Learn English – On the origin and usage of ‘mainstream’!

word-usage

Mainstream is a very common expression mainly used, both as an adjective and a noun, in its figurative sense to refer to:

  • the prevalent attitudes, values, and practices of a society or group the common current thought of the majority.

According to Etymonline:

  • also main-stream, main stream, "principal current of a river," 1660s, from main (adj.) + stream (n.); hence, "prevailing direction in opinion, popular taste, etc.," a figurative use first attested in Carlyle (1831). Mainstream media attested by 1980 in language of U.S. leftists critical of coverage of national affairs.

According to Ngram the expression became more and more popular since the mid 50's, probably with the diffusion of mass media. The term is currently often used in a good number of fields such as music, science, sociology, politics, education etc. to indicate the prevailing trend , but what was the initial context ( in the 50's) where this expression was first consistently used? Or was it just a common term that easily and quickly spread to all direction without a precise context?

Best Answer

"Main stream", as two words, used in a figurative sense, goes back to 1921, at least:

An English Anthology of Prose and Poetry, Shewing the Main Stream of English Literature Through Six Centuries

Around 1960, "mainstream" took over from "main stream":

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(While uses of "main stream" prior to about 1920 tended to be in the literal river sense, few after that time were.)

It is a natural metaphor, and does not appear to have been strongly associated with any particular political/social movement -- I find uses with science, religion, economics, music, art, literature, et al. And the term has a special meaning in education, where "mainstreaming" refers to placing a "special needs" student in "normal" classes, to the extent possible.

"Mainstream media" didn't really take off until the mid 80s, though Ngram does find one pejorative use in 1958. It's hard to categorize the uses of this term -- it was not often used in the hard-right pejorative sense until the late 90s, but earlier uses were often associated with criticisms of the coverage of women's rights and racial equality issues.

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