Just as globalization, Goth subculture is amorphously defined as a literary style of the 18th and 19th century. The Goth culture is a postmodern because it is now an international style of art, literature, and fashion. Goth subculture is per se, a radicalization of the primary conceits of modernism (Pieterse, 2004, pp. 7-21).
The fact that Goth is a subculture that originated in England and has spread to be found in many countries make it one of the most important global phenomena. Goth has become a global culture appreciated in many countries worldwide for tastes in music, aesthetics, and fashion. While the spread of Goth subculture may be associated with the globalization, the fundamental factors for the spread of Goth subculture is technological advancement as such globalization and Goth culture was enabled by technological advancement (Ren, 2005). Perhaps the best question to ask is how globalization has contributed to the spread of Goth subculture. Globalization has attracted a lot of controversies and this is not only in the business context but also in the social cultural context. Apart from controversies surrounding the concept formation and definition of globalization, it is important t note that globalization is both a subjective process and objective, empirical process
Goth subculture is a trend fostered may the mystery of the Goth. It is also an ongoing discourse as none seems to properly understand and define the Goth subculture. The Goth trend is international and has never changed as such it is not a process. Both Goth subculture and postmodernism do not exist outside of being a discursive artifact by many readers and in retrospect most historians. Goth subculture confirms the trend of neoliberal capitalism as it creates a sense of agency, and involves the accumulation of knowledge. For example, the gothic discourses tend to intersect with vary many contemporary commodities as well as neo-liberal capitalism. It also intertwines with theoretical and social cultural frameworks. Therefore, it is healthy to argue that gothic culture contributes to the development of the neoliberal capitalism (Reyes, 2011). Thus,goth subculture highly represent the complexity of global trends as various cultures have personalized their Gothic representations and interacted differently with the Goth culture creating their region specific Goth subculture
References
Xavier Aldana Reyes, X. (2011, June 7). Lucie Armitt, Twentieth-Century Gothic. The Gothic Imagination. Retrieved August 1, 2013, from http://www.gothic.stir.ac.uk/blog/lucie-armitt-twentieth-century-gothic/
Ren, H. (2005, June 10). Subculture as a Neo-Liberal Conduct of Life in Leisure and Consumption. Rhizomes. Retrieved August 1, 2013, from http://www.rhizomes.net/issue10/ren.htm
Nederveen Pieterse, J 2004,'Globalization: consensus and controversies', Globalization and culture:global mélange, Rowan & Littlefield, Lanham, Md., pp. 7-21.
I must admit I found your blog a little difficult to understand; perhaps you didn’t proofread it? There were some spelling errors and some sentences didn’t quite make sense. Great choice of topic, though! I would be interested to hear more about how the Goth subculture 'confirms the trend' and 'contributes to the development of neoliberal capitalism'. I’m not quite sure what you mean. I certainly would agree that the worldwide spread of Goth subculture has been facilitated by technological advances, one of the characteristics of current phase of globalisation. It would have been good to see examples of local hybridisation of the Goth subculture.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very unique and interesting blog post. I really enjoyed reading your take on this weeks topic. You successfully addressed the concept of postmodernism and explained yourself to an extent. There could have been further explanation or evidence used to support your opinions. The post wasn't structured very well but the content was so interesting that I took the time to go back and reread until I understood the point you were trying to make. There were quite a few spelling and grammar errors and therefore I would recommend further editing/proof reading. However, this post really opened my mind to looking at postmodernism and globalisation in a fresh and diverse way. Overall this was a creative topic choice and the post not only covered the required criteria but entertained the reader.
ReplyDeleteHi Ella,
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I didn’t know anything about the Goth culture at all before reading your blog. Thanks for your sharing and I know much about it from your blog and also searched from Wikipedia on myself. To introduce the topic/ concept and discuss it, you quote Pieterse’s, Reyes’ and Ren’s words. I can tell that you’ve you're your reading on your interest topic. However, I expect more of your own exemplification and discussion on this topic. If you don’t highlight the most important thoughts of your reflection of the culture or reading, it is difficult for me to understand and digest it.
These are my own opinions, and enjoy bloging!
Violet
Gothic as a sub culture is something I have always been aware of but never really thought much more about it than that, reading your piece really got me thinking about it. I really like that you have covered all elements of ‘what is Goth’, by beginning with a brief history to how it still applies today. I really feel this post is structured well as you explained and covered the concepts that apply to the Gothic. The only thing I would have liked to have seen more of is your own personal experiences with this sub culture, but apart from that it was really good - Jules
ReplyDeleteDespite what Reyes may tell us about the contribution of the gothic to neoliberal capitalism, I suspect its contributions may be more in the vein of monetary donations to those who sell black make-up and jewellery, but maybe that's just cynical me.
ReplyDeleteAs widespread and global as the gothic subculture is, I am impressed to see so much research done into it. I had no idea that such serious people in serious places were talking about weird-looking teenagers and their impact upon any sort of theoretical or social cultural framework.
Have you yourself had many dealings with the Goth subculture? I remember I was in Russia a few years ago and was surprised to see emo kids there, and asked them about it. They were very forthcoming and I learnt more about emo as a whole from a few kids in another country than in all my time in Australia.
Perhaps a brief synopsis about what goth means to goth kids...? I mean, in my experience, goths don't consciously contribute to neoliberal capitalism, they are simply doing what they want to. A linking of the interests and characteristics of the subculture to the broader globalisation picture would paint a very clear view of the phenomenon.
Thanks everyone for taking your time to read my blog! While I try to explicitly answer some of your questions, it is important to note that the Local hybridization of the Goth subculture is varied so I just provided a few outstanding examples. Some of which include the latest post-industrial suburban culture especially in the US, the emergence of tattoos in china, Russia, and Korea, the popularity of piercings in the UK, US, and Africa. Lucie Armitt, (2009) argues that the emergence and acceptance of the punk metal music in the US, and the present acceptance and perceptions surrounding the porn chic and “rock” music lifestyle in Australia are the modern day goth subculture. While all these have become the modern lifestyle and a sense of fashion statement, researchers have come to understand the adornment, fashion, and lifestyles as the only way the goths have claimed agency and also to resists domination.
DeleteThe modern youth who embraced the subculture especially the lovers of body art have used the fashion and lifestyle as a way of averting disciplinary codes. Consider the case of the Rivethead subculture (late-1980s to mid-1990s), and the rave fashion, trance music-inspired Graver and other forms of Cybergoth movements (Reynolds, 2006, p. 422) To answer the question on “how the Goth subculture 'confirms the trend' and 'contributes to the development of neoliberal capitalism' consider the statements that “Body adornments-Goth subculture” has valorized the `primitive' as a protest against economic inequality and repression of the body as they try to promote global economic integration, and elimination of the state directed social programs that only benefits the wealthy (Steele, 2008).
Digitalis, (2007, p. 37), states that just as the neoliberal capitalism is characterized economic and financial integration, and aggressive imperialism, the Goth subculture has contributed to the empowerment of the audiences to express rage and protests. The Goth subculture has also used the body as the foundation of authenticity, and empowerment. Finally, the Goth culture is highly associated with the discontent from any form of political economy as they accept potential dissidence as a show of their repressive desublimation.
Overall, to be honest with you, I did not know anything about goth subcultuture before. The only reason for me to start doing research about this topic is because I was always scared of this group of people hanging out at local train stations. So I tried to stay away from them. But I’ve been always wanted to know why do they dress and act like that? After doing research about goth subculture, I changed my attitude towards this group of people, they are not scary anymore.Infact, and they are very interesting.
Reference:
Lucie Armitt, (2009). History of the Gothic: Twentieth Century Gothic V. 3. University of Wales Press - Gothic Literary Studies
Steele, Valerie (2008). Gothic: Dark Glamour. Yale University Press. p. 48.
Raven Digitalis, (2007). Goth Craft. The Magickal Side of Dark Culture, Llewellyn Worldwide, p. 37
Reynolds, Simon (2006). Rip It Up And Start Again: Post-punk 1978-1984. London: Faber and Faber Limited, p. 422.
Xavier Aldana Reyes, X. (2011, June 7). Lucie Armitt, Twentieth-Century Gothic. The Gothic Imagination. Retrieved August 1, 2013, from http://www.gothic.stir.ac.uk/blog/lucie- armitt-twentieth-century-gothic/
Ren, H. (2005, June 10). Subculture as a Neo-Liberal Conduct of Life in Leisure and Consumption. Rhizomes. Retrieved August 1, 2013, from http://www.rhizomes.net/issue10/ren.htm
Nederveen Pieterse, J 2004,'Globalization: consensus and controversies', Globalization and culture:global mélange, Rowan & Littlefield, Lanham, Md., pp. 7-21.
Hi
ReplyDeleteHonestly speaking, I am not an art person and I do struggle to understand plus appreciate what's called ‘Goth’.
After reading your post and with a quick research, only to say that I am still struggling to understand the purposes and intending: why those people would dress and or act like that. The look of them frightened me and I'm sorry if I have offended any one. I know that I shouldn't be so judgmental.
Nevertheless, I like the way you introduce the topic and concept of Goth Culture, but I struggle to understand how Goth has become a Global Culture, in what way and how globalization has contributed to the spread of it.
Nevertheless, your explanation of postmodernism allows me to have a better understanding of the concept but perhaps you could further strengthen you discussion with more supporting evidence, and possibly highlight on personal experience. Otherwise, it’s a good post, and thank-you for an interesting read.
Hi,firstly, I think you have a creative idea on Goth sub-culture that attachs this week's topic. After I read your article, I get more information about what is gothic culture according to its history,background and development. You mention about postmodernism and neoliberal capitalism,but I have no idea about it.I don't know what are you trying to say in your article. Some critical opinions for you, you need to make your article easy to read for your audiences, rewrite about your grammar and punctuation mistakes. Secondly,you need to get the reflection of yourself into your topic,just give the definition or explanation may not enough.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you choose your topic "Gothic" for this week really out of the box. I enjoyed reading your blog because you wrote lots of things about goth, which somehow was something new for me because i dont really know about this kind of things. I also like how you wrote goth was part of the subculture and globalisation these days as well. Just my opinion, I think you should point your points out more in each part or paragraph to make your points clearer. ps: the picture you were using kinda creepy lol
ReplyDelete