Gothic: The Evolution of a Dark Subculture

by Chris Roberts, Hywel Livingstone, Emma Baxter-Wright

Gothic images are very much a part of contemporary culture, not least for a style tribe with a passion for black. Gothic has a very long history stretching over hundreds of years of aesthetic evolution, becoming a form of sensational narrative that encompasses fiction, film, television and graphic novels; a genre of underground rock music; and a distinctive visual aesthetic exploited in fashion, the visual arts and digital media. Gothic has proved marvellously adaptable, and fertile ground for endless imaginative reinvention. This book provides an introduction to the wealth of Gothic phenomena. If one thing is true, it is that Gothic knows no boundaries.

Genres: Nonfiction, Gothic, Goth, Art

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

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Reviews

[Teo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent overlook of all things gothic. While not too in-depth—only one or two pages are dedicated to each subsection—this does cover a pretty wide range of topics, which I found enjoyable as someone with interests in a lot of different avenues. If you go into this expecting a thorough exploration of the 80s subculture though, you'll be disappointed. So emphasis on the gothic keyword should be kept in mind.

Its strengths lie with the historical aspects, like the architecture, film and book history, and generally the musical origins (who on earth would consider early Genesis a precursor to gothic rock though?), while in the fashion section, oddly little time is given to the genuine goth fashion from the 80s. Which isn't a big deal to me as I'm already well versed, but it is a strange choice from the authors I will admit.

[Anya Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at the history of the gothic subculture - easy to absorb and pass some time with. The film section was a little too long for me, but I might be inspired to watch some of the movies discussed! I also enjoyed the music section: an approachable introduction to the origins of the gothic sound. Unfortunately, I was quite disappointed by the fashion section. For me, there was too much focus on gothic-inspired haute couture. The runway doesn't seem representative of a subculture that (at least at one point) had a DIY focus. Also, the gothic lolita mention wasn't super accurate ("known as GothLoli"- not so much). Plus, lolita isn't considered to be cosplay-esque and (as far as I'm aware) cybergoth and steampunk aren't either. Overall, a good diving board for exploration - future research will be necessary for areas of particular interest.

[Natalie Carey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite good overall, and it filled a few gaps in my knowledge about gothic architecture and art etc., but I would have liked it to have been a little more filled out. It had a ton of information about the history of gothic and where the subculture started and where its roots are, but it just felt as though something was missing. I'm not entirely sure what though, and it might just be that I knew quite a bit already, and was expecting more. I also would have been happier if there had been some kind of afterward of sorts - it just ends so abruptly with no closing thoughts. Otherwise a great, fun read!

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twilight? Really? Stephenie Meyer in the same volume with E. A. Poe and Lovecraft??

Minus 2 stars

[PRJ Greenwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A flashy taster into the world of Gothic - from its origins as an architectural style through to modern day look-ins at fashion and so on, with everything else touched upon in between. But that's all it - a taster. A good starting point, but for all things Gothic, fiction, music, subculture et al, there are better resources out there.

[Gaelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beaucoup d'informations surtout des groupes / artistes cité plutôt que l'explication de la création de cette contre culture. J'aime qu'il y ait plusieurs parties sur différents arts mais il y a peu de lien entre les différentes parties. Pas très accessible pour des novices qui souhaitent découvrir cette culture. J'aurais aimé plus d'explication sur la partie "racine" De cette contre culture.

[Elso · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gothic has given me a greater understanding of the many layers of this sub culture
Art, music, architecture, fashion & literature.
Gothic still fascinates me - it’s everywhere.

[Wednesday · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting, informative

[Mandy V. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un livre plutôt pas mal avec beaucoup de références littéraires et cinématographiques. Mais ce qui m'a dérangé c'est que les auteurs mélangent horreur et gothique. Par exemple, ils classent "American Psycho" dans les romans gothiques alors que pour moi c'est plus un thriller, mais ils ne parlent pas de Shirley Jackson qui est connue pour s'inspirer des codes de ce genre.
On sent aussi un peu de condescendance aussi quand ils ne maitrisent pas un sujet, notamment les sous-genres dans la mode.

[Kait SpookyCat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was expecting something more. The history, architecture and art the book explored was not as in depth as some people claim. Also, a lot of current media featured in the book is not a good metric of the subculture. I'm just saying that you don't see a lot of goths going around boasting about reading Twilight. Oddly enough, that's not what bothered me. There was an undertone, a seeming preoccupation with identity politics; throwing in assertions with no citations, arbitrarily claiming certain people (and acts) as feminist or other popular buzz-titles. Honestly, I learned a couple of new things. Other than that, I have pretty much find everything detailed in this book through a wiki search.

[Philippe Lenain · Rating 2 out of 5]

autant la dimension archi est bien balisée, autant le reste... côté littérature, (quasiment) tout ce qui est du domaine du fantastique / horreur est considéré comme gothique, idem pour la littérature (même si ici la tentative chronologique semble plus sûre), en lorgnant également du côté de la SF. pour la musique, pas beaucoup mieux, avec pour point commun des artistes qui rejettent, au moins pour partie, l'étiquette gothique. rien à signaler sur la mode. à aucun moment le terme n'est défini, ce qui vient entretenir le brouillage, et fait perdre sa consistance à l'ouvrage. au final, on retiendra quelques bribes, qui portent davantage sur un esthétisme que des valeurs.

[Bethnoir · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book just kept on getting better as the chapters went by. A reasonably in depth look at the roots of the gothic subculture, in architecture, art, film, fashion and of course music, lacking only a photo of the Fields of the Nephilim, it was lots of fun and gave me a longer film list to peruse at some point.

[Metalpig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice primer on goth history with some great photos.

[Erik Steevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gothic in architecture, art, fiction, cinema, rock music & fashion!!!
A well done overview with lots of information where to dig and to find more about 'the darkness'.