Youth and intersectional belonging in drum & bugle corps subculture

This dissertation asks how young people experience belonging in drum and bugle corps dependent on the intersections of their multiple identities, including race, class, gender, and sexuality. By conducting fieldwork with the members and alumni of the 7th Regiment drum corps community from the mid-2000s through the 2010s, I examine how modern drum corps is a youth subculture that creates space for social and cultural change resulting in opportunities for young people to feel like they belong to various degrees. Those privileged enough to participate can ultimately have a life-changing transformation often described in embodied ways reflecting artistic and daily processes. Still, the institutional structures (primarily class exclusion) and performance practices (especially hypermasculinity) mean that not everyone has the same experience of belonging. Still, this subculture can empower young people in certain respects to influence incremental change. This study showcases how change is possible but ultimately relies on leadership decisions over institutional shifts. It suggests that drum corps can represent American music-making as a unique process rather than a particular genre or style.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Musicology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• Jorge, Jamil

Contributors dc:contributor

• Solis, Gabriel
• Magee, Gayle
• Solis, Michael
• Kwon, Soo-Ah

• Drum and Bugle Corps
• Marching Band
• Brass Band
• American Music
• Belonging
• Youth
• Subculture
• Race
• Class
• Gender
• Sexuality
• Intersecting Identities
• Intersectionality
• Hypermasculinity
• Embodiment
• Empowerment
• Color Guard
• Drumline
• Drum
• Bugle
• Band
• Nationalism
• Social Change
• Cultural Change
• Process
• Community
• Ethnography
• Ethnomusicology
• Musicology
• Diversity
• Equity
• Inclusion

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2022 Jamil Jorge

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/116233

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F116233