Subcultures, Bodies and Spaces: Essays on Alternativity and Marginalization

Description

Alternativity delineates those spaces, scenes, club-cultures, objects and practices in modern society that are considered to be actively designed to be counter or resistive to mainstream popular culture. The idea of the alternative in popular culture became mainstream with the rise of the counter culture in 1960s America (though there were earlier forms of alternative cultures in America and other Western countries). Alternativity is associated with marginalization, both actively pursued by individuals, and imposed on individuals and sub-cultures, and was originally represented and constructed through acts of transgression, and through shared sub-cultural capital. This edited collection maps the landscape of alternativity and marginalization, providing new theory and methods in a currently under-theorized area, setting out the issues, questions, concerns and directions of this area of study. It demonstrates the theoretical richness and empirical diversity of the interdisciplinary field it encompasses, and is deliberately feminist in its approach and its composition, with a majority of the contributors being women. Divided into three sub-sections, focused on sub-cultures, bodies and spaces, contributors explore this exciting new terrain, both through critiques of theory and new theoretical developments, and case studies of alternativity and marginalization in practice and in performance, expanding our understanding of the alternative, the liminal and the transgressive. Subcultures, Bodies and Spaces Contents List of Contributors Introduction Note References Part I: Subcultures Chapter 1: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep Dressed in Street Fashions? Investigating Virtually Constructed Fashion Subcultures Subcultures Subcultures Online Seapunk Normcore Health Goth Subcultural Authenticity and Post-Authenticity Subcultural Identity Sartorially Subcultural Summary References Chapter 2: Cursed is the Fruit of thy Womb: Inversion/Subversion and the Inscribing of Morality on Women’s Bodies in Heavy Metal Current Research on Women in Metal Methodology, Feminist Textual Criticism and the Choice of Texts for this Study A Note on the Lyrics Metal’s Cultural Collusion with Mainstream Morality Textual Analysis Investigating Morality and Women’s Bodies in Metal Lyrics: The Virgin, The Whore, The Mother Cloven Hoof – ‘Whore of Babylon’ Cradle of Filth – ‘Lilith Immaculate’ Primordial – ‘Lain with the Wolf’ Behemoth – ‘Amen’ Ninnghizhidda – ‘Rape (The Virgin Mary)’ On Cis-Gendering in this Chapter Conclusion References Chapter 3: Japanophilia in Kuwait: How Far does International Culture Penetrate? The Meme Café The Logic of Subculture in the Gulf The Survey Interests Background English Language Skills National Identity General Culture What Makes it so Attractive? Would you say that Japanese (or Korean) Culture Contrasts Very Much with Kuwaiti Culture? How Much Personal Research Do Students Undertake to Learn about the History and Culture of Those Countries? Did Your Interest in Japanese/Korean Culture Change Your Way of Seeing the World? Does it Make You Different from other People in Society? Conclusion References Chapter 4: Torment[Her] (Misogyny as an Artistic Device): Alternative Perspectives on the Misogynist Aesthetic of W.A.S.P.’s ‘The Rack’ Discourse Analysis Introducing W.A.S.P.’s ‘The Rack’ Methods Part 1 – Observational Analyses (A) Part 2 – Observational Analyses (B) Part 3 – W.A.S.P.’s Post ‘80s Marginalization, Some Developmental Insights Conclusion Dedication References Chapter 5: Reight Mardy Tykes: Northernness, Peaceville Three and Death/Doom Music World Introduction Methods Peaceville Records and Punk Origins Paradise Lost My Dying Bride Anathema The Peaceville Three and English ‘Northernness’ Conclusion References Discography Part II: Bodies Chapter 6: Constructions of Regulation and SocialNorms of Tattooed Female Bodies Femininities, Self-Surveillance and Embodiment: A Review of the Literature The Methodological Approach Negotiating Femininities ‘Right’ and ‘Wrong’ Ways of Being Tattooed Conclusions to be Drawn References Chapter 7: ‘Heavily Tattooed and Beautiful?’: Tattoo Collecting, Gender and Self-Expression Introduction: Women in the Tattoo Subculture Subcultures, Neo-Tribal Style and Women’s Prominence in Tattooing Methodology Discussion: Self-Expression through Tattoo Art Conclusion: Resistance, Subculture and Gender References Chapter 8: The Spectacle of Russian Feminism: Questioning Visibility and the Western Gaze The Day the West found out about Russian Feminism Making America Great again with Orange Lip Gloss? Expertise in all Things Putin… Conclusion References Chapter 9: Out of Time: Anohni and Transgendered/Trans Age Transgression Introduction Music Video as a ‘Queer’ Space Queer Sounds Marks of Trans/Gression Marrow and Drone Bomb Me How then to Place these Music Videos? Conclusion References Discography Film/Videography Chapter 10: Irrational Perspectives and Untenable Positions: Sociology, Madness and Disability Introduction and Context Untenable Positions: Sociology, Social Justice and Disability Untenable Positions: Sociological Theory and Disability Irrational Perspectives: Madness and the Epistemology of Research Conclusion References Part III: Spaces Chapter 11: Ageing Alternative Women: Discourses of Authenticity, Resistance and ‘Coolness’ The Participants and the Data Collection Authenticity in Subcultures Alternativity and Femininities Who is Authentic, and How Do We Know? Conclusion References Chapter 12: Girls to the Front! Gender and Alternative Spaces Introduction The Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies Punk and Gender Straight-Edge Riot Grrrl Metal Hip-Hop Online Conclusion References Chapter 13: No Blue Plaques ‘In the Land of Grey and Pink’: The Canterbury Sound, Heritage and the Alternative Relationships of Popular Music and Place Introduction Methodological Approach Myth and Metaphor: Defining the Canterbury Sound Music and Place: Heritage or Cultural Memory? Bubbles of Inspiration vs. The Hegemony of Heritage: The Place of Music in Romanticising the City of Canterbury Venues: Marginalisation of Performance Aesthetic Alternativity, Marginality and DIY Conclusion: Music and the Immaterial Experiences of Place References Conclusion: Making Sense of Alternativity in Leisure and Culture: Back to Subculture? Introduction A History and Philosophy of Alternativity The Alternative in the Classical Period and in the Abrahamic Religions Popular Notions of Alternativity Academic Theories of Alternativity Alternativity in Leisure Studies and Popular Cultural Studies Alternativity in Popular Cultural Studies Summary Towards a New Theory and Empirical Programme References Index