Gothic Subculture Research Paper

The Complexion of Southern Gothicism From ghosts to sleeping with corpuses and deranged characters, Southern Gothic literature has it all. This twisted period began in the 18th century and is still written today. Some authors still write Gothic stories based in this time period. Many well-known authors are Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, Harper Lee, and Bram Stoker. Each author is known for their contribution to this stunning time in literature.

RMods Address the rules/boundaries/sanction of each subculture in terms of age, gender, and ethnicity. Who can belong to the subculture? Are there rules (there are) for membership? The “mod” subculture belongs to a youth subculture of males that was originated in the early to mid-1960s of London, England. The mobs was composed of young teens that listened to modern jazz, and who also came from working-class families, which was a way for them to escape, rebel, and exert their independence from older generations.

Gothic literature is a style of literature that takes place in the past, most of the time it has someone who dies and it has a creepy vibe/tone behind it . Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher,” is a good example of Gothic literature because it shows how a man goes to visit an old friend and see how his friend and his friends twin sister die. “The whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day. ”(13)

Gothic novels are an English subgenre of horror and have fictional aspects. They emphasize and explore the themes of terror and mystery, utilizing female protagonists who typically are or become insane. Gothic novels were written and at their popularity peak in the 18th century. Stereotypically set in medieval times with an atmosphere of mystery, terror and death, they have features of fantasy ranging from ghosts to vampires. Alice Munro and Susan Hill both infuse gothic elements into their pieces, giving them an eerie and sinister ambience through various literary techniques; similes, metaphors, personification.

(Gangs) A deviant subculture is defined as a subculture, which has values and norms that differ substantially from the majority of people in society. When a neighborhood or community favors illegal activities, a criminal subculture is likely to develop such as gangs. Walter Miller states that deviant subcultures don’t arise from the inability of a community to achieve success, but because of a lower-class subculture whose values and norms are different from the rest of society. Subcultures can be a good thing, because they can provide a sense of belonging, interaction with people who have similar interests, and gives members the freedom to express individuality.

Various gothic elements are depicted by the following gothic writers: Washington Irving, Richard Matheson and Edgar Allan Poe; elements such as: entrapment and supernatural characteristics are illustrated in the short stories: “The Devil and Tom Walker;” “Prey;” and “The Raven.” Entrapment was a significant element represented in all of the short stories aforementioned. In, “The Devil and Tom Walker,” soon after Tom Walker established his broker’s shop in Boston “he made money hand over hand, became a rich and mighty man, and exalted his cocked hat upon "Change." He built himself, as usual, a vast house, out of ostentation, but left the greater part of it unfinished and unfurnished, out of parsimony. He even set up a carriage in the fulness of his vain-glory, though he nearly starved the horses which drew it”(Irving 326).

Despite all the progress the criminal justice system has made over the years, there will always be flaws due to humanity. Humans will never be perfect, making this the biggest downfall of any operation involving people. In any given situation, there is a decision made to later have an outcome. Depending on the decision and how the situation is viewed, the outcome may be good or bad.

Culture: the beliefs, customs, art, etc. of a particular society. Being a part of a culture is amazing, diverse, and interesting until the conflict from being a part of more than one culture becomes involved. This type of conflict can even change the way you see your culture. In the poem, “Legal Alien”, by Pat Mora, Pat Mora depicts her culture colliding with another, causing cultural conflict.

Subcultures are values and norms different from those of the majority and are held by a group within a wider society, these social groups are organized around shared interests and practices. A subculture is usually attached to clothes music and other visible fronts within the given community, that is part of the general society. Subcultures contain individuals who think alike who feel like they are not a part of the bigger culture of society and then create a sense of identity for themselves. The term Hip Hop is used as a subcultural movement. Scholars such as Carl and Virgil Taylor emphasize “Hip-Hop is not only a genre of music, but also a complex system of ideas, values and concepts that reflect newly emerging and ever-changing creative correlative expressive mechanisms including but not limited to song, poetry, film and fashion.”

The term gothic came into use in post-medieval times when the work of the Middle Ages men considered being crude & barbaric. I believe that this term was given to this style due to its structure; huge stone walls with pointed arches & gargoyles for example as mentioned by Jonathan Glancey, an architectural critic who worked as the architecture and design editor at ‘The Guardian’ in his book ‘Architecture: Eyewitness Companion Guide’, “High above the naves of these ship-like structures, and often well out of range of the human eye, we find expertly carved angels, demons, fronds, and finials: nothing was too good for the all-seeing eye of the heavenly

The female Gothic is more gentle and reflects the real life situation. It terrifies its readers by explained supernatural power and terror. As what is expected, the Female Gothic is a female-dominated novel from which the heroine is innocent at first and gradually becomes an experience lady with virtue. The story development is a process of turning to sensibility from ignorance. In the female Gothic, the idea of patriarchy is expressed by the social status of the heroine who depends on her family or husband.

Gothic Literature is a genre that was popular between 18th to 19th centuries in North Germany. It is always being associated with Dark Romanticism which the emphasize was more on nature, terror and death, horror and many more. It involves dark and gloomy setting and also unexplainable things that are beyond human senses and reason such as ghosts and monsters. The main characters, on the other hand, are always ineffectual which they do not give much effect on the story plot. This can be seen through Washington Irving’s “Rip van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” which can be considered as American gothic work in terms of its description of setting, the involvement of supernatural element in the story and also the characteristics of the main character.

In the early 18th century a new genre of fiction prose, named "Gothic Novel" was introduced. The term ”Gothic” used to refer to the German tribe of the Goths. The Gothic novel spread over the 19th century and had the popular theme of haunted places such as castles, crypts, gloomy monasteries; supernatural elements having the role to intensify the atmosphere. The characteristic motifs of the gothic genre were the strange places, the supernatural, magic objects, monsters, demons, science used for bad purposes. And many of them appear also in "The Picture of Dorian Gray".

Then the sales of the novel started to grow when it was adapted for Broadway in New York City in the 1920s. Then along came Hollywood and Universal Studios created the blockbuster movies classic starring Hungarian actor Bela Lugosi as Dracula in 1931. This classic can still be viewed today and since then dozens of vampire movies, TV shows and literature have followed the steps of Count Dracula. I’m sure a lot of you remember the cult hit TV series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and the bestselling novels of American writer Anne Rice. No one will ever say, “Dracula

Counterculture: The culture and lifestyle of those people, especially among the young, who reject or oppose the dominant values and behavior of society. 1) If your existence doesn't have a place within the dominant culture. 2) If you disagree with part of the dominant culture.