who's familiar with the subject.To begin with, a short visit to St. Petersburg does not make one an expert on Rock music of the entire former Soviet Union. Even a major city like Moscow is barely mentioned. This is similar to writing about British Beat music of the 1960's and ignoring every town except Liverpool. The author may as well change the subtitle to "Rock Music Counterculture in St. Petersburg". Mr. Cushman doesn't always have his facts straight, either. One glaring example, of which there are many, proves a lack of knowledge of even the most basic elements of Russian pop culture. Anyone who refers to Woland as "Wolin" has never read a page of Bulgakov, in Russian or in translation. Finally, the whole business of obfuscating the names of performers and bands is insulting and ridiculous. Cushman argues that he has to preserve anonymity, but one has to remember that all of these people are household names in their homeland. To use the British Beat analogy again, one doesn't usually think of Paul McCartney, for example, as a faceless "social type" or habitually refer to him as "the musician Paul M., who played with X, an important English group". Apparently, it had never occurred to Mr. Cushman that his "subjects" might have appreciated a little recognition for a change. I'll spare you the suspense. It wasn't all that difficult to recognize Cushman's subjects, merely frustrating. "Boris" is Boris Grebenschikov of Aquarium. "Kostya" is Kostya Kinchev of Alisa. "Yury" is Yury Shevchuk of DDT. "Viktor" is Viktor Tsoi of Kino. "Misha" is Mikhail Borzykin of Televisor. Now, instead of wasting your money on this book, go buy some of their records.
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