Rock criticism, the nonfiction writing about rock, pop, r&b, and hip-hop published in newspapers and magazines, has been brilliantly analyzed from the perspectives of Sociology, Postmodernism, and Gender Studies, but except for the appreciations of canonical critics in book reviews, little has been written about the prose stylistic features that distinguish rock criticism as genre. My paper will attempt to initiate such a study, reading popular rock writing formalistically, yet tracing these formal features to questions of culture, politics, and gender. I will argue that rock writers, especially of the 1960’s and 1970’s, drew a spirit of rebellion from the artists and scene that they covered; however, having radicalized the role of the critic, rock writers created a spectacular prose style that could be consumed apart from the music that often became only an occasion for writing, a style that remained fresh and challenging even after the music became tame. By reading key passages from major critics like Lester Bangs, Richard Meltzer, and Greil Marcus, but also passages from lesser known critics in little magazines and fanzines, I will define the formal features of rock criticism, locate them within the radical discourses of the rock, punk, and hip-hop eras, and argue that this distinctive style of turn of the century popular culture should considered alongside the music of the era as powerful element of rock and pop culture.
About the presenterDennis Dominic McDaniel
I am a Professor of English at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA. Though my primary scholarly area is British Renaissance Literature, I have published and presented on rock, punk rock, and rock journalism. For the past 20 years, I have taught a course on Rock ‘n’ Roll Criticism, in which students read Lester Bangs, Greil Marcus, Ellen Willis, Greg Tate, and others as literature.