Abstract
Unger proposes that sound has a normative imperative that reflects predominant symbols, social practices, and concerns. Unger argues that an examination of the musical subculture of extreme metal reveals how we can see how seemingly archaic symbols have reappeared in contemporary culture. This chapter suggests that by examining the different ways that defilement is a significant symbolic node around which extreme metal musicians make their aesthetic decisions. We can see how sound reflects and shapes meaning practices. In this introductory chapter, Unger explores the qualitative methodologies and hermeneutical frameworks that foreground his book including a brief introduction to Paul Ricoeur’s philosophy. He argues that the familiar critiques of extreme metal and similar forms of popular culture, far from being simple examples of moral outrage or even moral panic, actually are symptomatic of a certain forgetfulness of the significance of the symbols of defilement and authenticity in contemporary culture.
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Unger, M.P. (2016). Introduction. In: Sound, Symbol, Sociality. Palgrave Pivot, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-47835-1_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-47835-1_1
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