Examples of the counterculture. The concept and functions of the counterculture

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

Under the subculture is understood a special specific way of existence, based on the realization of the natural human need for personal development, self-expression, understanding one's own destiny.

Each subculture exists outside the framework of the social order of the economy or politics. Therefore, it is only to a small extent determined by material causes and objective factors of existence. From Latin, the term is translated as "subculture". It is implied that it is different from the dominant one.

Signs of subculture and counterculture

Their carriers are also allocated to a separate social group. Differences can be expressed in an alternative value system, a special language, behavior, etc. Different subcultures can be formed on the basis of ethnic, national, professional or any other communities.

And what does the concept of counterculture include? Already from the definition, one can guess that this is not an ordinary subculture, but sharply different from the dominant, conflictingwith traditional values. The counterculture in literature and in life is based on its own norms and moral foundations of its representatives, who are trying to overthrow the prevailing attitudes in society. Vivid examples of counterculture can be considered the youth revolution of the 60s of the 20th century, the punk and hippie movements.

One of the classic, the oldest, can be attributed to the counterculture of the underworld. Its emergence is due to the natural isolation of prisoners serving time, cut off from generally accepted values. As a result, a dominant counterculture naturally arose in its very rigid variety with a clear hierarchy and well-defined laws.

About similarity and difference of terms

Starting from the sixties of the last century, the concepts of "mass culture", "counterculture" and "subculture" began to converge. Young people are trying to rally against a common "enemy", seeing such in the face of society as a whole, or individual social phenomena. However, there is a difference between these definitions. Let's look at the main differences between youth subculture and counterculture as such.

The first of them exists, as a rule, in the atmosphere of the game, opposing the concepts of "We" and "They". Representatives of youth subcultures are busy with quite constructive activities. Their goal is to create their own special world. They do not seek to fight the enemy and most often take a passive stance.

The concept of counterculture implies existence in the form of a rally. It implies the existence of a common enemy,against which to fight. The basis for the existence of the counterculture is the activity of a destructive nature, the purpose of which is victory over the enemy. It comes to open confrontation and a very real declaration of war against the hostile values of society.

As a rule, these differences are characteristic of pure forms of counterculture and youth subculture. In practice, there are many intermediate options that combine elements of both forms. We will give the most striking examples of subculture and counterculture below.

Main causes of youth subcultures

Western sociologists, studying the emergence of these forms of social life, see their origins in the need to develop fundamentally new norms of behavior that correspond to modern difficulties. Traditional forms of social and family organization are not able to satisfy the aspirations of young people. Its representatives, shocking society with an unusual lifestyle, appearance and behavior, cannot achieve adequate self-expression in the conditions of the existing reality.

Any subculture has a number of characteristic features, a set of which is mandatory for it. In the center of each of them, an initiative bloc is certainly found that provides ideological support and generates new ideas. It is characteristic that representatives of one or another youth subculture, as a rule, can be found only in metropolitan areas and large cities. In small towns, informals are an exotic phenomenon. They usually only copy characteristic paraphernalia, which makes imitationconditional and rather superficial.

What gives the youth subculture

As you know, the occurrence of any phenomenon always has very specific reasons and is designed to solve a number of social problems. What, from this point of view, is the meaning of youth informal associations? The main functions of the counterculture are psychological. This is an elevation of the status of a rebellious teenager in his own eyes and an attempt to get out of parental control.

Thus, the period of stay in the conditions and within the framework of the youth subculture for a teenager becomes a transition from a child to an adult, meaningful perception of life. An important lesson that is learned in the process of immersion in the world of youth movements is the development of the necessary social rules and skills.

When confronted with certain behaviors, teenagers either accept or reject them. As a rule, the average period of rotation of a teenager among informal people does not exceed three years.

Why is this environment so attractive

Besides, being part of this or that informal movement takes up the time of teenagers, teaches them to structure their own leisure time and, ultimately, leads to greater organization.

Note that a very large number of young people are characterized by the absence of a clearly marked personal self-identification. Most of them are dominated by behavioral stereotypes, which eventually leads teenagers into the ranks of informals. Any youth counterculture is 80-90% amateursimitate, incapable of upholding their own individuality.

The simplest reason for adolescents to join representatives of a particular subculture is the search for people who are close in their beliefs. Outrageous, as well as external paraphernalia, are secondary compared to this.

Counterculture: real life examples

Part of youth movements have already sunk into the past. The most striking example is the hippie movement that existed in the United States in the 60s of the last century. Its scale was so great that thousands of young people lived together in hippie communes. No other subculture later encountered such cohabitation. The sexual revolution of those years was based on the hippie ideas of free love.

The basis of the alternative way of life of the trend we are considering was the emergence of a network of apartments (“flats”), where everyone could get for the night or temporary residence (“fit in”). The social institution of the hippie is characterized by the denial of the traditional values of the surrounding society, a principled observational position, pacifism, sexual freedom and extreme asceticism in everyday life.

Subculture and counterculture on the example of Russia

Another example of a disappeared subculture that existed in our country is the Lubers. So called representatives of youth gangs of a criminal nature. They originally appeared in the suburbs, in the city of Lyubertsy.

A characteristic feature of such groupings is their focus on a he althy lifestyle, combined with the "adjustment" of social reality in the years of perestroika. She expressed herself inpersecution of the "dregs of society" (homeless people, alcoholics, prostitutes) - they were beaten and treated in every way.

Luber's appearance spoke of an immediate readiness to join the fight. Often organized groups traveled to Moscow and other cities and staged massacres, which had to be pacified by the police.

Dangerous counterculture

Other examples of subculture and counterculture are even "more serious". Modern radical groups of an extremist nature, which already have a fundamentally different level of organization and ideology (for example, skinheads), have similarities with the Lubers. Skinheads can be attributed to socially dangerous subcultures. Their first representatives appeared in England in 1968, they "taught mind" relaxed hippies and drug addicts.

The style of skinhead clothing was developed with the need to adapt to brutal street fighting: black tight pants, army boots with thick soles to help in a fight, short jackets without a collar. Skinhead clothing was freed from any details that allow the enemy to catch on (badges, bags or glasses). For the same purpose, they shaved their heads.

Their followers - Russian skinheads - appeared in the 90s of the 20th century. External paraphernalia was copied by them from their Western "colleagues", the ideology and scope of forces were based on national Russian problems. This subculture can be attributed to the most aggressive. Skinheads profess typical Nazi ideas, leaving no chance for dissidents. Skinhead ideology is based on the idearacial purity. They often organize pogroms among those who differ in appearance (for example, long hair, skin color), or representatives of other sexual orientations.

Satan Worshipers

Examples of the counterculture are varied. Another dangerous phenomenon is the so-called Satanists. They separated into a separate movement from the movement of metalworkers, united with the worshipers of the Church of Satan in the early nineties in our country. The Satanic subculture now has several independent directions. These include anti-Christians who distort the Bible and practice actions that are directly opposite to the biblical commandments (often bullying and vandalism).

Another direction is orthodox Satanists. They claim that the power of Satan is equal in strength to the power of God. They have their own rites and rituals, although sacrifices are not usually made in this environment. A direction is developed in Protestant countries.

There are Satanist philosophers - they are the only ones who have an organization officially registered. Their core values include self-indulgence based on Nietzsche's idea of the superman. Other followers of this doctrine mainly observe only external paraphernalia (they wear jewelry with an inverted cross, dye their hair black).

Other youth movements

In the 80s of the 20th century, a movement of "gopniks" arose in our country. There were especially many of them in the middle Volga region. Gopnik declared themselves enemiesattitude towards representatives of most other youth subcultures - rappers, bikers, hippies, and so on. Any of the above could have been beaten and robbed by them.

Football fans can be considered as other, less dangerous representatives of youth subcultures. Among them, it is customary to divide into fans of certain sports clubs.

Representatives of another trend - punks. It is easy to recognize them by their characteristic appearance: leather jackets, piercings, exotic hairstyles. Most often, a classic mohawk flaunts on the head, or it is shaved bald.

Punks imitate their favorite rock musicians, hooligans, drinking, smoking weed, rarely washing, advocating ideas of anarchy. Their main slogan is: "There is no future." The pessimism of the punk ideology allows them to express themselves in extreme forms associated with violence, alcohol and drug abuse. Examples of punk counterculture are perhaps the most characteristic among informal youth movements.

Association of interests

Representatives of other subcultures are united on the basis of adherence to a certain way of life. A striking example of this is bikers (motorcyclists). They exist in their own special world - the world of movement at great speeds.

But there are other examples of counterculture, like hip-hop. This trend refers to complex cultural formations. It includes dancing in a particular style (breakdance or rap), graffiti, streetball (street football), rolling (roller skating incertain technique).

The growth of fans of hip-hop culture has improved the youth environment. The teens were distracted from drugs and alcohol and began to compete in street dances and sports. All these activities require considerable physical fitness, which is incompatible with poor he alth and bad habits.

Also worth mentioning is the flow of diggers. So called those who explore underground communications. The "City Cave Dwellers" spend their time in mysterious, intricate labyrinths, surrounded by an aura of secrecy, and do not seek fame or expansion of their own ranks.

Play and creativity

Are there any positive counterculture examples? Perhaps one of the most psychologically he althy, creative and socially prosperous of its representatives can be considered role players. Who are they? These include people who devote all their free time to recreating a certain historical or literary era. These are reenactors, anime people, and other similar communities.

Their activities take place in the form of theatrical performances played out in the bosom of nature, as well as home or city role-playing games. Adherents of this trend regularly organize historical or reenactment festivals, go in for equestrian sports, fencing and general physical training.

They have adopted their own hangouts in order to communicate and search for like-minded people. The great attraction of role-playing games lies in the possibility of escape from everyday reality and the implementation of creativity. In the environment of role-players, it is easy to put onclothes of the chosen style (historical, medieval, Wild West style). Girls have the opportunity to choose a vintage or romantic outfit.

Among roleplayers, certain paraphernalia is extremely developed, especially between fans of Tolkien's work. Fantasy fiction is a kind of counterculture in literature that provides its supporters with a huge scope for play.

Music and more

It also makes sense to mention the movement of mobbers (flashmobbers). They arrange short-term actions, organize a process using the Internet, through which users registered on a particular site are sent precise instructions about the time, place and nature of the next flash mob.

Many subcultures are based on specific musical tastes. There are fans of the Alisa group, Viktor Tsoi (the Kino group). Fans strive to imitate their favorite soloists in the smallest details of their appearance.

A separate trend - metalheads, representing a widespread informal subculture. “Heavy” music is now listened to by many, many people. It is difficult to unite fans of "heavy metal" on any common ground these days, they are so different.

Emo and goths

Representatives of such a youth movement as emo also prefer certain music. It is believed that teenagers with an unstable psyche and increased emotionality adjoin their number, which is emphasized by certain clothes and characteristicmakeup. Another culture that is different from emo is the goths. These are fans of death, decline, they have their own special music, characteristic aesthetics, which carries a pronounced theatricality.

"Dark Romance" resulted in a completely separate cultural current with a characteristic depressive-romantic view of existence. The classic goth is closed, prone to melancholy, bouts of depression. This is a creature that is alien to generally accepted stereotypes of behavior. Most representatives dress exclusively in black, the same color they dye their hair, lips and nails.

It is not possible to list in detail all the variety of subcultures that exist today. Counterculture and subculture are two sides of a single whole. They have a lot in common and can mutually transform into each other. Classifications of any counterculture and subculture are rather conditional, because a normal approach is categorically unacceptable here. The basis of any of the countercultures is the maintenance of the individuality of its carriers.