This article discusses one way in which cultural studies theories can be applied to current research of subcultures on the internet. Starting from Clarke's and Hebdige's theories of subcultural style and Frith's theory of music and identity, a case study of an online subcultural website is used to highlight the ways in which resistance is displayed by members of the ‘straightedge’ music subculture. In particular, usernames and signature files are analysed to demonstrate how style is constructed to communicate subcultural values and beliefs. At the same time, a critique of semiotic analyses of subcultural style is raised. It is argued that ethnographic methods are better suited to interpreting social psychological and cultural meanings attributed to subcultural activities in cyberspace.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AdamsRebeccaSardielloRobert (eds) 2000, Deadhead Social Science: You Ain't Gonna Learn What You Don't Want to Know, Walnut Creek, Alta Mira
2.
AllanKennethKidderJeffrey2000, ‘Identity Formation and Ontological Security on the Edge: The Case of Straightedge’, presented at the Southern Sociological Society's annual meeting, Atlanta, GA
3.
AltheideDavid L.1996, Qualitative Media Analysis, Sage, Thousand Oaks
4.
AtkinsonMichael2003, ‘The Civilizing of Resistance: Straightedge Tattooing’, Deviant Behavior, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 197–220
5.
BainbridgeWilliam S.2000, ‘Religious Ethnography on the World Wide Web’, Religion and the Social Order: Religion on the Internet, vol. 8, pp. 55–80
6.
BeezerAnne1992, ‘Dick Hebdige, Subculture: The Meaning of Style’, in BarkerMartinBeezerAnne (eds), Reading into Cultural Studies, Routledge, London, pp. 101–17
7.
BennettAndy1999, ‘Subcultures or Neo-tribes? Rethinking the Relationship between Youth, Style and Musical Taste’, Sociology, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 599–617
8.
BilligMichael2001, ‘Humour and Hatred: The Racist Jokes of the Ku Klux Klan’, Discourse and Society, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 267–89
9.
ClarkeJohn1976, ‘Style’, in HallStuartJeffersonTony (eds), Resistance Through Rituals: Youth Subcultures in Post-war Britain, Hutchinson, London, pp. 175–91
10.
CrookStephenPakuliskiJanWatersMalcolm1992, Postmodernization: Change in Advanced Society, Sage, London
11.
EpsteinJonathan (ed.) 1994, Adolescents and Their Music: If it's Too Loud, You're Too Old, Garland, New York
12.
FernbackJan1997, ‘The Individual Within the Collective: Virtual Ideology and the Realization of Collective Principles’, in JonesSteven G. (ed.), Virtual Culture: Identity & Communication in Cybersociety, Sage, London, pp. 36–54
13.
FineGaryKleinmanSherryl1979, ‘Rethinking Subculture: An Interactionist Perspective’, American Journal of Sociology, vol. 85, no. 1, pp. 1–20
14.
FoxKathryn Joan1987, ‘Real Punks and Pretenders: The Social Organization of a Counterculture’, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 344–70
15.
FrithSimon1981, Sound Effects: Youth, Leisure, and the Politics of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Pantheon, New York
16.
FrithSimon1996, ‘Music and Identity’, in HallStuartdu GayPaul (eds), Questions of Cultural Identity, Sage, London, pp. 108–27
17.
HallStuartJeffersonTony (eds) 1976, Resistance Through Rituals: Youth Subcultures in Post-War Britain, Hutchinson, London
18.
HebdigeDick1979, Subculture: The Meaning of Style, Methuen, London
19.
HigginsMike1999, ‘Net Gains’, The Independent (London), Features, 4 September 1999, p. 66
20.
HutsonScott R.2000, ‘The Rave: Spiritual Healing in Modern Western Subcultures’, Anthropological Quarterly, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 35–49
21.
IrwinDarrell D.1999, ‘The Straight Edge Subculture: Examining the Youths' Drug-free Way’, Journal of Drug Issues, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 365–80
22.
KollockPeterSmithMarc1999, ‘Introduction’, in SmithMarcKollockPeter (eds), Communities in Cyberspace, Routledge, London, pp. 3–28
23.
KrenskeLeighMcKayJim2000, ‘“Hard and Heavy”: Gender and Power in a Heavy Metal Music Subculture’, Gender, Place and Culture, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 287–304
24.
LahickyBeth1998, All Ages: Reflections on Straight Edge, Revelation Books, Huntington Beach
25.
Lee-ShanokPhilip1997, ‘Straight Edge: Kids' Saviors or Facists? Offshoot of Punk Rock Swears Off Booze, Drugs and Casual Sex’, The Toronto Sun, News, 7 December 1997, p. 56
26.
LocherDavid1998, ‘The Industrial Identity Crisis: The Failure of a Newly Forming Subculture to Identity Itself’, in EpsteinJonathan (ed.), Youth Culture: Identity in a Postmodern World, Blackwell, Cambridge, pp. 100–117
27.
LuckmanSusan1998, ‘Rave Cultures and the Academy’, Social Alternatives, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 45–49
28.
Minor Threat, 1981a, ‘Straight Edge’, Minor Threat, EP, Dischord Records, Washington DC
29.
Minor Threat, 1981b, ‘Out of Step’, In My Eyes, EP, Dischord Records, Washington DC
30.
MuggletonDavid2000, Inside Subculture: The Postmodern Meaning of Style, Berg, Oxford
31.
MukerjiChandraSchudsonMichael1986, ‘Popular Culture’, Annual Review of Sociology, vol. 12, pp. 47–66
32.
O'HaraCraig1999, The Philosophy of Punk, AK Press, London
33.
RosenbaumJill L.PrinskyLorraine1991, ‘The Presumption of Influence: Recent Responses to Popular Music Subcultures’, Crime and Delinquency, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 528–35
34.
SchleefDebra J.1996, ‘Lawyers Online: Professional Identity and Boundary Maintenance in Cyberspace’, Research in Community Sociology, vol. 6, pp. 193–214
35.
SmallAdamStuartPeter1982, Another State of Mind, film, Better Youth Organization, Los Angeles
36.
TalamoAlessandraLigorioBeatrice2001, ‘Strategic Identities in Cyberspace’, Cyberpsychology and Behavior, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 109–22
37.
TraversAnn2000, Writing the Public in Cyberspace: Redefining Inclusion on the Net, Garland Publishing, New York
38.
TylerDenise1997, Serve and Defy: The Relationship between the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and Straight Edge Hardcore Music, unpublished Master's thesis, University of Kansas
39.
WardKatie J.1999, ‘Cyber-Ethnography and the Emergence of the Virtually New Community’, Journal of Information Technology, vol. 14, pp. 95–105
40.
WelshElaine2002, ‘Dealing With Data: Using NVivo in the Qualitative Data Analysis Process’, Forum: Qualitative Social Research, vol. 3, no. 2, www.qualitative-research.net/fqs/fqs-eng.htm, accessed 11 November 2002
41.
WiddicombeSueWooffitRobin1995, The Language of Youth Subcultures, Harvester-Wheatsheaf, New York
42.
WillisSusan1993, ‘Hardcore: Subculture American Style’, Critical Inquiry, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 365–83
43.
WoodRobert T.1999, ‘“Nailed to the X”: A Lyrical History of the Straightedge Youth Subculture’, Journal of Youth Studies, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 133–51
44.
WoodRobert T.2000, ‘Threat Transcendence, Ideological Articulation, and Frame of Reference Reconstruction: Preliminary Concepts for a Theory of Subcultural Schism’, Deviant Behavior, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 23–45
45.
WoodRobert T.2001, Straightedge Youth: Subculture Genesis, Permutation, and Identity Formation, unpublished PhD thesis, University of Alberta
46.
ZickmundSusan2000, ‘Approaching the Radical Other: The Discursive Culture of Cyberhate’, in BellDavidKennedyBarbara (eds), The Cybercultures Reader, Sage, London, pp. 237–53
