Grunge Through the Lens of Media and Memory

For most people under fifty, the word "grunge" conjures images of flannel shirts, eyeliner, shaggy hairstyles, and an attitude of apathy. Whether this picture is accurate or a product of media storytelling is precisely where Catherine Strong begins her investigation. Her book sets out to triangulate the relationship between culture, memory, and power by contrasting how various media constructed grunge music with how the public collectively remembers it.

Building on Strong's doctoral research, this volume examines how grunge has been recalled by those actively involved in the 1990s grunge scene and how grunge discourse challenged societal norms in the dynamic struggle between the rise and commercial co-option of popular culture. Strong gathered data mainly from the UK magazine New Musical Express (NME), tracking journalists' reactions from grunge's emergence to its rapid decline after Kurt Cobain's death, and continuing through periodic anniversary features in outlets such as Rolling Stone, Record Collector, Mojo, and Spin. The ideals and narratives found in the press are then compared with accounts from a sample of Australian adults who identify as grunge fans, revealing a fascinating contrast.

After establishing these foundations in the introductory chapter, Chapter 2 presents a dense literature review split into two sections. The first section both situates grunge scholarship within the wider field of popular music studies and describes what academic writing on grunge has addressed—or has forgotten to address. This extends to concepts like authenticity, commercialism, and politics and explores how these ideas conflicted with grunge culture's underlying ideology. The second section surveys several leading theories and definitions of collective memory, through which Strong defines how she applies and exceptions she makes to the term "collective memories" for the remainder of the book.

Chapter 3 considers the rise and fall of grunge as presented in the media, focusing specifically on Nirvana. Various media sources promoted this band as grunge's most successful act, pointing to their apparent overnight success, the prominent death of singer Kurt Cobain, and several other factors examined in this chapter. Strong frames the cultural location of grunge using Pierre Bourdieu's field theory, which conceptualizes tastes and cultures in a way that relates to societal structures. Through this lens, Strong demonstrates how Nirvana's trajectory can be understood as part of a natural cycle that continually replaces aging culture. The second half of this chapter maps journalistic coverage in NME (1990–1994), anniversary publications across print media, and movies and documentaries. Strong notes that NME identified, encouraged, and ultimately "killed off" (p. 49) grunge by shifting between more and less favorable coverage.

Individual memories versus media narratives

The most compelling part of this study appears in Chapter 4, where Strong reveals responses from her sample of self-identified grunge fans. Here, the definitions of memory supplied by the media are contrasted with those provided by interviewees. Media definitions were formed at the height of grunge culture, while those from respondents are more or less current. Although this timing difference presents an unavoidable hurdle, it still produces a valuable comparison. Strong shows that while most respondent accounts were mediated rather than based on firsthand experience, notable differences existed between what the media presented and how that information was interpreted. The only limitation of this chapter is that the intersection between individual accounts—and therefore autobiographical memories—and the collective could receive more attention, given that both minority and majority views are considered in the study.

Grunge's legacy and the role of gender

Chapters 5 and 6 discuss aspects of grunge's legacy. As noted, the media engages with anniversaries (typically in ten-year increments) related to grunge, and in this book the specific anniversary receiving the most attention revolves around Kurt Cobain's death. Chapter 5 describes the activities and media attention surrounding this anniversary, showing that while state-level institutions do not condone celebrating a rebellious figure, the media nonetheless perpetuates certain narratives about Cobain as grunge's figurehead. Journalistic claims that he was a supreme, godlike, tragic artist destined for greatness are cleverly contrasted by Strong with respondent accounts describing Cobain as an unexceptional, regular guy.

Chapter 6 steps away from traditional grunge ideals to discuss the role of female artists in the movement. While all-female or near-all-female grunge bands existed at grunge's peak, they have been almost entirely left out of interviewee accounts. Strong compares female respondents' opinions on Courtney Love and her message of gender equality as portrayed in the media, concluding that this discourse was received by only a small percentage of study participants.

Framing a generation

Bringing everything together, Strong considers how common labels such as "Generation X," "The 90s," and "Youth" function as frames for understanding grunge-related memories. Through discussing these terms, she finds that none of them adequately identifies the public that experienced the grunge phenomenon. Strong concludes that due to various factors, the grunge cohort does not have "a strong sense of itself" (p. 154).

Final evaluation

This book challenges typical academic discourses about grunge music and its place in popular memory. Strong offers engaging discussions on the roles of media, mediation, and memory, as well as how grunge as a cultural product fits into a larger social hierarchy. The book's only drawback may be its limited accessibility for non-academic readers. The writing style clearly reflects its origin as a thesis converted into a book, making the language most suitable for postgraduate students or academics while potentially heavy going for undergraduates or general readers. Nonetheless, this volume makes significant progress in academic writing on grunge, leaving the door open for both readers and researchers to think more critically about how media and memory shape popular culture.