Subculture: The Meaning of Style
Back of the Book
'Hebdige's Subculture: The Meaning of Style is so important: complex and remarkably lucid, it's the first book dealing with punk to offer intellectual content. Hebdige [...] is concerned with the UK's postwar, music-centered, white working-class subcultures, from teddy boys to mods and rockers to skinheads and punks.' - Rolling Stone
With enviable precision and wit Hebdige has addressed himself to a complex topic - the meanings behind the fashionable exteriors of working-class youth subcultures - approaching them with a sophisticated theoretical apparatus that combines semiotics, the sociology of deviance and Marxism and come up with a very stimulating short book - Time Out
This book is an attempt to subject the various youth-protest movements of Britain in the last 15 years to the sort of Marxist, structuralist, semiotic analytical techniques propagated by, above all, Roland Barthes. The book is recommended whole-heartedly to anyone who would like fresh ideas about some of the most stimulating music of the rock era - The New York Times.
We Love It Because
A classic of literary media criticism, Subculture examines and acknowledges the working-class origins of punk and other alternative movements. Presenting us with a thorough appraisal of the people and the ways of life that produce the distinctive features of the niche subcultures we may take part in or appreciate, Subculture is a sociological text that is the first of its kind and encourages informed appreciation of art as well as honoring and legitimizing its origins in a way that is thoroughly original, living up to the promise of its title.
Memorable Passage
However, in highly complex societies like ours, which function through a finely graded system of divided (i.e specialized) labour, the crucial question has to do with which specific ideologies, representing the interests of which specific groups and classes will prevail at any given moment, in any given situation. To deal with this question, we must first consider how power is distributed in our society.
About the Author
Dick Hebdige, born in 1951, is a British cultural theorist and academic whose groundbreaking work in the field of cultural studies has had a lasting impact on our understanding of popular culture, subcultures, and identity. Hebdige's influential book Subculture: The Meaning of Style dissected the significance of youth subcultures, such as punk and reggae, in challenging societal norms and expressing dissent. As a key figure associated with the Birmingham School of Cultural Studies, Hebdige's work extends beyond academia, reaching a broader audience interested in the intersections of culture, power, and resistance. His interdisciplinary approach and keen insights into the semiotics of everyday life make him worth knowing for anyone interested in the dynamic relationship between culture, identity, and social change. Hebdige's impact on cultural theory and his exploration of the ways in which subcultures shape and are shaped by society remain relevant and influential.
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