Identity and the meaning of style in subculture

Abstract

The author of this article advances the thesis that many forms of identity (primarily national and personal identity) are today connected with subcultures. Subcultures are the core of the alternative cultural life; they represent particular enclaves in which identities are shaped. The author postulates, explains and defines the subcultural identity as a special kind of identity, based on the meaning of style. For that purpose, he constructs the triad: subculture - style - identity. By analyzing the stated relation he discovers the cultural patterns of the minority groups gathered round the following elements: views on the world, strategies of thinking, symbolic representation, values, beliefs, moods, tastes, specific sensibility and language distinctiveness. Sociological analysis shows that these elements are tightly connected with belonging to classes, layers and informal social groups. Of course, every identifying characteristic does not have its social equivalent - identities in subcultures are, in the first place, the matter of one’s own choice in the process of personalization; they are the best manifestation of cultural diversity, resistance and alternative.