This assignment concerns the novel “High Fidelity,” which address primarily a guy named Rob who owns a record store in England. It addresses his problems with relationships, but it is also very revealing about the value systems of subcultures – in this case one about music – in which members place a very high value on adhering to subcultural values instead of conventional.
Read the novel, which is also a film (but the film has different characters and a different ending), and in the lecture for Lesson 6 pay careful attention to the news article at the beginning, and the information about subcultures and the concept of subcultural capital.
Write at least 300 words on the following – you must address each question, with concrete examples from the book!: In the book “High Fidelity” one of the characters says “What matters is what you like, not what you are like,” which suggests that your personal tastes are more important than your character.
1) Explain how this idea was expressed in the book by the behavior of the three guys in the store. You can write about Rob’s girlfriends, but you have to address the store.
2) Address how the guys’ behavior concerning music can be explained in terms of the concepts of subculture and subcultural capital, concepts which are discussed in Lesson 6. You must use these terms in your discussion of the book.
Address 1) what you think is their musical subculture, and 2) what the subcultural capital is in this subculture. You should draw from the discussion of these concepts in a) Lesson 6 lecture, and b) the associated material in Grazian. Address both subculture and subcultural capital as both concepts and with examples from the book
3) Address how/if the main characters at the store adhered to the idea of “What matters is what you like” throughout the book. Did they change their view of the importance of taste, and if so, what are some examples?
You are expected to answer this question with considerable detail, and address each aspect of the question with examples from the book and the lecture. I will be grading this one very critically, so an answer that does not address the quote, the guys in the store, and the two concepts will not receive a good grade.
If you answer with examples that are in the film, but not in the book, points will be deducted.
