THE BIRTH OF REBELLION OUT OF THE SPIRIT OF POPULAR MUSIC: MUSICAL REFERENCES IN THE CATCHER IN THE RYE

Abstract

The paper provides the results of a literary and cultural research focused upon the importance of popular music in shaping and definining the identity of Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of J. D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye, as well as upon his relationship to the dominant culture of the world in which he lives. A particular attention is paid to the formation and expression of Holden’s rebellious character, observed through his relationship towards different manifestations of popular music in the novel: from the excerpts from musicals, through compositions from dancing halls, to the imaginary song entitled “Little Shirley Beans“, which provides a representative example of the adoption described by Hebdidge (1979). This process, described in his work Subculture: the Meaning of Style, implies the transformation of a style from popular culture into a subcultural style. Holden strives towards such adoption in all his contacts with the elements of popular music in the novel, announcing the social and cultural rebellion that would stem from rock and roll music and rock culture, several years after the publication of The Catcher in the Rye. The anticipatory capability of Salinger’s prose has proven to be a valid source for examining the mechanisms at work in popular culture’s influence.