Subcultures and generations

The genre-based discussion points plausibly to the problems of a schematic separation between “popular” and “religious” music, yet raises additional questions concerning the Eurocentric legacy of the labelling and conceptual compartmentalisation in general. As a racialised genre, rap provides a fertile base for scrutinising how the popular and the sacred intersect. Links between youth, the popular and the sacred do not end here. Alongside the general moral concerns over young people’s cultural activities and products, the younger the humans in question, the stronger the protective and prohibitive attitude tends to be. In this sense, it is possible to note the existence of “sanctity of children” specifically, which rests on the idea that children are by definition morally pure creatures who should be protected from the evils of the world. In the encounters with chamber music, opera and tango, in contrast, no doubt was cast over the technical proficiency of the performers or the audience appreciation.