Librezine 2023 - Summer Subculture Edition

LIBREZINE

The Geek the nerd and the otaku

Here in the west, we are aware of the subculture known as “Nerds” & “Geeks” who are the type of people to be extremely enthusiastic about their hobbies and interests. This subculture was born from a passion for the media in a general sense and usually grows with exposure as a child to the media they enjoy.

The first and biggest culprit was “Star Wars” which captivated the world unlike anything that has come before and even after, George Lucas’s fantasy space adventure captured the geeky side of the mainstream audience and has become a behemoth of a staple within the subculture that’s still alive to this day.

The geek fandom is overwhelmingly dominated with American media. With the fantasy and science fiction genres being at the core of this subculture, it was pioneered by Pulp Fiction novels that then became comic books dating back to 1938 with the likes of “Action Comics #1”. ”But the subculture exploded in popularity during the 80s due to a handful of cultural events.

Other big staples include the television series “Star Trek”, J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy epic “The Lord of the Rings”, Wizards of the Coast’s tabletop RPG “Dungeons and Dragons” and lastly the emerging video game industry that came from Japan.

The Japanese video game industry inherently introduced to the west their own variety of geekdom. Not only did it introduce its own unique style of artwork, but it introduced in conjunction their own brand of storytelling which was immeasurably popular with franchises created by “Nintendo” and by “Squaresoft”. But Japan’s influence wouldn’t take full form until the end of the 90s when Japanese cartoons known as ‘Anime’ became a lot easier to acquire, while still a niche genre with very little in terms of selection, classics such as ‘Dragonball’, ‘Akira’, ‘Ghost in the Shell’ and ‘Gundam’ blew the doors wide open for more. This was the birth of the western Otaku.

Since the late 90s/early 2000s, the interest in Anime/ Manga in the west has exploded! Leading to a general interest in Japanese culture, music and language, and has created a whole new category of subculture within the existing geek subculture. The western Otaku is likely to collect anime figures, collect manga and anime, create elaborate costumes that emulate their favorite characters, and attend events that surround their interest.

In Japan, the word Otaku translates to the word “geek”, the Otaku has a somewhat parallel history to western geeks, but with more of an emphasis in Japanese comic books known as Manga and the Anime’s that are based on that work.

Such events have increased in accessibility in the UK over the past 15 or so years and are regularly attended by fans of this genre. With limitless enthusiasm and passion for their interests, the western Otaku culture has flourished over the past decade, with multiple stores popping up catering to the interest.

BY ADRIAN IZQUIERDO

from your hop Know your Hip

Many would associate Hip Hop with music alone but there many more artistic elements involved that form this popular culture. Introduced by African Americans and Latinos from economically deprived areas residing in the Bronx New York city, it became hugely popular owing to its innovative style involving Deejaying, Breaking, Turntabling, Rapping and Graffiti.

Graffiti

Although Graffiti is often associated with gangs and vandalism, hip hop artists use Graffiti to express emotion, communicate a message and mark territory. It is used to capture visual attention in areas such as Subways and artists, often concealing their identity, exhibit their creative skills using colourful spray paints.

Urban Fashion

Hip Hop style dates back to streetwear during the 1970’s. As it became mainstream the style remained unchanged as the traditional baggy pants, sneakers, gold jewellery, bomber jackets and hooded sweatshirts, only over time different accessories contributed to the fashion like bandannas, side wearing baseball caps or carrying boomboxes. Women often wore

bamboo earrings, hair weaves, bra tops and oversized jewellery.

Breakdancing or B-Boying

Breakdancing is globally recognised as an energetic form of dance. Overtime it has become more diverse and involves athletic movements such as head and backspins, freezes, drops, swipes, stylized footwork, popping and locking, top rock and down rock and incorporates co-ordination, style and acrobatics.

As the Hip Hop culture has advanced so have the dance competitions or battles that have become popular around the world. The term ‘break’ dates back to DJ Cool Herc’s deejaying style of ‘cutting breaks’. He recognised that dancers grew ecstatic during the ‘breaks’ in the song which allowed audiences to stimulate their dance moves.

Deejaying and Rapping Old School Music

Hip Hop music owes its growth to the early pioneers including Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa and DJ Kool Herc who is arguably the credited founder of hip hop. The first hip hop song to become a commercial success was ‘Rappers Delight’ by ‘The Sugar Hill Gang’ released in 1979. New School Music - The Golden Age of Hip Hop - Record Labels recognised hip hop as an emerging trend, invested more

money and used advanced technology to edit, sequence and mix music to begin remixing. Several breakthrough artists came to prominence including LL Cool J, Run DMC, Public Enemy, and Will Smith. ‘Gansgsta Rap’ also emerged during the East and West Coast Feud which led to the murders of Tupac and Notorious B.I.G. A lot of socially conscious hip hop music was produced highlighting issues such as poverty, injustice,

drugs and crime. Artists like Snoop Dogg, P Diddy, Ice Cube and Dr Dre dominated the industry.

Modern Day Hip-Hop - A commercial success, hip hop continues to dominate the charts with artists like 50 Cent, Kanye West, Jay Z and Eminem making chart history. Hip Hop has been successful in forming a diverse culture of extremely talented artists from around the globe.

BY SOHANA PATEL 7

Roaring 20s

The Flapper & the Beginning of Youth Culture

When people think about the 1920s, they may think of Art Deco design, Jazz music and secret dance clubs. But nothing more embodies the image of the 1920s than the iconic Flapper.

Before the 1920s, there wasn’t really any such thing as Youth Culture. You were a child and then you were an adult – with all the responsibilities that came with that, and with a cultural mentality still firmly in the Victorian Era in the UK.

Then in 1914, the first World War started, killing 10s of millions of people across the world and this was quickly followed by a Flu pandemic known as ‘The Spanish Flu’ in 1918-1920 which killed between 50 – 100 million people worldwide.

During this time, with both so many men away at war and millions of people suddenly too unwell to work, women across the class structure were required to do their part and step into work that they would previously have been excluded from. With a post-war financial boom, many people now had more disposable income than they were used to. This led to many young women from the middle and upper classes earning a wage and gaining some financial independence for the first time. Mixed with the rise in availability of mass-produced cars, this resulted in a bit of a rebellion of the status quo among the younger generation of the middle classes and above. Gone was the prim and proper image the Victorian and Edwardian Eras were known for, with the emphasis on curvaceous but modest femininity emphasized by corsets.

The new style for young women was short bobbed hair, dropped waisted and loose fitted dresses that gave an image of a slimmer, more ‘boyish’ figure, and a shorter hemline. Thinly plucked eyebrows, glamourous dark eye and lip makeup were also the ideal - made popular by the silent film stars of the time. A stark contrast from the more natural look preferred by the Victorian and Edwardian styles. Seen as wild and immoral by the adults of society, Flappers drank alcohol, smoked, partied and celebrated life in places around the world.

So, what ended the Flapper era?

The roaring 20s for the Flapper subculture was all about having a good time, partying, and big spending after the horrors of the First

World War. All this came to a grinding halt with the 1929 Wall Street Stock Market crash in the USA. This impacted countries around the world and became known as ‘The Great Depression’. Lasting a full decade, this economic slump caused high unemployment and lower incomes around the world. Suddenly the extravagant lifestyle, parties, and good times fizzled away and the 1930s took on a more reserved image.

Despite this, embodying extravagance and excess and being seen as fun-loving and exciting, the image of the glamourous Flapper has endured to this day as an iconic subculture of the 20th Century.

BY CLARE IZQUIERDO

Subculture 2nd Gen

What do we mean by second generation?

The term refers to the children of people who moved to live in another country. Second generation children are usually born in that country, grow up there and are educated there. Being second generation myself, I have some personal insight into the many facets of subculture that can be formed by people growing up and living wedged between two cultures.

Culture encompasses many different things, from social norms and how we behave, to clothes, food, religion, and the way we express ourselves through art. It can be synonymous with our identities and how we perceive ourselves and the world around us.

But what happens when a person is living and growing between two dominant cultures, that of their history, family and heritage, and that of their country, environment, and living?

BY IRAM HUSSAIN

When it comes to navigating between cultures, food is one of the best examples of how people have merged their love of two different cultures (or multiple ones for that matter) into something new, it’s also a notoriously good way of bringing people together. Many people who have grown up eating both the food of their heritage and the food of their country of residence, end up creating a small haven of consumption subculture that combines the two.

In the UK for example, there are many places you can go to get Pizza (a traditionally European food) that has an incredible variety of international toppings, including masala chicken and Caribbean style. Not to mention how something traditionally eastern like chicken tikka masala, is now considered a national dish in England (brittanica.com).

In this way, the creativity of second-generation immigrants can have an impact not only on those communities but for countries at large.

Food is not the only place where these curated, subculture influences are felt. In film, art, music, and even comedy the second degeneration experience is often explored.

Comedian Tez Ilyas from the UK, often jokes about the sometimes-precarious balancing of second-generation immigrants, being one himself, and the ways in which spin off cultures are created in these communities that combine the preferred aspects of two dominant cultures.

Author Zadie Smith is also known to comment on the diaspora experience (another name for people living away

from what is considered their homeland) often exploring themes of identity for this group of people, and how they navigate sometimes opposing cultures, and finding balance and acceptance.

Talk of second-generation subculture can bring about ideas of assimilation, of which the basic meaning is a minority culture coming to take on the aspects of a more dominant one. However, this can be an unfair or unrealistic expectation. As can be seen around us from aspects of multi-cultural societies, people prefer to celebrate all cultures in varying ways, and heritage can be as close to people’s hearts as the place they are living. Sometimes it really comes down to the individual, and a really interesting part of being second-generation is adopting and exploring your favourite parts of the cultures you are exposed to. From food, fashion, the arts and even politics and religion, I much prefer Maya Angelou’s description of multi-cultural society being a ‘beautiful mosaic,’ and second-generation subculture is definitely a celebration of that.

BRIT punk

Punk rock subculture began in 1976 in New York, but although it was largely an American invention, punk style and attitude were very much a product of British youth culture. It has a diverse and widely known array of ideologies, fashion, and other forms of expression - visual art, dance, literature, and film. Punk is presented as a negation of pretty-much everything: a line drawn in the cultural sand to reboot and rejuvenate youth culture as a site of provocative fun, protest and imagination.

The ideologies are primarily concerned with concepts such as mutual aid, equality, humanitarianism, anti-authoritarianism, anti-consumerism, anti-war, anti-globalization, anti-racism, anti-sexism, gender equality, racial equality, health rights, civil rights, animal rights, disability rights, free-thought and non-conformity. All these ideologies are expressed through punk music. Putting it into context, the 1970s was a time of blackouts, strikes and three-day weeks.

It was reported to be the gloomiest period since the second world war. No wonder there was a rebellion against the social conditions of the 70s.

Fashion

Punk fashion is characterised by leather, denim, metal spikes or studs, chains, spiked hair and military-style boots. The origin of punk fashion can be traced to King’s Road, London, and Dame Vivienne Westwood. Vivienne was a teacher turned pioneering fashion designer who developed the punk aesthetics of the era. Vivienne is believed to have

commercialised punk fashion. She rose to prominence as a designer after creating clothing for her boutique and the Sex Pistols. With over 30 flagship stores, including one in Spring Gardens Manchester, the brand operates showrooms in London, Paris, Milan and Los Angeles, selling through over 700 points of sale worldwide. Vivienne died on 29th December 2022, age 81, peacefully surrounded by family in Clapham, South London.

Music

The most famous English punk bands are the Sex Pistols and The Clash. Two of the most important British bands of the era influenced a whole generation of musicians and achieved global fame with their music. The lead singer of the Sex Pistols was Johnny Rotten (named due to his bad teeth), the stage name of John Joseph Lydon. They never achieved a number one in the charts during their height of fame in the 70s, but had seven top tens and twelve top forties. Their second track, ‘God Save the Queen’, was released in 1977 during Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee, but was banned by the BBC due to its highly provocative anti-monarchy lyrics. It was re-released during the Platinum Jubilee and quickly soured to

number one in the UK streaming charts, 45 years after its initial release. Their final performance was on 14th January 1978 at the Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco. Following his departure from the Sex Pistols, Lydon formed Public Image Ltd and released 17 albums.

The Clash’s frontman Joe Strummer’s politically charged lyrics helped bring punk to the masses, calling out social injustices and giving a voice to the struggles of the working class. The band sparked into life in June 1976 when west London art school drop-outs Paul Simon (bass) and Mick Jones (guitar) approached Strummer, who was with a band called The 101’ers, to join their new group. Guided by The Clash’s unorthodox and free-thinking manager Bernard Rhodes, the group had 4 albums and helped to create the English punk movement with the Sex Pistols.

Scan this QR code to listen to some punk classics.

Whitmanites

boltons one-of-a-kind phenomenon

At the peak of the industrial revolution that swept across England’s ‘satanic mills’, and in the midst of the picturesque landscapes of northern towns, an unexpected friendship blossomed between a group of Boltonians and one of the greatest American poets, Walt Whitman.

The overseas correspondence with the bard started in 1887 when two friends, J.W. Wallace, an architect’s assistant and Dr John Johnston, a reputable local GP, sent an emotional letter to Whitman wishing him a happy birthday and expressing their ‘gratitude and reverence’ for his teaching which, ‘as a veritable gospel’, brought ‘glad tidings of great joy’ to them.

But who was Walt Whitman and why did the laureate strike a chord with the English fans?

Walt Whitman is a celebrated 19th century American poet, essayist and journalist who pioneered free verse in poetry and promoted transcendentalism and deism in his work.

BY IVANA FLETCHER

His first collection of poems ‘The Leaves of Grass’ (1855) captures what it meant to be a modern American at the end of the 19th century. In one of the most famous poems from the collection, ‘The Song of Myself’, Whitman invites the readers to celebrate their existence in simplicity and connection with nature. His poetry was quite controversial at the time for its overly sensual descriptions and sexual connotations.

It is not difficult to imagine how Whitman’s poetry had a profound and deep impact on the lives of two Boltonian friends, Wallace and Johnston. Whitman’s expression in an open, free verse was different to his English contemporaries, it was the right food for the perceptive and open-minded professionals

who needed to escape the drudging life in a dreary industrial Bolton. The immaculate and untouched nature that surrounded and still surrounds the town was the perfect backdrop for experiencing the embodiment of Walt’s sultry verses. No wonder that soon others joined the new society not of a dead but a very much living poet.

As the group grew, attracting more and more members such as the prominent architect John Ormrod, so did the frequency of their correspondences with ‘the master’ whose life was equally enriched by this unique friendship. At first, the group met regularly in Wallace’s house on Eagle street and they called themselves ‘The Eagle Street College’ where they discussed and read Whitman’s work. When Wallace moved to a cottage in Adlington near the West Pennine Moors, his new home became an international hub for political and cultural discussions where the socialist and anarchistic ideas took place, and where both the host, Wallace and Dr Johnston shared the experiences of their travels across the Atlantic when visiting the bard.

Once a year, on Whitman’s birthday, May 31st, the group would

walk to Rivington and have garden parties at John Ormond’s house at Walker Fold passing around a ‘loving cup’ gifted to them by Whitman’s American friends, filled with spiced wine and adorning their jackets with the sprig of lilac, Whitman’s favourite. This tradition and the group’s regular meetings continued after the poet’s death, even during the First World War, but died off over the subsequent 30 years.

The tradition was again revived in the 1980s and now the 21st century Whitmanites meet once a year for a traditional walk from Barrow Bridge up to Walker Fold where they share a picnic and drink the spiced claret from a loving cup once more.

It is still fascinating to think that such comradeship took place in Bolton, but it is not to underestimate the power of the working class minds who celebrated the transcendent beauty of their surroundings and fed on the thoughts of one great poet.

Jah Rastafari

Originating as a subculture of Jamaica in the early 1930s the Rastafari where heavily influenced by the teachings of Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican-born black nationalist who promoted a message of self-determination and black pride. It can be argued however, that another preacher by the name of Leonard Howell inspired by Garvey’s teachings and elements of Ethiopianism was amongst one of the more prominent figures in the early development of the Rastafarian culture. He taught people about their history and helped to establish the first Rastafarian community in Jamaica.

A prophecy made in the 1920s by Garvey stated, ‘look to Africa, when a black king shall be crowned, for the day of deliverance is at hand.’ This swiftly followed the ascension to the throne in Ethiopia of the Emperor Haile Selassie I, whose name prior to his crowning was Ras Tafari Makonnan. Many Rastafari took this to be a sign that he was their messiah, the king of kings and lion of Judah.

Most Rasta follow a diet that is referred to as I-tal which consists of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, beans, and pulses. It is a natural diet free from additives and chemicals and does not contain meat. This is because they believe that the body is a temple and as such eating meat would turn it into a cemetery. The principles of a Rasta lifestyle are known as ‘livity’ meaning a commitment to live organically and harmoniously with the environment. Contrary to popular belief not all Rastafari smoke weed, it is optional. However, they believe that it opens the path to enlightenment and spiritual healing.

The language of the Rastafarian reflects their protest against oppression and authority. The best way to get to know them is to listen to them speak.

Often changing words from a negative to a positive meaning, they don’t say ‘hello’ because it has the word ‘hell’ in it but rather prefer to term the phrase ‘Wah Gwaan’. From ‘understand’ to ‘overstand’ because being over something is better than being under something.

Probably the most famous Rastfarian is the late singer songwriter Bob Marley who through his reggae music was propelled into the limelight and onto the global stage. Reggae music gained popularity in the 1960s and 70s w ith young people around the world and along with this the Rastafarian culture which spread the message of peace, love and unity.

The most visible aspect of a Rasta are the colours red, gold, green. Red signifies the blood of those that have been killed throughout history, green for the vegetation and hope, gold symbolises the wealth of Ethiopia.

Another common characteristic of a Rastafarian are the dreadlocks, although seen as a widespread popular hairstyle, today the dreadlocks of a true Rastafarian have a far more meaningful purpose.

Rastafarians follow the law of the Nazarite which prohibits the cutting or combing of the hair. The vows are a way of demonstrating the deeply personal and spiritual journey that’s helps to connect them to their community and to their faith. In the 1950s and 60s Jamaica carried out a survey to find out who was Rastafarian and discovered that a lot of young people were covering themselves with dreadlocks identifying or rather disguising as a Rastafarian who were in fact criminals this resulted in the Rastafarian community being given a bad name. As widespread as Rastafari has come, they still face discrimination and harassment today because they choose to live a life differently from the rest of society.

CULT Docs &

films to watch

Keep Sweet, Pray, Obey (DOCU-SERIES)

This four-part documentary follows a splinter sect from the Mormons known as Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (FLDS) The group based themselves in Colorado City, Arizona, and were led by a man called Warren James also known as ‘the prophet’. Members of the organisation still believed in polygamy and it was believed that the more wives a man had the closer to God he would become. The women all dressed the same with long dresses and hair tied in a bun and had to pray every hour, members were forbidden from knowing anything about the outside world and if rules were broken people could be cast out. Through mind control Warren James married 78 women in total, a quarter of whom were underage. He was arrested in 2011 and sentenced to life imprisonment but unbelievably still manages to maintain leadership from the prison grounds.

Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator (DOCUMENTARY)

This true crime documentary follows Indian born Bikram Choudhury and his rise to success with hot yoga studios around the world. Bikram arrives in the states mid-seventies, equipped with his yoga asanas (poses) from Kolkata. He soon attains celebrity status after setting up his basement studio in Beverly Hills and cranking up the heat to mimic the temperature of his motherland. His rigorous classes were a strange combination of yoga exercise and sweat lodge, coupled alongside cosmic wisdom and eccentric behaviour. He made most of his money from selling his intensive 9-week yoga training sessions where people would pay £10,000 to become certified Bikram yoga teachers. Bikram fled the USA back to India in 2016 to avoid abuse allegations and a court settlement of 7 million dollars.

Wild, Wild Country (DOCU-SERIES)

A six-part docu-series following Indian guru Osho (Bagwan Shree Ragneesh) as he builds a commune in the desert town of Antelope, Oregon. The self-governing ranch is administered by Sanyasi Sheela who manages the groups millions allowing the commune to issue their own building and law enforcement regulations. The FBI soon start to investigate as a mistrust starts to form from the local residents as the new town of Rajneeshpuram is constructed. Evidence is found which highlights group sex, sham marriages, and relocating homeless people to aid country elections in the commune’s favour. Sheelah starts to act aggressively to people she regards as obstacles and a conspiracy is born within the commune that she is attempting to kill people, Osho included. As Sheelah and her allies flee to Germany, Osho denounces her and the religion she has tried to indoctrinate into the community. As the FBI and SWAT teams descend on the commune, Osho tries to leave America on a plane to avoid extradition which is intercepted by federal agents. Both Sheela and Osho accept the charges against them.

Midsommar (FICTION FILM)

An American couple in a failing relationship travel to a Swedish midsummer festival with a group of student friends. It’s the ancestral home of Pelle who’s invited them to the ritual that is only performed once every ninety years. As the group walk through the woods to a clearing they are welcomed by a community who on first appearances seem to be loving and peaceful as if living in a utopian dream. Things soon turn sour however as this sinister cult introduce their Scandinavian pagan practises to the outsiders which result in a number of human sacrifices.

BY ZOE ROTHWELL