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What Makes Popular Christian Music âPopularâ? |
43www.jrfm.eu
2020, 6/2, 41â57
âContemporary Christian Musicâ into YouTube and selected the top match in
each case, namely the song âYou Sayâ by the US-American singer Lauren Dai-
gle and the song âAlles ist möglichâ (âEverything is Possibleâ) by the German
band Koenige & Priester (Kings & Priests).6 This article analyses these songs
through close readings, focusing on the lyrics and the musical design but also
providing contextualizing observations.
Before commencing, I wish to express some self-reflections to outline both
my relationship to the subject as well as my motivation. Although I was con-
firmed in the Lutheran Church at the age of 14, I now identify as agnostic;
as such, I approach the phenomenon of PCM from an outside perspective.
Whilst PCM has not been my main field of research so far, PCM is becoming
a strong academic interest, and I am eager to explore and understand what
PCM means to evangelical circles and how it is used to transmit their beliefs.
Approaches to the Terms âPopularâ and âPopular Cultureâ
Concerning the terms âpopularâ and âpopular cultureâ, I will focus on the plu-
ralistic definitions as outlined by the publication Handbuch PopulÀre Kultur7
(Handbook of Popular Culture) and avoid providing a straightforward defini-
tion (i.e. ââpopularâ / âpopular cultureâ is âŠâ), as what can be expressed through
the termsâ complex (and at times contradictory) aspects can fuel a substantial
seminar without reaching a standardized (or conclusive) definition.8
Etymologically, the word âpopularâ is related to the Latin adverb âpopula-
risâ, the latter meaning âregarding the people / popular within the peopleâ.9
A first, superficial understanding of âpopularâ is thus that it describes some-
thing heard/read/watched by many people, that enjoy it for different reasons,
in a quantity that might be assessed via sales numbers, bestseller lists, charts,
download/streaming numbers or ratings.
A second perspective sees âpopular cultureâ as a counterpart to âhigh cul-
tureâ, a dichotomy found in the dispute between Gottfried August BĂŒrger,
who understood âthe popularâ as a standard for art, and Friedrich Schiller,
who distinguished the public as an uneducated crowd from the educated
6 You Say (Lauren Daigle, US 2018); Alles ist moÌglich (Koenige & Priester, DE 2017).
7 HĂŒgel 2003a.
8 An overview of the pluralistic definitions can also be found in: Storey 2008.
9 HĂŒgel 2003b, 343, my translation.
JRFM
Journal Religion Film Media, Band 06/02
- Titel
- JRFM
- Untertitel
- Journal Religion Film Media
- Band
- 06/02
- Autoren
- Christian Wessely
- Daria Pezzoli-Olgiati
- Herausgeber
- Uni-Graz
- Verlag
- SchĂŒren Verlag GmbH
- Ort
- Graz
- Datum
- 2020
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- CC BY-NC 4.0
- Abmessungen
- 14.8 x 21.0 cm
- Seiten
- 128
- Kategorien
- Zeitschriften JRFM