Sunday 22 October 2017

Subculture - GCOP200

Firstly, culture can be defined as 'the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively", or the "ideas, customs and social behaviour of particular people or society". Subculture can be defined as a "smaller group within a larger culture". Not only this, but there are also many different subcategories of culture, including:
- Mainstream/Norm Culture = dominant culture that the majority of people follow, e.g music, fashion and politics.
- Low Culture = interests and preferences in comic books, fast food restaurants (e.g McDonalds)
- High Culture = interests and preferences in classical music, Shakespeare, museums.
- Counter Culture = "a way of life and set of attitudes opposed to or at variance with the prevailing social norm", e.g  Hells Angels.

Dominant cultures can sometimes divide us, and can lead to people forgetting that in fact we are all human, and all the same. Within this, differing cultures, languages, and phrases describe different things, and can sometimes lead to confusion or conflict, e.g nationalities and the difficulty in communication between different languages. A very dominant culture in UK society is Christianity, as our public holidays (e.g Christmas and Easter), are all based around traditional Christian beliefs, however all religions and smaller culture groups still have to follow these. Furthermore there is evidence of past cultures and their routines that still affect our lives today, despite them not being needed anymore. A good example of this would be our summer holidays. Before, they were created so that the whole family could help with the harvest, but in the modern day this is no longer required, however we all seem to still stick to what we have always known - to have the summer months off from school.

Arguably with the increase in globalisation, and the development of technology, cultures merge and there becomes less differences between them. The world is 'getting smaller', as it becomes increasingly easier to communicate between different countries and to transport and share goods and information - which was never possible before. Cultural values are now seeming to blend, and the worlds cultures are becoming more familiar and less unusual to each other.

Cultures can also affect on how we look back on our history. For example one might ask, "why was there never any great women artists?". Now its not the fact that there actually weren't any, but it is instead that how we as a society look back on our history. We exclude them. Our old  'Eurocentric' culture never valued success coming from women, and so they were never brought to light. Things like women's rights and equality in all aspects of society is something that we are trying to improve on, and to change this part of culture for the better. Post modernism tries to consider all things, whereas before, people's views were very narrow.

Youth Culture
Youth culture is the way adolescents live, and the norms, values, and the practices they share. Very often aspects of old youth cultures make a return in the modern day, and bring a sense of nostalgia with them. For example rave culture in the late 80s and 90s are becoming more mainstream in the last few years. Also youth culture can be seen in fashion, which seems to come back into fashion e.g 80s style clothing seems popular currently.

Punks are a form of youth culture, in which young people stole materials, and adorned themselves with it e.g chains. This was a way of expressing rebellion, and breaking the mainstream - causing controversy in the media. Ultimately youth culture was an opportunity for youngsters to be creative, to stand up for what they believe in, and to break the boundaries of social norms.

Cultures are constantly changing with the moving of time. Although 'punks' aren't as popular anymore, there are plenty of other examples of subcultures and youth culture groups which take their place, for example 'skater boys', or 'hipsters'. Ultimately, youth cultures threaten the establishment, and push for social change - an example of change in traditions would be Wham! being the first western band to play in China.

The Carnivalesque
The carnivalesque can be seen through many examples throughout our history, an early example would be the "Feast of Fools". This celebration/festival took place after the celebration of Lent, and early records date back to the early 20th century. The wild and outrageous carnival was seen as a juxtaposition against the restrictions of Lent. During this celebration, the social hierarchy and powers are reversed, and ordinary life and rules are suspended for parades and balls. Kings would swap roles with beggars and the common people, and the fools would become wise. All sense of social ideologies were abandoned and forgotten amongst the liberal and freedom celebration. Everyone was 'extracted' from their non-carnival lives, and acted outside of their normal characters/roles for the day.

Examples of the 'carnivalesque' can be seen in our culture today (although not as extreme). We have fairgrounds which come to our towns/cities, where we all 'let loose' and become carefree for a while. In Padstow they celebrate the Obby Oss on May Day, in Gloucester they have the 'Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake', and in Ottery St Mary they have a Burning Barrel Festival. Even Cosplay is an example of a modern day take on the 'carnivalesque'.

These examples are an excellent demonstration of how old cultures morph into new ones, and still remain dominant in our society today. Even when old cultures seem to disappear, new ones take their place with the same focus and attitudes. George Michael has said that "he is the last of the youth movement", although he is right in some sense (as his type of youth culture is no longer active), he isn't in another - as modern day's youth culture expresses themselves in different ways, and are motivated by other social challenges that are relevant to current social affairs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivalesque

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