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ERIC Number: EJ784601
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007-Dec
Pages: 27
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0037-7732
EISSN: N/A
Deconstructing Cultural Omnivorousness 1982-2002: Heterology in Americans' Musical Preferences
Garcia-Alvarez, Ercilia; Katz-Gerro, Tally; Lopez-Sintas, Jordi
Social Forces, v86 n2 p417-443 Dec 2007
This research examines heterogeneity in Americans' musical tastes by separating breadth and level of taste, taking into account the structural constraints such as cohort, period, social class, gender and racial composition, which have shaped Americans' musical preferences over the past 20 years. We identify four types of respondents who share similar taste patterns that correspond to different degrees of omnivorousness: omnivores, limited, temperates and moderates. We argue that taste patterns deviate from the usual elitist basis in that omnivores are depicted as both highbrow individuals with lowbrow taste and non-highbrow individuals with lowbrow taste. We also find that structural constraints have little impact on breadth of tastes among omnivores and a relatively high impact on breadth of tastes among limited, temperates and moderates. Heterology is emphasized (rather than the Bourdieuvian homology) in an examination of the equivalence between the social structure and the cultural sphere. Heterology recognizes that breadth and level of taste are two independent dimensions of cultural consumption. (Contains 2 figures, 3 tables and 9 notes.)
University of North Carolina Press. 116 South Boundary Street, P.O. Box 2288, Chapel Hill, NC 27515-2288. Tel: 800-848-6224; Tel: 919-966-7449; Fax: 919-962-2704; e-mail: uncpress@unc.edu; Web site: http://uncpress.unc.edu/journals/j-sf.html
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A