"Fire, lights, everything!" : exploring symbolic capital in the Tecnobrega dance scene
Name
670221302-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
11.19 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
0d0cb737beda195e1c4878edf160aa50
Author(s)
Domb Krauskopf, Ana Elena
Advisor(s)
Henry Jenkins IlIl.
Alternative Title
Exploring symbolic capital in the Tecnobrega dance scene
Date Issued
2009
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
The music industry, along with the world of media as a whole, is in a state of transition. What is being sold is not so clear anymore, nor is it obvious what parts of the traditional business will survive. Audiences play a crucial role in these shifts; they've become empowered and increased their participation within media industries. Working towards the premise that audiences can add value to media businesses beyond the act of consumption, this thesis argues that for media industries to benefit from their contributions it is first necessary to locate these audiences as active participants and producers of value. This thesis studies the dynamics of participatory audiences through the case of Brazil's Tecnobrega scene (literally 'cheesy techno'), expanding on a 10-day ethnographic field trip to the capital of Tecnobrega, Belem. This music industry has circumvented mainstream conventions by forgoing copyright and collaborating with 'pirates'. Tecnobrega's audiences not only assist in the circulation of content, but through their socializing and fan production, they create and trade symbolic capital that directly affects the popularity, and consequently the perception of value, of various parts of the industry. The competencies acquired through these types of participation have the potential to overflow into other domains; they can help shift the conceptualization of the public sphere and can, likewise, become paths for the exploration of cultural citizenship and agency within globalization processes.
Description
Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Comparative Media Studies, 2009.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-88).
Subjects
Comparative Media Studies.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Program in Comparative Media Studies/Writing
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