The Instances of Delineation in Rock-Culture Discourse

Abstract

The main concepts of the article are discourse and instances of delineation. This is a set of social institutions that can form the structure of discourse, identify its main and secondary segments. The aim of the research is identification of the instances of delineation in the discourse of rock-culture. The methods of this research included narrative interviews with agents of rock-culture and discourse-analysis. Agents of rock-culture are musicians, their close friends, collector of discs, fans. The research allows us to draw the following conclusions. In the discourse of rock-culture the role of such institutions is fulfilled by a friend, a senior member of family, media and music shops. The friend that structures the discourse should have authority and prestige. They define aesthetic positions, give assessments and exert informational impact. A friend can influence both temporarily and permanently. A senior member of the family affects the discourse in the same way. Other instances of delineation are media and music shops. Media has the effect in rock-discourse of setting the agenda. Methods of forming the agenda are nomination of facts and rankings. A music shop organizes conversation between different agents of rock-culture. A shop operates like media. It provides positive nomination segments of discourse: the demanded goods create a certain verbal series influencing a visitor of the shop. A visitor enters a certain context that leads them to perceive themselves as a referent product that can further the thesaurus of the subject. The structure of the discourse formation is determined by the institutions that act both in the public and in the private field of cultural being. The public instances of delineation are media and musical shops (or market in the reality of Soviet culture). So the discourse of rock performs a double function. It introduces the subject into the sphere of social and cultural innovations. At the same time rock that has a private character returns one to cultural traditions.