Death and Life: The Role of Music and the Others
In: Can I Play with Madness? Metal, Dissonance, Madness and AlienationSearch for other papers by Rute Rodrigues in
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The main purpose of this empirical research, framed on the theory of social representations, was to understand how life and death are represented among an adolescent population (boys and girls, from 15 to 19 years old). It was our goal, as well, to examine how these social representations may differ according to the adolescents’ musical preferences and the opinions of significant others (such as parents, friends, colleagues, etc). The findings indicate that boys particularly tend to listen to rock/metal while girls show a special predilection for pop and (soft) rock music. Girls, more than boys, are most likely to represent life as the proximity to other people (like friends) but also as a certain uneasiness; and they anchor death, in particular, in feelings of malaise, in its ritualistic dimension and in the departure of significant others. Younger adolescents (15-16 years old) seem to understand life as a personal accomplishment. As greater is the preference for rock/metal, the less significant is the tendency to represent death as a ritual; fondness for classic rock is positively associated with the perception of death as a theme suggesting questioning and transcendence. The opinions of others proved to be relevant not only regarding musical preferences, but also in understanding life and death.