Crossover: boundaries, hybridity, and the problem of opposing cultures

Classical crossover is a term regularly used but not yet adequately defined. This<br/>thesis attempts to redress this imbalance through a study of the relationships<br/>between high and low musical cultures. Starting from the separation of highbrow<br/>and lowbrow, the concepts of genre and musical taste are considered in relation to<br/>their connections to social hierarchies, leading to an analysis of what happens<br/>when they hybridise. Sociological scholarship, cultural criticism and contemporary<br/>musicology are combined to offer insights into ways in which we can control music,<br/>and ways in which music can control us, with particular emphasis on the field of<br/>classical crossover. Case studies reflecting issues of aesthetic preference,<br/>celebrity and image, promotion and marketing, and expanding demographic<br/>access feature as part of a broader examination of the benefits and drawbacks of<br/>cross-cultural collaborations.<br/><br/>This thesis clearly shows that generic affinity no longer defines either audience<br/>identity or social status, and that musicology's ideas of public reception, informed<br/>by social theory, are no longer relevant. It proposes that crossover indicates music<br/>that crosses boundaries of public reception, and that these boundaries can be<br/>unconsciously or deliberately manipulated. It recognises a need to keep pace with<br/>social change, and a need to reevaluate the separation of classical, popular, and<br/>non-Western cultures, both in musicology and in other humanities disciplines.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Ph.D.

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Southampton

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Llewellyn, Elizabeth

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Nicholls, David