부산대학교 도서관

This chapter is based on two main objectives: to provoke a transdisciplinary approach to the study of subcultures by facilitating the encounter between sociology and cultural studies that has remained historically far away; and to provide a critical application of the concept of subculture outside its Anglo-American comfort space in the context of Portugal—a country in Southern Europe that starts from a sociohistorical position of modernity that is radically different from the central hegemonic context. When we launched ourselves into the study of youth cultures more than a decade ago, the question we asked was: ‘And after Hebdige?’ It is undeniable that many of Hebdige’s (1979) positions have not aged particularly well—often because of the ‘holes’ identified in our previous research works. But this statement is, above all, a privilege that comes from knowing the end of the story—or, more correctly, from having already had access to some of the ‘scenes from the following chapters’. We are talking about a theoretical perspective that has taken its positions politically, endowing itself with a transdisciplinary theoretical and methodological source that, even today, makes many of those espousing the current transdisciplinary research rhetoric blush: nowadays, the word ‘punk’ denotes not so much a specific subculture or style of music, but commodification and incorporation of this juvenile subculture by the mainstream; consequently, it has been deprived of its original critical force.
Distinct, non-normative, and marginal cultures, often encapsulated under the umbrella term ‘subcultures’, continue to be popular topics across the social sciences and humanities. Building on research traditions rooted in the American Chicago School of sociology and the British Birmingham School of cultural studies, this book provides an in-depth look into the interpretive processes through which alternative youth and music subcutures are studied. By explicitly focusing on interpretation as a process that underlies the construction, demarcation, and anlaysis of subcultural phenomena, the book brings meaning-making to the foreground. The book is organized into four parts. The first part focuses on overarching conceptual issues related to the interpretation of subcultural phenomena today, such as whether or how scholars approach phenomena as subcultural or not, and how they develop and deploy concepts that may support, expand, or traditional subcultural theory. The second part shifts attention to the importance of context—whether historic, political, economic, and/or technological—for making sense of contempoary subcultures around the world. The third part provides a window through which to view how interpretive practices are embedded within researcher roles and relationships, as well as how the bodies and emotions of participants and scholars alike are key to doing subcultural research. The fourth part provides the conclusion. Together, these parts offer a unique set of insights into the entanglement of researchers’ interpretive practices and the design, analysis, and representation of subcultural phenomena.The concept of ‘subculture’ is an invaluable tool to frame the study of non-normative and marginal cultures for social and cultural scholars.This international collection uncovers the significance of meaning-making in the processes of defining, studying and analyzing subcultural phenomena.Examining various dimensions of interpretivism, the book focuses on overarching concerns related to interpretation as well as day-to-day considerations that affect researchers’ and members’ interpretations of subcultural phenomena. It reveals how and why people use specific conceptual frames or methods and how those shape their interpretations of everyday realities.This is an unprecedented contribution to the field, explaining the interpretive processes through which people make sense of subcultural phenomena.This book makes an unprecedented contribution to the field by explaining the interpretive processes through which subcultural phenomena are studied. Examining dimensions of interpretivism, it reveals how and why people decide to use specific conceptual frames or methodologies and how they shape their interpretations of everyday realities.