Thesis for the Degree of Candidate of Art Studies by specialty 26.00.01
«Theory and History of Culture». – National Academy of Managerial Staff of Culture
and Arts, Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, Kyiv, 2019.
The t
hesis
explores Ukrainian pop rock as a component of the popular musical
culture of the late
20
th
– early
21
st
century; developed the theoretical foundations of
the study of popular music from the standpoint of the theory of cultural codes;
highlights the work of leading Ukrainian artists working in the direction of pop rock
groups – «Okean Elzy», «Scryabin», «Druha Rika»,
«
S.K.A.I.», «Motor
’
rolla»,
«
Antytila», «Lama», «O.Torvald», singers Maria Burmaka, Alyona Vinnytska, Mika
Newton; the cultural potential of pop rock was revealed and its influence on the
transformation of the cultural and artistic sphere of Ukraine at the of the late
20
th
–
early
21
st
century is indicated. The terminological apparatus in the field of popular
musical culture has been improved. The sociocultural functions of rock art of the
postmodern era are clarified. The problems associated with the study of the popular
musical culture of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries were further
developed.
Pop rock as a representative direction of popular musical culture is
characterized by a code dichotomy
«
social engagement – social conformism
»
, which
illustrates the dual genesis of pop rock, combining rock art with its protest and non-
conformist potential, and pop music, which is usually socially indifferent and has an
entertaining character. Ukrainian pop rock as a national type of world pop rock is a
more complex conglomerate of cultural codes, as it combines the Western cultural
code not only with Ukrainian, but also post-Soviet. The most significant characters
for modern culture acquire images, themes, plots, are concentrated in texts, music, the
visual range of video clips and the image of rock performers.
In their work, pop rock performers use behavioral models and production
strategies developed in the music industry, among which the promotion of their
creativity, especially through video clips as presentation clips not only of their own
product, but also of the collective itself and the formation of their own image, gain
the leading importance, which makes the artist unique and recognizable. In a video
clip, using the trinity of text, music and visuals, a song acquires multidimensional
meanings. The cultural opposition
«
social engagement – social conformism
»
,
Western and Ukrainian or post-Soviet cultural codes form the foundation of the work
of art, which are complemented by others depending on the content of the works. In
the video clips of Ukrainian pop rock performers, urbanistic, nostalgic, glamorous
cultural codes, oppositions
«
natural – artificial
»
,
«
life – death
»
and others polyphonic
interact in the text, music and video. Thanks to the use of the most significant cultural
codes, and not just common places and well-established clichés, the achievements of
Ukrainian musicians working in the style of pop rock acquire a new meaningful
dimension, approaching elite culture. Ukrainian musicians working in the style of pop
rock are guided by the fashion ideas of Western artists. The image of Ukrainian pop
rock artists is characterized by a wide range – from a romantic hero to a harsh rocker,
from a teenage girl to a glamorous diva.
The national element in pop rock is illustrated through the cultivation of the
Ukrainian language, the use of elements of the national musical language and the
15appeal to themes that are consonant with Ukrainian cultural traditions. In the light of
new trends in modern culture, an expansion of the range of sociocultural functions of
rock music is noted, among which the key ones are aesthetic, innovative-creative,
ideological, educational, nation-forming, identification, compensatory,
communicative, entertaining and recreational functions. Particular attention is paid to
the nation-forming function of rock art, which during the period of dominance of
Russian stars in the Ukrainian cultural space and the transition of Ukrainian artists to
Russian, due to the concentration of rock musicians in the Ukrainian-language
repertoire, became one of the leading ones.
