Abstract
Using a symbolic interactionist framework, this study is a narrative analysis of song lyrics from sixteen of the most popular heavy metal bands since the early 1990s. The data set for this study constituted 603 songs from fifty‐two long play (LP) recordings. Given that the overwhelming majority of metal music listeners are young males, these data were analyzed as texts of contemporary masculine identity. The contents of the data suggest that such identity is expressed in at least two ways. First, representing the “masculine crisis” identity, the data contain narratives of the self's hopeless domination from subjective and objective forces. Second, narratives representing the “traditional” masculine identity describe the cultivation of inner strength and the consequent conquering of perceived foes. Such narratives often predict the domination of a generic “you” and illustrate how the invocation of the “you” projects a future self. Both of these narratives, which depict either the subjugation or domination of the self, are argued to represent an ideology of individualism.
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