From
Revolution to Revelation: Generation X, popular memory and cultural
studies
by Tara Brabazon
Aldershot, Hants: Ashgate, 2005
ISBN: 0754643964
>>
Ashgate's From Revolution to Revelation page
What happens when
a strobe light is turned off, a bar closed, the colostomy bag belt unhooked,
and a sweaty, smiley bandana discarded? How do we understand our own
past, and the collective past we share with others? Popular culture
offers a bridge, vehicle and vessel for memory, providing the building
blocks of identity. The politics and passion of life are captured in
the unforgettable song, the energy pumped out of an extraordinary nightclub,
the exuberance of an unexpected goal in extra time, and the love of
a film. For a fan, the joy and exhilaration is enough. For those writing
on the coat tails of fashion, we need to understand why particular popular
cultural forms survive through time and space.
This is the task
of From Revolution to Revelation. To rewrite the maxim of the great rock writer Greil Marcus, I am interested in the dustbin of Cultural Studies, the discarded remnants of political struggles and theoretical hopes unrealized. To commence this rummaging, I return to Richard Johnson's theory of popular memory as a way to understand the—now named—Generation X. Those born between 1961 and 1981 have endured many (post) youth cultural labels, from slackers to the chemical/blank generation and baby busters. Yet there is no systematic study of the popular cultural literacies that are the basis of—and for—this imagining community. I document the disappearances of history, showing how popular memory—like the Hacienda—can be (re)built, even after the building itself has been destroyed.
The link between
Generation X and Cultural Studies is not randomly selected. The histories
of both these labels are taken for granted. It was left to Lawrence
Grossberg to remind us that Cultural Studies is
The Generation
X of the academic world … Like the post baby-boom generation
that is referenced in this odd phrase … everyone is talking about
it but no one seems to know what it is. Lots of people are suddenly
claiming to do it while others, nervous about its rather sudden success,
are attacking it.
Such a realization
is radiantly revealed and well captured, but requires evidence and clarification.
From Revolution to Revelation takes up Grossberg's challenge,
following the bread-crumbed trail of popular memory that snakes through
both Generation X and popular culture.
