The Power of Pop (Culture)

Although digital music videos reach a broad audience and have significantly altered practices of cultural participation, they have not received the scholarly attention that they deserve. Kathrin Dreckmann’s study navigates a complex web of disciplinary intersections, methodological frameworks and reception practices in order to evaluate music videos as sites of cultural production, contestation, resistance and identity construction. This interdisciplinary analysis reflects critically on the Eurocentric canon of art history and illuminates practices of citation, appropriation and reimagination of (so-called) high cultures. Dreckmann explores diasporic histories through a postcolonial lens by focusing on artists such as Beyoncé, Little Simz, Lil Nas X and Janelle Monaé and examines the potential of Black, female and queer empowerment. While numerous introductory texts and compendia have laid the groundwork for the field of media and cultural studies, there remains an urgent need for critical reflection on the methodological paradigms that shape the discipline today. This study’s interdisciplinary approach reflects and expands on methodologies of media and cultural studies and suggests possibilities for exploring and engaging critically with digital audiovisual media and broader sociopolitical discourses.