This research examines whether opposition between higher and lower forms of youth
culture still contributes to the emergence of groups with different cultural tastes.
Do youth at higher levels of secondary education (for example,
pre-university education) tend to display ‘omnivorous’
tastes nowadays (Peterson, 1992), just as highly educated adults
do? A sample of Dutch adolescents (N = 226)
completed a questionnaire concerning their preferences in several cultural domains
(music, film and television, light reading and literature, receptive
cultural participation). Four groups or clusters representing cultural
styles were identified: omnivores, moderate omnivores, a group interested primarily
in popular culture, and a culturally disinterested group; each group comprised about
a quarter of the sample. Whereas girls were overrepresented in the first two groups,
boys were more common in the latter two groups. The two groups with omnivorous
tastes appear to fit the profile of ‘normal’ youth. Otherwise,
the four cultural groups could not be linked to specific youth subcultures.
Aapola, Sinikka
,
Gonick, Marnina
and
Harris, Anita
(2005) Young Femininity: Girlhood, Power
and Social change.
Houndmills: Palgrave
.
2.
Bennet, Tony
,
Emisson, Michael
and
From, John
(1999) Accounting for Tastes: Every Day
Cultures in the Lifes of Australians.
Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press
.
3.
Bennett, Andy
(2001) Cultures of Popular Music.
Buckinham, UK: Open University Press
.
4.
Bourdieu, Pierre
(1984) Distinction. A Social Critique of
the Judgement of Taste.
London/New York: Routledge and Kegan
Paul
.
5.
Clarke, John
,
Hall, Stuart
,
Jefferson, Tony
and
Roberts, Brian
(1976) ‘Sub-cultures, Cultures
and Class. A Theoretical Overview’, in
Stuart Hall
and
Tony Jefferson
(eds) Resistance through Rituals, pp.
9–74.
London: Hutchinson
.
6.
Dieleman, Arjan
,
Geurten, Marijke
and
Ter Meulen, Ruud
(1983) ‘
Meisjes- en Jongensculturen in Engeland. Het jeugdkultuuronderzoek van het
Birmingham Centre for Con-emporary Cultural Studies
’ (Boys’ and Girls’ Youth Cultures
in England. The Youth Research of the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural
Studies), Te elfder ure35 (3):
535–48
.
7.
Eco, Umberto
(1988) De Structuur van de Slechte
Smaak (The Structure of Bad Taste).
Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Bert Bakker
.
8.
Förnas, Johan
,
Lindberg, Ulf
and
Sernhede, Ove
(1995) In Garageland: Rock, Youth and
Modernity.
London: Routledge
.
9.
Ganzeboom, Harry
(1988) Leefstijlen in Nederland. Een
Verkennende Studie (Lifestyles in the Netherlands. An Exploratory
Study).
The Hague: Sociaal en Cultureel
Planbureau
.
10.
Harris, Anita
(ed.) (2004) All about
the Girl: Culture, Power, and Identity.
New York: Routledge
.
11.
Hebdige, Dick
(1979) Subculture: the Meaning of
Style.
Methuen: London
.
12.
Jansen, Susanne
(2005) ‘
Het Soortelijk Gewicht van Kunst in een Open Samenleving. De Classificatie
van Cultuuruitingen in Nederland en andere Westerse Landen na 1950
’ (The Specific Gravity of Art in an Open Society. The
Classification of Cultural Phenomena in the Netherlands and Other Western Countries
since 1950), Sociologie1 (3):
292–315
.
13.
Janssen, Jacques
and
Prins, Maarten
(1991) ‘
Jeugdsubculturen Binnenste Buiten. Een onderzoek naar de Homologie van
Jeugdculturen
’ (Youth Subcultures Inside Out. Research into the
Homology of Youth Cultures), Jeugd en Samenleving (Youth and
Society)21(2/3):
194–212
.
14.
Lopez-Sintas, Jordi
and
Garcia-Alvarez, Ercilia
(2002) ‘
Omnivores Show up Again. The Segmentation of Consumers in Spanish Social
Space
’, European Sociological Review18 (3):
253–68
.
15.
McRobbie, Angela
(1978) ‘Working Class Girls
and the Culture of Femininity’, in Women's Studies
Group Centre for Contemporary Studies University of Birmingham
(ed.) Women Take Issue. Aspects of Women's
Subordination, pp. 96–108.
London: Hutchinson
.
16.
McRobbie, Angela
and
Garber, Jenny
(1976) ‘Girls and
Subcultures’, in
Stuart Hall
and
Tony Jefferson
(eds) Resistance through Rituals, pp.
209–22.
London: Hutchinson
.
17.
Peterson, Richard A.
(1992) ‘
Understanding Audience Segmentation: From Elite and Mass to Omnivore and
Univore
’, Poetics2 (4):
243–58
.
18.
Peterson, Richard A.
(1997) ‘
The Rise and Fall of Highbrow Snobbery as a Status Marker
’, Poetics25 (1):
75–92
.
19.
Peterson, Richard A.
(2005) ‘
Problem in Comparative Research: The Example of Omnivorousness
’, Poetics33 (5):
257–82
.
20.
Peterson, Richard A.
and
Kern, Roger M.
(1996) ‘
Changing Highbrow Taste: From Snob to Omnivore
’, American Sociological Review61 (5):
900–7
.
21.
Peterson, Richard A.
and
Simkus, Albert
(1992) ‘How Musical Tastes
Mark Occupational Status Groups’, in
Michele Lamont
and
Marcel Fournier
(eds) Cultivating Differences: Symbolic Boundaries and
the Making of Inequality, pp. 152–86.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press
.
Ter Bogt, Tom
(2000) ‘De geschiedenis van
jeugdcultuur en popmuziek’ (History of Youth Culture
and Pop Music), in
Tom Ter Bogt
and
Belinda Hibbel
(eds) Wilde jaren. Een eeuw Jeugdculturen
(Wild Years. A Century of Youth Cultures), pp.
11–167.
Utrecht: Lemma
.
24.
Ter Bogt, Tom
and
Hibbel, Belinda
(eds) (2000) Wilde jaren.
Een eeuw Jeugdculturen (Wild Years. A Century of Youth
Cultures).
Utrecht: Lemma
.
25.
Ter Bogt, Tom
,
Raaijmakers, Quinten
,
Vollebergh, Wilma
,
Van Wel, Frits
and
Sikkema, Paul
(2003) ‘
Youngsters and their Musical Taste: Musical Styles and Taste Groups
’, The Netherlands' Journal of Social Sciences39 (1):
35–52
.
26.
Ter Bogt, Tom
and
Van Praag, Carlo
(1992) Jongeren op de Drempel van de Jaren
Negentig (Youth at the Threshold of the 1990s).
Amersfoort: Giordano Bruno
.
27.
Tillekens, Ger
(1993) ‘
Het Patroon van de Popmuziek. De Vier Dimensies van Jeugdstijlen
’ (The Pattern of Pop Music. The Four dimensions of
Youth Cultural Styles), Sociologische Gids40 (2):
177–94
.
28.
Vander Stichele, Alexander
and
Laermans, Rudi
(2004) ‘
Cultuurparticipatie in Vlaanderen: Een Toetsing van de These van de
Culturele Omnivoor
’ (Cultural Participation in Flandre. A Test of the
Thesis of the Cultural Omnivore), Tijdschrift voor Sociologie25 (2):
195–219
.
29.
Van den Broek, Andries
,
Huysmans, Frank
and
De Haan, Jos
(2005) Cultuurminnaars en Cultuurmijders.
Trends in de Belangstelling voor Kunsten en Cultureel Erfgoed
(Lovers and Haters of Culture. Trends in the Interest in Arts and Cultural
Heritage).
The Hague: Sociaal en Cultureel
Planbureau
.
30.
Van Eijck, Koen
(1999) ‘
Socialization, Education, and Lifestyle: How Social Mobility Increases the
Cultural Heterogeneity of Status Groups
’, Poetics26(5/6):
309–28
.
31.
Van Eijck, Koen
(2000) ‘
Richard A. Peterson and the Culture of Consumption
’, Poetics28(2/3):
207–24
.
32.
Van Eijck, Koen
(2001) ‘
Social Differentiation in Musical Taste Patterns
’, Social Forces79 (3):
1165–185
.
33.
Van Eijck, Koen
,
De Haan, Jos
and
Knulst, Wim
(2002) ‘
Snobisme Hoeft Niet Meer. De Interesse voor Hoge Cultuur in een
Smaakdemocratie
’ (No More Need for Snobbism: The Interest in Highbrow
Culture in a Taste Democracy), Mens en Maatschappij
(People and Society) 77
(2):
153–77
.
34.
Van Wel, Frits
(1993) ‘
Een Cultuurkloof tussen de Generaties? Cultuurstijlen onder
Jongeren en hun Persoonlijk Netwerk
’ (A Culture Gap Between the Generations?
Cultural Styles among Youth and their Social Network), Boekmancahier5 (3):
306–27
.
35.
Van Wel, Frits
(1994) ‘
A Culture Gap between the Generations? Social Influences on Youth
Cultural Style
’, International Journal of Adolescence and Youth4(3/4):
211–28
.
36.
Van Wel, Frits
and
Van der Gouwe, Daan
(1990) ‘
Smaken Verschillen. Jongeren over Muziek, Boeken en Films
’ (Tastes Differ. Youth and its Preferences for Music,
Books and Films), Comenius10 (4):
543–44
.
37.
Van Wel, Frits
,
Couwenbergh-Soeterboek, Nellie
,
Couwenbergh, Chrisje
,
Ter Bogt, Tom
and
Raaijmakers, Quinten
(2006) ‘
Ethnicity, Youth Cultural Participation, and Cultural Reproduction in the
Netherlands
’, Poetics34 (1):
65–82
.
38.
Van Wel, Frits
,
Kort, Toon
,
Jansen, Ellen
and
Linssen, Hub
(1996) ‘
Ethnicity and Youth Cultural Participation in the Netherlands
’, Journal of Leisure Research28 (2):
85–95
.
39.
Verhagen, Stijn
,
Van Wel, Frits
,
Ter Bogt, Tom
and
Hibbel, Belinda
(2000) ‘
Fast on 200 Beats Per Minute. The Youth Culture of Gabbers in the
Netherlands
’, Youth and Society32 (2):
147–64
.
40.
Voorpostel, Marieke
and
Van der Lippe, Tanja
(2001) ‘
Jongeren en Cultuur. Een Verklaring voor Verschillen in Deelname aan
Elitaire en Populaire Cultuur
’ (Youth and Culture. An Explanation of Differences in
Highbrow and Popular Cultural Participation), Mens en
Maatschappij (People and Society) 76
(3):
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.
