Aesthetic valorization and legitimation of a musical genre: construction of conceptualization and research methodology (on the example of noise music)

This article presents an attempt to conceptualize and construct a methodology to investigate the process of aesthetic valorization (attribution of value) and legitimation of the genre Noise and explicate elements of aesthetic ideologies in music critics’ discourse. Noise music, characterized by the use of abrasive sounds and provocative performances, is chosen as a case of an aesthetically radical and problematic cultural genre with its own “niche” audience. On the basis of a content analysis of 39 Noise releases reviews by music critics, I examine the patterns of valorization and legitimation of the genre through the “art for art's sake” aesthetic ideology. This ideology involves emphasizing the special aesthetic qualities of the works, the figure of the autonomous creator and the extra-musical meanings conveyed by the works. Based on the results of the analysis, a coding sheet for coding reviews of Noise releases is presented. I conclude that the ideology of “art for art's sake” is widely used by critics as a way to valorize and legitimize Noise music. Nevertheless, the valorization is not restricted to application of these categories and it seems relevant to also consider other aesthetic categories in the analysis. The application of the presented toolkit to a large corpus of reviews can provide a complex picture of Noise legitimation and its dynamic over time.