ANALYSING MOVEMENT INTO AND IDENTITY IN THE GOTHIC SUBCULTUR

The name Goth is primarily from a Germanic tribe, however, when looking at the subcultures history, its stimulus began with the song “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”, which was released by the Bauhaus in 1979.

There are three Gothic generations, into which the culture can be categorised. The late 1970’s and early 1980’s saw the rise of the first generation, which began its starting point from the punk movement. Siouxsie and the Banshees and Bauhaus are examples of popular Gothic bands which made an impact during this time (A study of the Gothic subculture). The bands mentioned used to wear a lot of black.

In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s the second generation came about, with self proclaiming Gothic bands such as Rosetta Stone. The third generation emerged in the late 1990’s, the newer members had greater access then before because Gothic had become more commercially available, example the internet, movies (Gothic scholars don’t wear black).

Media misinformation about Goths leads to misconceptions about them in society. The result is a stereotyped and damaging image.

y research question, I want to find out why people move into the Gothic subculture. I also aim to find out who Goths really are, to investigate the Gothic identity and lastly to dispel myths surrounding Goths in society.

It appears members join in their teens, and then depending on the individual may leave when they reach their twenties. True Goths do not deliberately move into the culture, it is part of who they are. On Alicia Porter’s website “A study of the Gothic subculture” (under “Are Goths a Gang”, p.3) she refers to the website “There’s Gothic and then there’s GOTHIC”, where a Goth depicted why they though youth want to identify with the subculture:

Another symbol evident in the culture in regard to identity would be the similarity in movies and books amongst Goths. Although it must be remembered that preference is still very much up to the individual. Research depicted that in regard to movies, genres include Cult, period, science fiction, fantasy, art movies, etc. Popular movies are “The Crow”, “A Clockwork Orange” and movies by director Tim Burton. Popular literature includes fantasy, the classics, history, philosophy, vampires, etc. Some Goths also read comics.

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