Ch. 3 from the seminal work by Dick Hebdige on youth subcultures in the UK, Subculture, The Meaning of Style (1979) presents some historical-cultural context for the story told in Lovers Rock. On p. 38, note the discussion of the ‘sound-system’: “perhaps more than any other institution within working-class West Indian life…the site at which blackness could be most thoroughly explored, most clearly and uncompromisingly expressed.”
Read/View
- Dick Hebdige. Chapter 3, Exodus: A double crossing (pp. 30-45). Subculture, The Meaning of Style. Methuen & Company, 1979.
- On Amazon view Lovers Rock (2020), a feature length film by Steve McQueen that is part of the Small Axe anthology series first produced by the BBC.
NOTE: If you don’t have Amazon Prime, it appears that students can get a 6-month free subscription. If that doesn’t work, contact instructor to work something out.
Optional background information on Small Axe series: Ellen Jones. Small Axe: the black British culture behind Steve McQueen’s stunning new series. The Guardian UK, Nov. 14, 2020.
Written responses to reading questions are optional — however please read through them as they will help guide classroom discussion. If you do them, post on your rolling Google doc with assignment name, date; send link to instructor.
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General response to Hebdige, Chapter 3. What are some take-aways?
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General responses to Lovers Rock; here’s some possible prompts:
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What’s the story it tells? Questions?
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What do you appreciate? What stands out?
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What does it say about youth subcultures?
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In what ways, if any, does it relate to your lived experiences? Of being part of subcultures, or not?