On August 31 – September 3, 2021 in Barcelona (online), a conference of the European Sociological Association entitled “Sociological Knowledges
For Alternative Futures ” had taken place.
During the conference, our Team – represented by Dariusz Przybysz and Kinga Zawadzka, presented a paper entitled “Omnivorousness alla Polacca – musical tastes and the stratification of culture in post-transformational Poland“.
The main aim of this presentation was to show the structure of the omnivorousness of musical tastes in Poland. As one of the elements of lifestyle, it relies on simultaneous practice and liking various genres of music, particularly the ones encounted as so-called „high” and „low” culture. It does not imply liking everything with no exception, but rather an openness to various forms of cultural consumption.
The dominant trait of omnivorousness of musical tastes in Poland is simultaneous liking of disco polo, pop and folk music (30%), in the second place is a combination of liking disco-polo, outdoor music and pop (22.3%). Taking into account that the percentage of persons declaring liking classical music in combination with other musical genres implies that omnivorousness concentrates rather around classical music. It is mainly semi-omnivorousness.
Tendencies to omnivorousness do not develop in one dimension only, with managers and professionals on the top, and members of lower classes on the bottom. There are various kinds of omnivorousness in Polish society wherein in contrast to other societies, it shapes particularly intensive among owners apart from farming. Owners outpace managers and professionals in terms of liking various musical pieces and attending concerts of various types.
Omnivorousness in the sense of liking various genres of music and omnivorousness in the sense of various forms of activity differentiate the class position and other characteristics of individuals with a similar impact. One cannot claim that one of them has stronger (or weaker) reflection in class hierarchy.
We can confirm that relatively highest omnivorousness occurs among the youngest persons. In the category up to 25 years old the average value of the summary indicator of omnivorousness in terms of going to concerts and liking music is the highest and systematically decreases in older groups of age. The youngest persons are also the greatest semi-omnivorists in the sense of most frequent going out to disco-polo concerts in combination with popular music (30.3%) and combining disco-polo with outdoor events (26,4%). It occurs also (though weaker) in the case of other omni- and semi-omnivorousness.
The full version of the presentation is available HERE.