Goths: A Guide to an American Subculture (Guides to Subcultures and Countercultures)

184 Pages·2011·1.26 MB·English

by  Micah L. Issitt

Goths
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Guides to
Subcultures and Goths
Countercultures
A Guide to an American Subculture
Micah L. Issitt
Copyright 2011 by ABC-CLIO, LLC
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Issitt, Micah L.
Goths : a guide to an American subculture / Micah L. Issitt.
p. cm. — (Guides to subcultures and countercultures)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–313–38604–6 (hbk. : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-0-313-38605-3 (ebook)
1. Goth culture (Subculture)—United States. I. Title.
HQ796.I78 2011
0
306 .10973—dc22 2010048010
ISBN: 978–0–313–38604–6
EISBN: 978–0–313–38605–3
15 14 13 12 11 1 2 3 4 5
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ABC-CLIO, LLC
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Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911
This book is printed on acid-free paper
Manufactured in the United States of America
This book is dedicated to Carlyn and Jenna,
whom I love very much and whose help was
absolutely indispensable during the writing process, and
to all those out there who feel like freaks
and outcasts, you are not alone!
Contents
Series Foreword ix
Introduction xi
Timeline xvii
Chapter One History of Goth 1
Chapter Two Goth Music and the Dark Sound 17
Chapter Three Fashion, Bodies, and Beauty 31
Chapter Four Goth Fiction and Fantasy 47
Chapter Five The Community of Goth 59
Chapter Six The Perennial Gothic 69
Biographical Sketches 81
Glossary of Goth Slang 111
Primary Documents 115
Annotated Bibliography 147
Index 155
Series Foreword
From Beatniks to Flappers, Zoot Suiters to Punks, this series brings to
life some of the most compelling countercultures in American history.
Designed to offer a quick, in-depth examination and current perspective
on each group, the series aims to stimulate the reader’s understanding
of the richness of the American experience. Each book explores a
countercultural group critical to American life and introduces the reader
to its historical setting and precedents, the ways in which it was
subversive or countercultural, and its significance and legacy in American
history. Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines counterculture
as “a culture with values and mores that run counter to those of
established society.” Although some of the groups covered can be
described as primarily subcultural, they were targeted for inclusion
because they have not existed in a vacuum. They have advocated for
rules that methodically opposed mainstream culture, or lived by those
ideals to the degree that it became impossible not to impact the society
around them. They have left their marks, both positive and negative,
on the fabric of American culture. Volumes cover such groups as Hippies
and Beatniks, who impacted popular culture, literature, and art; the
Eco-Socialists and Radical Feminists, who worked toward social and