Beyond Dualism? Exploring the Polyphonic Dimension of Cultural Productions

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature and interplay of the logics that inform the day-to-day work of small cultural productions. Positioned in the literature on cultural and creative industries, it embraces a discourse perspective and in particular the concept of “polyphony” as an analytical lens. Empirically, the paper draws on a case study of a music association, in which the authors especially followed the production of a music festival. What emerges is a situation of pluralism of discourses, a variety of relations among these discourses, and fluidity of discourses across actors and roles, which lead the authors to question, at least in part, the presupposed artistic vs. business dualism within which cultural productions and creative industries are instead typically framed.