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Subculture: The Meaning of Style
'Hebdige's Subculture: The Meaning of Style is so important: complex and remarkably lucid, it's the first book dealing with punk to offer intellectual content. Hebdige [...] is concerned with the UK's postwar, music-centred, white working-class subcultures, from teddy boys to mods and rockers to skinheads and punks.' - Rolling Stone
With enviable precision and wit Hebdige has addressed himself to a complex topic - the meanings behind the fashionable exteriors of working-class youth subcultures - approaching them with a sophisticated theoretical apparatus that combines semiotics, the sociology of devience and Marxism and come up with a very stimulating short book - Time Out
This book is an attempt to subject the various youth-protest movements of Britain in the last 15 years to the sort of Marxist, structuralist, semiotic analytical techniques propagated by, above all, Roland Barthes. The book is recommended whole-heartedly to anyone who would like fresh ideas about some of the most stimulating music of the rock era - The New York Times
With enviable precision and wit Hebdige has addressed himself to a complex topic - the meanings behind the fashionable exteriors of working-class youth subcultures - approaching them with a sophisticated theoretical apparatus that combines semiotics, the sociology of devience and Marxism and come up with a very stimulating short book - Time Out
This book is an attempt to subject the various youth-protest movements of Britain in the last 15 years to the sort of Marxist, structuralist, semiotic analytical techniques propagated by, above all, Roland Barthes. The book is recommended whole-heartedly to anyone who would like fresh ideas about some of the most stimulating music of the rock era - The New York Times
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
143 people are currently reading
4235 people want to read
About the author
Dick Hebdige
27 books38 followersRichard 'Dick' Hebdige (born 1951) is an expatriate British media theorist and sociologist most commonly associated with the study of subcultures, and subcultural resistance against the mainstream of society.
Hebdige received his M.A. from the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies in Birmingham, United Kingdom. He is best known for his influential book Subculture: The Meaning of Style, originally published in 1979. He has been teaching in art schools since the mid-1970s. He served as the Dean of Critical Studies and the Director of the experimental writing program at the California Institute of the Arts before going to the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he is currently a professor of film and media studies and art.
Hebdige's Subculture: The Meaning of Style builds on earlier work at Birmingham on youth subcultures. While much of this research was concerned with the relation between subcultures and social class in postwar Britain, Hebdige saw youth cultures in terms of a dialogue between Black and white youth. He argues that punk emerged as a mainly white style when Black youth became more separatist in the 1970s in response to discrimination in British society. Whereas previous research described a homology between the different aspects of a subcultural style (dress, hairstyle, music, drugs), Hebdige argues that punk in London in 1976-77 borrowed from all previous subcultures and its only homology was chaos. In making this argument he was drawing on the early work of Julia Kristeva who also found such subversion of meaning in French poets such as Mallarmé and Lautréamont.
Hebdidge also wrote Cut 'n' Mix: Culture, Identity and Caribbean Music (1987) on Caribbean music and identity, and Hiding in the Light: On Images and Things (1988) a book of essays that includes some further thoughts about punk.
In 2008 he contributed a chapter to Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music and Culture edited by Paul D. Miller a.k.a. DJ Spooky.
Hebdige received his M.A. from the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies in Birmingham, United Kingdom. He is best known for his influential book Subculture: The Meaning of Style, originally published in 1979. He has been teaching in art schools since the mid-1970s. He served as the Dean of Critical Studies and the Director of the experimental writing program at the California Institute of the Arts before going to the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he is currently a professor of film and media studies and art.
Hebdige's Subculture: The Meaning of Style builds on earlier work at Birmingham on youth subcultures. While much of this research was concerned with the relation between subcultures and social class in postwar Britain, Hebdige saw youth cultures in terms of a dialogue between Black and white youth. He argues that punk emerged as a mainly white style when Black youth became more separatist in the 1970s in response to discrimination in British society. Whereas previous research described a homology between the different aspects of a subcultural style (dress, hairstyle, music, drugs), Hebdige argues that punk in London in 1976-77 borrowed from all previous subcultures and its only homology was chaos. In making this argument he was drawing on the early work of Julia Kristeva who also found such subversion of meaning in French poets such as Mallarmé and Lautréamont.
Hebdidge also wrote Cut 'n' Mix: Culture, Identity and Caribbean Music (1987) on Caribbean music and identity, and Hiding in the Light: On Images and Things (1988) a book of essays that includes some further thoughts about punk.
In 2008 he contributed a chapter to Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music and Culture edited by Paul D. Miller a.k.a. DJ Spooky.
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February 1, 2016
Subcultures are a break from the mainstream which offend or unsettle those outside the group, often intentionally. After watching a Sex Pistols concert in 1977, for instance, a British politician is reported as saying that he “felt unclean for about 48 hours.” Punk is thus reviled and ridiculed. While still reading Dick Hebdige’s Subculture: The Meaning of Style, I watched the documentary, The Filth and the Fury: A Sex Pistols Film, in which a commentator in the late 1970s explained that punk rock was a greater threat to Britain than Russian communism. Amazing! And it is amazing, as I think about it, that my parents in rural Indiana let me buy and then play (and sing along to) Never Mind the Bollocks at full volume when I was still in junior high. That was a threat to the Heartland! What were they thinking?
In his study, largely of post-World War II Britain, Hebdige traces how youth subcultures emerge and develop. The focus is on the intersection of music, fashion and opposition to mainstream culture (and how that is expressed as a certain style which can often be traced to the very definition of the subculture). Much of the study centers on punk and reggae; other subcultures Hebdige ties to music forms include the mods, skinheads, hippies, teddy boys and hipsters. It is interesting how these subcultures developed, and, in their own unique ways, addressed political, economic and racial issues. Hebdige also follows reactions of the mainstream to the threat of these emerging subcultures. The book was published in 1979, but one can see many of the same factors at work today in which cultural movements are suppressed, contained and incorporated into the larger culture. An interesting and fun read!
In his study, largely of post-World War II Britain, Hebdige traces how youth subcultures emerge and develop. The focus is on the intersection of music, fashion and opposition to mainstream culture (and how that is expressed as a certain style which can often be traced to the very definition of the subculture). Much of the study centers on punk and reggae; other subcultures Hebdige ties to music forms include the mods, skinheads, hippies, teddy boys and hipsters. It is interesting how these subcultures developed, and, in their own unique ways, addressed political, economic and racial issues. Hebdige also follows reactions of the mainstream to the threat of these emerging subcultures. The book was published in 1979, but one can see many of the same factors at work today in which cultural movements are suppressed, contained and incorporated into the larger culture. An interesting and fun read!
December 28, 2020
excellent ouvrage très accessible et précis sur le sujet des sous cultures, j’ai particulièrement aimé les précisions sur les racines noires et prolétaires de mouvements représentés majoritairement comme blancs.
December 4, 2008
This classic text from the Birmingham CCCS offers a comprehensive semiotic analysis of the punk movement as a case study in the spectacular nature of subcultures. Hebdige posits that style in subcultural formations in England function as a form of protest against power structures, transforming the meaning of objects from their original use-based definitions into a visual revolt against a classist society entrenched in tradition. Hebdige assumes that the fashions of the punks, mods, teds, and rastas can be explicated using semiotic analytic techniques. He also assumes that a class-based political structure shapes the worldview of the subculture members.
Hebdige initiates the discussion with a definition of three key terms. In 1969, the definition and usage of the term culture was undergoing a transformation in Britain with the introduction of Marxist theory. Culture transitioned from the primarily historical dimension of the study of relationships changes to incorporate a strongly political dimension described as the study of relationships in conflict. Ideology descended below the level of consciousness under the same Marxist influence, transforming from a set of agreed upon beliefs and approaches to an insidious system of principles, far more effective because it is subconscious and thus naturalized among members of society. Finally, Hebdige brings in the Gramscian notion of hegemony to unite culture and ideology in an uneasy relationship guiding the functions and development of society. This sets the stage for his development of spectacular subcultural style as a form of protest to this hegemonical system.
Hebdige keeps to the semiotic tradition of interrogating visual signs in society as a mythic text to be deciphered, and uses the textual analytic techniques employed by Barthes and others. He also includes references to previous theoretical texts to develop his arguments, framing the work in a historical context. Hebdige’s tendency to neglect the perspectives of the subcultures he was studying not only goes against the social scientific origins of the term subculture as originated by the University of Chicago, but has prompted criticism in recent years to make the argument that qualitative research is needed to back up Hebdige’s and others textual analysis. Hebdige’s investigation of motivations is constrained by his lack of qualitative research—he speculates on the reasons for teds’ involvement in race-based attacks, but doesn’t delve deeply. Similarly, his discussion of West Indian culture is limited by a a model that at times casts the Black Man as little more than a metaphor, at the expense of a more sophisticated investigation of relationships between the different subcultures.
Hebdige plumbs the depths of postmodern style and produces a comprehensive record of the historical relevance and referential techniques of various subcultures to be enjoyed by scholars and enthusiasts alike. Hebdige’s argument for the subculture as a political formation may be tempered in recent years, but his work has shaped much of the discussion of subcultures since its publication in 1969. Hebdige’s text remains a seminal work in the fields of youth studies, frequently quoted and used as a baseline for current work in the field.
Hebdige initiates the discussion with a definition of three key terms. In 1969, the definition and usage of the term culture was undergoing a transformation in Britain with the introduction of Marxist theory. Culture transitioned from the primarily historical dimension of the study of relationships changes to incorporate a strongly political dimension described as the study of relationships in conflict. Ideology descended below the level of consciousness under the same Marxist influence, transforming from a set of agreed upon beliefs and approaches to an insidious system of principles, far more effective because it is subconscious and thus naturalized among members of society. Finally, Hebdige brings in the Gramscian notion of hegemony to unite culture and ideology in an uneasy relationship guiding the functions and development of society. This sets the stage for his development of spectacular subcultural style as a form of protest to this hegemonical system.
Hebdige keeps to the semiotic tradition of interrogating visual signs in society as a mythic text to be deciphered, and uses the textual analytic techniques employed by Barthes and others. He also includes references to previous theoretical texts to develop his arguments, framing the work in a historical context. Hebdige’s tendency to neglect the perspectives of the subcultures he was studying not only goes against the social scientific origins of the term subculture as originated by the University of Chicago, but has prompted criticism in recent years to make the argument that qualitative research is needed to back up Hebdige’s and others textual analysis. Hebdige’s investigation of motivations is constrained by his lack of qualitative research—he speculates on the reasons for teds’ involvement in race-based attacks, but doesn’t delve deeply. Similarly, his discussion of West Indian culture is limited by a a model that at times casts the Black Man as little more than a metaphor, at the expense of a more sophisticated investigation of relationships between the different subcultures.
Hebdige plumbs the depths of postmodern style and produces a comprehensive record of the historical relevance and referential techniques of various subcultures to be enjoyed by scholars and enthusiasts alike. Hebdige’s argument for the subculture as a political formation may be tempered in recent years, but his work has shaped much of the discussion of subcultures since its publication in 1969. Hebdige’s text remains a seminal work in the fields of youth studies, frequently quoted and used as a baseline for current work in the field.
September 25, 2022
Very informative, just a bit difficult to read with how dense it is.
If you want to understand the subcultures of postwar Britain in its full complexity, though, this is definitely the book for you!
If you want to understand the subcultures of postwar Britain in its full complexity, though, this is definitely the book for you!
November 27, 2021
Ja, sjukt att författaren i själva verket är I Love Dick-Dick. Det insåg jag inte förrän mot slutet av läsningen, då jag letade efter någon podcast om den här sakproseklassikern.
Ger bra insikt i hur subkulturerna hänger ihop och man kan tydligare än någonsin urskilja en tidslinje från efterkrigstiden och framåt. Det finns både ömsinta och humoristiska formuleringar, t.ex. "every self-respecting skinhead..." eller, ung. "där stapplade de fram, småstadsglamrockarna, sminkade, iförda paljettrikåer och på platåklackar, för första gången bland likasinnade." Däremot verkar författaren förakta Bowie av någon anledning.
Ger bra insikt i hur subkulturerna hänger ihop och man kan tydligare än någonsin urskilja en tidslinje från efterkrigstiden och framåt. Det finns både ömsinta och humoristiska formuleringar, t.ex. "every self-respecting skinhead..." eller, ung. "där stapplade de fram, småstadsglamrockarna, sminkade, iförda paljettrikåer och på platåklackar, för första gången bland likasinnade." Däremot verkar författaren förakta Bowie av någon anledning.
February 17, 2020
Terrifically structured, very academic yet devoid of unnecessary jargon. This book is a valuable introduction to cultural studies and how different theory traditions may converge and be pertinent to explain social phenomena. It is very articulate and constitutes the kind of writing a responsible scholar should strive for -- complex yet available to a diverse audience from various educational backgrounds. I, for one, have been left with many questions for further reading and an expanded knowledge on the versatility of cultural interactions.
December 20, 2025
seneye kesinlikle daha cok anarsist eser okucam o kadar fazla sey ogretti ve muzik hakkinda bilgilendirdi ki beni, cok mutlu oldum, iyi hafta sonlari
notlarimi daha sonra paylasayim da cift dikis olsun aklimda kalsin
notlarimi daha sonra paylasayim da cift dikis olsun aklimda kalsin
November 2, 2011
Once in a while, I like to exercise my thinking muscles. Sometimes I feel like I didn't get enough semesters of anthro under my belt before I graduated, and this is my way of making up for it.
Subculture is a cultural studies text focusing on British working class youth of the 1970s, from which the punk subculture emerged. Hebdige begins by explaining the historical and social context--immigration patterns, labour relations, politics and racial formations--along with a chronological recount of glam rock, mods, reggae, beatniks, teds, Rastafarians and other movements that influenced punk. This part was actually kind of slow--it might be more interesting to someone partial to those styles--but I liked how Hebdige emphasized youth culture in contrast to parent/mainstream culture.
The second half is where the book really shines, when Hebdige re-defines culture (citing T.S. Eliot and Roland Barthes) as the culture of everyday life (yay! this idea was much more novel in the early 1970s). Culture is no longer just the opera or the symphony or another form of high art, but the ideologies and behaviours of people going about their daily business. Using Gramsci's concept of hegemony, Hebdige states that subculture is a challenge to that dominant/mainstream culture through "style" (fashion, music, aesthetics). My favourite parts were the last few chapters, though, when he goes into more detail about the semiotics of style as communication, art and resistance.
It's incredibly comprehensive for such a short volume, and densely packed with theory. Almost too much theory, or maybe I'm rusty, because I had to keep flipping back to the footnotes. Still, despite being a bit dated, good work is timeless, and I can easily apply much of Hebdige's work on the punk subculture to stuff today. One of his main arguments is that new subcultures form out of a devolution of previous subcultures as they undergo commmodification and are absorbed by the media. This renders those subcultures mainstream and therefore that style no longer a form of resistance, thus leaving room for a new subculture to emerge.
If you walk into a Forever 21, you can see the effect of commodification on bohemianism and steampunk. If I see another shirt with gears on it I'm going to scream.
Subculture is a cultural studies text focusing on British working class youth of the 1970s, from which the punk subculture emerged. Hebdige begins by explaining the historical and social context--immigration patterns, labour relations, politics and racial formations--along with a chronological recount of glam rock, mods, reggae, beatniks, teds, Rastafarians and other movements that influenced punk. This part was actually kind of slow--it might be more interesting to someone partial to those styles--but I liked how Hebdige emphasized youth culture in contrast to parent/mainstream culture.
The second half is where the book really shines, when Hebdige re-defines culture (citing T.S. Eliot and Roland Barthes) as the culture of everyday life (yay! this idea was much more novel in the early 1970s). Culture is no longer just the opera or the symphony or another form of high art, but the ideologies and behaviours of people going about their daily business. Using Gramsci's concept of hegemony, Hebdige states that subculture is a challenge to that dominant/mainstream culture through "style" (fashion, music, aesthetics). My favourite parts were the last few chapters, though, when he goes into more detail about the semiotics of style as communication, art and resistance.
It's incredibly comprehensive for such a short volume, and densely packed with theory. Almost too much theory, or maybe I'm rusty, because I had to keep flipping back to the footnotes. Still, despite being a bit dated, good work is timeless, and I can easily apply much of Hebdige's work on the punk subculture to stuff today. One of his main arguments is that new subcultures form out of a devolution of previous subcultures as they undergo commmodification and are absorbed by the media. This renders those subcultures mainstream and therefore that style no longer a form of resistance, thus leaving room for a new subculture to emerge.
If you walk into a Forever 21, you can see the effect of commodification on bohemianism and steampunk. If I see another shirt with gears on it I'm going to scream.
December 14, 2016
About two years into high school and I hit a wall. I gave up. Not on studying — I still read what interested me, poured over art history books — but academics were over. A year at Syracuse University made that even more clear. I didn’t fail, but I was thrown out of the dorms for painting my fingernails black with acrylic paint and pretending to flirt with my guidance counselor. That and the Fuck You graffiti I spray-painted on the windows during parent visiting day. In short, my interests were focused on other things, like punk rock. One of the last projects in high school I was invested in was on alienation. I made a mixtape of my favorite punk songs and played it to the confused bemusement of my teachers and classmates. They couldn’t understand the lyrics, so how could they understand the alienation, they said. I guess they missed the point.
Around that time Dick Hebdige published SUBCULTURE: THE MEANING OF STYLE, but I never heard of it then, and would have dismissed it as bullshit if I had. Decades later, when I read I LOVE DICK by Chris Klaus, basically a love letter to Hebdige, my curiosity was piqued. I’m a fan of intellectuals, even though I’m no academic, merely another art school graduate trying to figure things out on their own. I like the way those smartypants take a piece of art or history or anything really and use it as a springboard for cerebral gymnastics. Hebdige cuts his cloth from the style of British youth culture and in their cut-up threads and mod suits finds the meaning of his subtitle. Black culture is the well from which these looks spring, according to Hebdige, and Marxism is the lens by which he sees their significance. I’m a sucker for that sort of thing. If only I had the nomenclature when an arrogant innocent, I probably would have gotten a better grade in humanities class.
Around that time Dick Hebdige published SUBCULTURE: THE MEANING OF STYLE, but I never heard of it then, and would have dismissed it as bullshit if I had. Decades later, when I read I LOVE DICK by Chris Klaus, basically a love letter to Hebdige, my curiosity was piqued. I’m a fan of intellectuals, even though I’m no academic, merely another art school graduate trying to figure things out on their own. I like the way those smartypants take a piece of art or history or anything really and use it as a springboard for cerebral gymnastics. Hebdige cuts his cloth from the style of British youth culture and in their cut-up threads and mod suits finds the meaning of his subtitle. Black culture is the well from which these looks spring, according to Hebdige, and Marxism is the lens by which he sees their significance. I’m a sucker for that sort of thing. If only I had the nomenclature when an arrogant innocent, I probably would have gotten a better grade in humanities class.
February 17, 2015
Hebdige limits his scope to a handful of post-war British subcultures (reggae, teddy boys, mods, punks) - appropriate for 138 pages. His theory on the semiotics of subculture, however, can likely be extrapolated to other groups. He pays attention to the way signs are "cut through by class" (17), which is complicated by the punk aesthetic of erasing identity (121).
Each subculture differed from the others, but each shared a common reality: "a struggle both real and metaphorical, which described a world of forms enmeshed in ideology where appearance and illusion were synonymous" (38). Hebdige deconstructs the reappropriation of signs in the dominant culture (Army surplus jackets in the dance hall, the mods' Vespas and neckties, the ruffled shirt, the safety pin through the ear), translating and articulating their subcultural 'meanings.'
He issues a warning: we should be careful to keep our analysis on the level of signifiers (115). We cannot pretend to understand an individual's motivations. We cannot point to a punk's dog collar and say 'your working-class background must have inspired that visual representation of your limited options in society and the workforce.' The subculture adopts the signs on a macro level, and what is signified must also be on that level.
Drawing on Barthes, Hebdige points out that subcultures must communicate using the signs of the dominant culture; this can be problematic, and it forces the subculture to grab hold of the signifiers and wrestle them into new meanings (137). They retain the ghost of their dominant-culture symbolism, and that's why they're interesting.
Each subculture differed from the others, but each shared a common reality: "a struggle both real and metaphorical, which described a world of forms enmeshed in ideology where appearance and illusion were synonymous" (38). Hebdige deconstructs the reappropriation of signs in the dominant culture (Army surplus jackets in the dance hall, the mods' Vespas and neckties, the ruffled shirt, the safety pin through the ear), translating and articulating their subcultural 'meanings.'
He issues a warning: we should be careful to keep our analysis on the level of signifiers (115). We cannot pretend to understand an individual's motivations. We cannot point to a punk's dog collar and say 'your working-class background must have inspired that visual representation of your limited options in society and the workforce.' The subculture adopts the signs on a macro level, and what is signified must also be on that level.
Drawing on Barthes, Hebdige points out that subcultures must communicate using the signs of the dominant culture; this can be problematic, and it forces the subculture to grab hold of the signifiers and wrestle them into new meanings (137). They retain the ghost of their dominant-culture symbolism, and that's why they're interesting.
November 16, 2011
Another book I read at University, and referenced a lot throughout my Graphic Arts & Design degree. On the reading list and worked with in our Contextual Studies classes and seminars by the tutor who I was always in awe of, and who will always pop into my head when I hear the name 'Walter Gropius' (that's not related to this book by the way). My copy is peppered with sticky notes and handwritten additions.
It reinforced the inherent attraction to subcultures in music and fashion that I had from a young age, and made me realise that they were worthy interests, and I think is probably partly responsible for really being confident in who you are and what you think. There's also a fair bit on David Bowie which is always a bonus in my book!
I did have to re-read sections over to really get them to sink in, as I can't always get theories such as this to permiate the depper recesses of my brain very easily! I've not really read it properly in a few years, so its a 'to-read' as well as a 'read'.
It reinforced the inherent attraction to subcultures in music and fashion that I had from a young age, and made me realise that they were worthy interests, and I think is probably partly responsible for really being confident in who you are and what you think. There's also a fair bit on David Bowie which is always a bonus in my book!
I did have to re-read sections over to really get them to sink in, as I can't always get theories such as this to permiate the depper recesses of my brain very easily! I've not really read it properly in a few years, so its a 'to-read' as well as a 'read'.
May 23, 2013
HEGEMONY and SUBCULTURES
"It is here, at the level of 'normal common sense', that ideological frames of reference are most firmly sedimented and most effective, because it is here that their ideological nature is most effectively concealed. (...) However, the challenge to hegemony which subcultures represent is not issued directly by them. Rather it is expressed obliquely, in style. The objections are lodged, the contradictions displayed (...) at the profoundly superficial level of appearances: that is, at the level of signs."
(pp. 11-17)
"It is here, at the level of 'normal common sense', that ideological frames of reference are most firmly sedimented and most effective, because it is here that their ideological nature is most effectively concealed. (...) However, the challenge to hegemony which subcultures represent is not issued directly by them. Rather it is expressed obliquely, in style. The objections are lodged, the contradictions displayed (...) at the profoundly superficial level of appearances: that is, at the level of signs."
(pp. 11-17)
November 3, 2022
3.5
Subculture: The Meaning of Style is definitely an academically written book.
I have been interested in eventually reading this extended essay on British subculture since undergrad at UCSB when I took an intro level art class that was taught by Hebdige. I'm glad that I eventually was able to read it, but it is not an easily accessible piece of work. Also, since it was written in the late 70's, it is a little dated, however, I do not think that completely disqualifies it from review and consideration. There are a lot of good points made throughout the book. I like how Hebdige starts out explaining that much of White British working class subculture actually was inspired and came from Black British culture. While he did primarily focus on Punks, he also explored other subcultures like Teddy Boys, Mods, and Skinheads (not the white supremacists version that we are accustomed to in the United States).
Subculture: The Meaning of Style was an interesting academic read on the subcultures of British youth post WWII. It was informative for the time period and I am ultimately glad I read it, but I imagine there are more modern books about Subculture that might be more universally applicable, understandable, and informative.
Subculture: The Meaning of Style is definitely an academically written book.
I have been interested in eventually reading this extended essay on British subculture since undergrad at UCSB when I took an intro level art class that was taught by Hebdige. I'm glad that I eventually was able to read it, but it is not an easily accessible piece of work. Also, since it was written in the late 70's, it is a little dated, however, I do not think that completely disqualifies it from review and consideration. There are a lot of good points made throughout the book. I like how Hebdige starts out explaining that much of White British working class subculture actually was inspired and came from Black British culture. While he did primarily focus on Punks, he also explored other subcultures like Teddy Boys, Mods, and Skinheads (not the white supremacists version that we are accustomed to in the United States).
Subculture: The Meaning of Style was an interesting academic read on the subcultures of British youth post WWII. It was informative for the time period and I am ultimately glad I read it, but I imagine there are more modern books about Subculture that might be more universally applicable, understandable, and informative.
March 30, 2025
belle tentative de s’intéresser aux subcultures de la période post-GM2 en angleterre et aux aspects socio-politico-esthétiques. par contre c’est à prendre avec des pincettes car c’est beaucoup de sémiologie et presque pas d’ethnographie, une méthode qui est utile mais qui n’a pas été assez bien dosée par les cultural studies des années 60 car on tombe trop dans le textualisme.
(j’aurais aimé des images pour illustrer les propos de l’auteur aussi, c’est important quand on parle de mode en détails).
(j’aurais aimé des images pour illustrer les propos de l’auteur aussi, c’est important quand on parle de mode en détails).
July 16, 2021
This being a totally new subject for me, I appreciated the detailed overview, the explanation of the historical roots and reasons behind the genesis of different subcultures, and the reference to major sociological ideas.
April 2, 2021
cómo te puedes tirar todo el libro hablando de cómo todas las tribus urbanas responden de alguna forma a la comunidad negra -hasta, al menos, los ochenta- para después acabar diciendo que las tribus urbanas son una cuestión de clase?? perdon-a? sabe usted lo que significa interseccionalidad? ... aunque por fin Hebdige dentro de ámbito académico reconozca el protagonismo de la comunidad negra a un nivel fáctico en el desarrollo de las distintas tribus urbanas, parece que le ha resultado imposible desprenderse un poco esa mirada blancaal a la hora de elaborar las conclusiones ... más allá de esta crítica, el libro es infalible si te interesa la historia y la lectura de las tribus urbanas
January 2, 2017
The fact that it took me almost 2.5 years to finish this book, wasn't just because I moved from Kindle to Kobo, and this book was on my Kindle. It is not an easy read. In fact, it is an overly complex work on a not overly complex topic. In this, it is a perfect example of much of critical theory, which is not my favorite social science (to put it mildly).
Anyway, Hebdige analyses subcultures by looking more deeply at the meaning of style. His focus is in particular on subcultures in 1960s and 1970s Britain, including Teds, Mods, Punks, Root Boys, and Skinheads. The main focus is on punks of the first generation. Hidden behind a lot of jargon and opaque citations and reasoning is the argument that subcultures should be seen in relationship to the (dominant/square) culture they develop within. They should be neither romanticized nor trivialized.
There are many very smart insights in this book, but they are mostly for social scientists, and critical theorists, who are Hebdige's prime audience,not so much for people who want to understand the individual subcultures. In fact, you learn quite little about the various subcultures, with the notably exception of (first-generation) punk, although some of the portrayal is quite stereotypical, assuming a debatable level of consciousness among the punks themselves.
In short, great book for scholars of subcultures, who are particularly interested in theoretical questions of their meanings and significance. Not that good for people interested in subcultures per se.
Anyway, Hebdige analyses subcultures by looking more deeply at the meaning of style. His focus is in particular on subcultures in 1960s and 1970s Britain, including Teds, Mods, Punks, Root Boys, and Skinheads. The main focus is on punks of the first generation. Hidden behind a lot of jargon and opaque citations and reasoning is the argument that subcultures should be seen in relationship to the (dominant/square) culture they develop within. They should be neither romanticized nor trivialized.
There are many very smart insights in this book, but they are mostly for social scientists, and critical theorists, who are Hebdige's prime audience,not so much for people who want to understand the individual subcultures. In fact, you learn quite little about the various subcultures, with the notably exception of (first-generation) punk, although some of the portrayal is quite stereotypical, assuming a debatable level of consciousness among the punks themselves.
In short, great book for scholars of subcultures, who are particularly interested in theoretical questions of their meanings and significance. Not that good for people interested in subcultures per se.
August 9, 2007
Don't be fooled by the size of the book. It may look like a quick read, but Hebdige's writing style is convoluted enough to make it into a much longer read.
The connections to Jean Genet are very helpful, and he does try to put the theoretical parts together with practical examples from the various subcultures of Great Britain in the 60s and 70s. It was not too mind-blowing, but did raise some interesting questions on race, oppression and what it means to be of the 'working class'.
"...the 'mythologist' who can no longer be one with the 'myth-consumers'...we must live an uneasy cerebral relation to the bric-a-brac of life - the mundane forms and rituals whose function it is to make us feel at home, to reassure us, to fill up the gap between desire and fulfillment. Instead, they summon up for us the very fears which they alleviate for others. Their arbitrary nature stands revealed: the apparent can no longer be taken for granted. The cord has been cut: we are cast in a marginal role. We are in a society but not inside it, producing analyses of popular culture which are themselves anything but popular"
The connections to Jean Genet are very helpful, and he does try to put the theoretical parts together with practical examples from the various subcultures of Great Britain in the 60s and 70s. It was not too mind-blowing, but did raise some interesting questions on race, oppression and what it means to be of the 'working class'.
"...the 'mythologist' who can no longer be one with the 'myth-consumers'...we must live an uneasy cerebral relation to the bric-a-brac of life - the mundane forms and rituals whose function it is to make us feel at home, to reassure us, to fill up the gap between desire and fulfillment. Instead, they summon up for us the very fears which they alleviate for others. Their arbitrary nature stands revealed: the apparent can no longer be taken for granted. The cord has been cut: we are cast in a marginal role. We are in a society but not inside it, producing analyses of popular culture which are themselves anything but popular"
April 2, 2010
By George, I do believe I actually enjoyed this. And I NEVER enjoy theory. Appreciate it? Sure. But never ENJOY. Hebdige details the emergence of British punk in relation to a whole mess of other underground musical movements including glam rock and reggae and pulls a bunch of cool arguments out of his butt, centered around the ideas of hegemony and cultural resistance, and there's this cool part where he talks about the symbolic representation of a safety pin. Plus, any time you get to talk about David Bowie, it's pretty sweet.
July 22, 2014
Often fascinating history of various British subcultures, mainly, as the cover would suggest, centered around the late-70's Punk movement, but also including, among other things, a really eye-opening examination of the British skinhead scene (up to the time I read it, I had assumed they were all fascists; not so, as it turned out). A bit on the academic side at times; still, well worth your time.
May 5, 2025
Hebdige has some extremely interesting thing to say about Bowie's Berlin period and he does a fairly decent job of unpacking subcultures. But this is not quite the authoritative example-specific volume I had hoped it would be. I'll give him huge props for using Barthes to make sense of punks and outsiders. But ultimately this is a fairly zestless academic volume that fails to offer anything especially groundbreaking in its thesis.
August 12, 2012
A guide on how to read subversion in style.
December 14, 2022
This was fantastic! It's essentially an entire semester of Cultural Studies boiled down into something digestible enough to be accessible to curious lay-people.
This book addresses the conscious and unconscious choices, stances, and affiliations being declared by every single aspect of a person's bodily decoration. It looks at the myriad of pressures acting behind the scenes to influence a person's decisions on everything from their haircut to how they tie their shoes.
This examination of these influences looks at the music and media cultures around the development of style elements, the political spheres and ideological standpoints around which those media cultures coalesced, and the complex layering of associations, affiliations, and rationales behind how simply existing has become a globalized political statement in way that simply wasn't possible before individuals gained the resources to reach beyond their innate, immediate communities for the sense of acceptance and ideological alignment we associate with cultural fulfilment.
It's extremely well-structured so as to be easily accessible and perfectly comprehensible. It's thorough and highly academic, without being overly concerned with the minutia and without throwing in confusing jargon.
This book is an absolute MUST for anyone interested in formation, maintenance, and evolution of both culture and community, as well as curious about the difference between them.
Hebdige does, however, miss a few things, and gloss over a few glaring oddities. The influence of the Pakistani population on British culture in the 70's cannot be overstated. And yet, even though Hebdige knows this to the point of being forced to include it despite obviously wanting to keep his focus exclusive to the Black cultural influences picked up or rejected by various Subcultures, he glosses over the Pakistani presence with just a few dry lines of 'and also there was this...' which I found to be both rather disrespectful and problematically blind to a few cultural interactions I'd really like to know more about.
Personally, my favorite thing to investigate further would have to be the way in which Pakistani and Scottish/Irish musical traditions interacted with each other, as the kind of reels / circle dances and animal-skin horn-pipe instruments found in both cultures are exceedingly rare in other cultures and no study I know of exists to investigate any potential connections or post-contact interactions.
Hebdige also glosses over, or misses entirely in some cases, the presence and impact of pseudo-subcultures, hybrid cultures, and hyper-conformist subsets. The development of a PTA mom archetype, and the Partner-Track law student, and the Sorority Girl style-sets are just as important and rebellious in their own ways as Punks and Mods. And the concepts of a Paki-Punk or an Afro-Ted (both of which are admittedly navigating some... frankly bizarre ideological territory that would hugely complicate Hebdige's theory argument, but were undeniably present entities) get treated as generalized impossibilities.
Still, this is an absolutely brilliant starting point for the kind of cultural analysis that is critical to today's academic field.
I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in why people make the style-choices that they do, both the 'sensible' ones and the seemingly idiotic.
This book addresses the conscious and unconscious choices, stances, and affiliations being declared by every single aspect of a person's bodily decoration. It looks at the myriad of pressures acting behind the scenes to influence a person's decisions on everything from their haircut to how they tie their shoes.
This examination of these influences looks at the music and media cultures around the development of style elements, the political spheres and ideological standpoints around which those media cultures coalesced, and the complex layering of associations, affiliations, and rationales behind how simply existing has become a globalized political statement in way that simply wasn't possible before individuals gained the resources to reach beyond their innate, immediate communities for the sense of acceptance and ideological alignment we associate with cultural fulfilment.
It's extremely well-structured so as to be easily accessible and perfectly comprehensible. It's thorough and highly academic, without being overly concerned with the minutia and without throwing in confusing jargon.
This book is an absolute MUST for anyone interested in formation, maintenance, and evolution of both culture and community, as well as curious about the difference between them.
Hebdige does, however, miss a few things, and gloss over a few glaring oddities. The influence of the Pakistani population on British culture in the 70's cannot be overstated. And yet, even though Hebdige knows this to the point of being forced to include it despite obviously wanting to keep his focus exclusive to the Black cultural influences picked up or rejected by various Subcultures, he glosses over the Pakistani presence with just a few dry lines of 'and also there was this...' which I found to be both rather disrespectful and problematically blind to a few cultural interactions I'd really like to know more about.
Personally, my favorite thing to investigate further would have to be the way in which Pakistani and Scottish/Irish musical traditions interacted with each other, as the kind of reels / circle dances and animal-skin horn-pipe instruments found in both cultures are exceedingly rare in other cultures and no study I know of exists to investigate any potential connections or post-contact interactions.
Hebdige also glosses over, or misses entirely in some cases, the presence and impact of pseudo-subcultures, hybrid cultures, and hyper-conformist subsets. The development of a PTA mom archetype, and the Partner-Track law student, and the Sorority Girl style-sets are just as important and rebellious in their own ways as Punks and Mods. And the concepts of a Paki-Punk or an Afro-Ted (both of which are admittedly navigating some... frankly bizarre ideological territory that would hugely complicate Hebdige's theory argument, but were undeniably present entities) get treated as generalized impossibilities.
Still, this is an absolutely brilliant starting point for the kind of cultural analysis that is critical to today's academic field.
I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in why people make the style-choices that they do, both the 'sensible' ones and the seemingly idiotic.
July 5, 2025
Here's a 5/5 star review for "Subculture: The Meaning of Style" by Dick Hebdige:
5/5 Stars - The Definitive Dissection of Youth Resistance
Dick Hebdige's "Subculture: The Meaning of Style" is not merely a book; it's a foundational text that fundamentally reshaped how we understand youth culture, identity, and resistance. Published in 1979, it remains an utterly indispensable, brilliant, and truly five-star analysis that continues to resonate powerfully in our understanding of contemporary social phenomena.
Hebdige masterfully dissects the various British post-war subcultures—from the Teddy Boys and Mods to the Punks and Skinheads—not just as fashion trends, but as complex, symbolic responses to the dominant culture. His central argument is that subcultural "style" (encompassing clothing, music, language, gestures, and rituals) is a form of bricolage, a semiotic practice through which working-class youth appropriate and re-contextualize everyday objects and signs to create new meanings. This act of re-signification, he argues, serves as a symbolic act of resistance, challenging the hegemonies of class, race, and respectability.
What makes this book so brilliant is Hebdige's exceptional ability to synthesize complex theoretical frameworks – particularly semiotics, structuralism, and Marxist cultural theory – and apply them with lucidity and precision to lived, empirical examples. He illustrates how meaning is generated and contested, how subcultures carve out spaces of difference, and how, inevitably, these forms of resistance are often co-opted, commodified, and neutralized by the mainstream. His analysis of "defamiliarization" and the "spectacular" nature of subcultural style is particularly insightful.
Beyond its theoretical rigor, "Subculture" is also an incredibly engaging read. Hebdige's prose is sharp, witty, and deeply perceptive, making even dense theoretical concepts accessible. He doesn't just describe; he interprets, connecting the dots between seemingly disparate elements of style and broader societal anxieties.
For anyone interested in cultural studies, sociology, media studies, youth culture, fashion, or the politics of identity, this book is absolutely essential. It provides a powerful analytical toolkit for understanding how individuals and groups use expressive culture to communicate, resist, and make meaning in their lives. "Subculture: The Meaning of Style" is a timeless masterpiece that continues to influence, provoke, and illuminate, earning its place as a cornerstone of critical thought.
5/5 Stars - The Definitive Dissection of Youth Resistance
Dick Hebdige's "Subculture: The Meaning of Style" is not merely a book; it's a foundational text that fundamentally reshaped how we understand youth culture, identity, and resistance. Published in 1979, it remains an utterly indispensable, brilliant, and truly five-star analysis that continues to resonate powerfully in our understanding of contemporary social phenomena.
Hebdige masterfully dissects the various British post-war subcultures—from the Teddy Boys and Mods to the Punks and Skinheads—not just as fashion trends, but as complex, symbolic responses to the dominant culture. His central argument is that subcultural "style" (encompassing clothing, music, language, gestures, and rituals) is a form of bricolage, a semiotic practice through which working-class youth appropriate and re-contextualize everyday objects and signs to create new meanings. This act of re-signification, he argues, serves as a symbolic act of resistance, challenging the hegemonies of class, race, and respectability.
What makes this book so brilliant is Hebdige's exceptional ability to synthesize complex theoretical frameworks – particularly semiotics, structuralism, and Marxist cultural theory – and apply them with lucidity and precision to lived, empirical examples. He illustrates how meaning is generated and contested, how subcultures carve out spaces of difference, and how, inevitably, these forms of resistance are often co-opted, commodified, and neutralized by the mainstream. His analysis of "defamiliarization" and the "spectacular" nature of subcultural style is particularly insightful.
Beyond its theoretical rigor, "Subculture" is also an incredibly engaging read. Hebdige's prose is sharp, witty, and deeply perceptive, making even dense theoretical concepts accessible. He doesn't just describe; he interprets, connecting the dots between seemingly disparate elements of style and broader societal anxieties.
For anyone interested in cultural studies, sociology, media studies, youth culture, fashion, or the politics of identity, this book is absolutely essential. It provides a powerful analytical toolkit for understanding how individuals and groups use expressive culture to communicate, resist, and make meaning in their lives. "Subculture: The Meaning of Style" is a timeless masterpiece that continues to influence, provoke, and illuminate, earning its place as a cornerstone of critical thought.
May 15, 2024
This book was assigned by Dr. Alison Landsberg as part of the Introduction to Cultural Studies Part I course that I took with her in the fall of 2023. I really enjoyed this book. In particular, this book introduced me to the substance of some of Roland Barthes's most important ideas. Even though I have read Barthes's own work since reading this book, I have found it less moving and striking than I experienced Dick Hebdige's analysis of his ideas to be in "Subculture: The Meaning of Style." One concept that particularly jumped out at me and stuck with me in "Subculture: The Meaning of Style" was Hebdige's analysis of how the British media of the late twentieth century sought to deal with punk rock and other subcultures by either turning them into scary monster others or by domesticating them and rendering members of such subcultures as really normies at heart. Hebdige draws on Barthes's work in order to formulate these analyses. Since coming across this concept, I've found it to be a very useful frame for understanding so many phenomena that I encounter in media as well as in day to day discourse.
Also very moving to me was the passages towards the end of the book in which Hebdige discusses the positionality of the cultural studies scholar and researcher as he/she/they engages with culture and society. I know this is a passage of the book I will return to again and again as I continue to develop my vocation and scholarly identity. It's already one I felt it my bones before I ever read this, but I don't believe I have ever seen, heard, or read an account of this positional standpoint articulated in such a poignant way.
Also very moving to me was the passages towards the end of the book in which Hebdige discusses the positionality of the cultural studies scholar and researcher as he/she/they engages with culture and society. I know this is a passage of the book I will return to again and again as I continue to develop my vocation and scholarly identity. It's already one I felt it my bones before I ever read this, but I don't believe I have ever seen, heard, or read an account of this positional standpoint articulated in such a poignant way.
January 4, 2025
Overall it’s well written and does a good job diving deep into subcultures as a whole. Originally I went into this book wanting a book about the history of punk culture and fashion and if you’re doing the same I would slightly lower your expectations on that. Hebdige doesn’t dive deep enough into punks style/fashion like I was expecting but instead focuses over how punk formed and the subcultures that influenced the movement. Now the author does slightly mention punks fashion later down the book which happens to be my favorite chapters due to the good writing. Moving aside from my expectations for the book. It’s very digestible, well written and well researched. I do think it’s a good book if you want to know the reasons why subcultures will form and if you want to know about more older subcultures (think from the 70s and before). My only problem with the book is that the author gets a bit repetitive in some parts, especially in the beginning since half the book is just dedicated to the culture of Reggae which made sense within the context of the book but was very dragged out. (Hebdige has an another book about just the culture of Reggae as well so maybe that’s why it was dragged out part). Besides the long beginning and how short the book is (with only 200 pages) it still manages to fit in 4-5 more subcultures (I believe) that helps to better understand punk as a moment and subcultures as a whole. This is definitely one of my favorite books in sociology especially since it’s one of the best books on subcultures. I often reread parts of the book since it is so knowledgeable even today and is such an easy read.
March 7, 2023
3.5. despite a kind of starry-eyed misguidedness regarding race, still it was an informative link for me between the appropriation of black culture by white working class subcultures in the post-war UK context, as well as their development/relationships to each other more generally. he situates punk in a working class context but acknowledges its characters as an unmoored obfuscation of genuine classed codifiers, while discussing the nature of commercial absorption of subculture more generally; to me it seems in the decades following the publication of this book that the external symbolism of an emotional wound through style would become mutated/developed by middle class white youth subcultures predominantly by the 90's, starting with goth and then emo etc. to me it seems that by the 90s subcultural expression for youth was a sort of class melding pot (populated by gay kids), no longer related to an expression of classed identity and i would love to read about that development which seems more in-step with the description of glam in this book which i would have liked to see discussed at more length... cute how it sounds like metalheads have been the same for 50 years, lol
one thing that felt like a missing link/context i wanted personally was more discussing of the "rocker", which given the stones at least are a british working class band seems within the purview of this book and since punk is a direct inheritor of rock it felt like an odd omission to me
one thing that felt like a missing link/context i wanted personally was more discussing of the "rocker", which given the stones at least are a british working class band seems within the purview of this book and since punk is a direct inheritor of rock it felt like an odd omission to me
August 30, 2024
I found this book at a 'going out of business' free-for-all in Seattle and immediately delegated it to be my book bag book in which it got carried around for a few months. I underlined it in the park, I nodded thoughtfully at it while on the subway, and I looked demure and beautiful behind it while waiting for my food at a restaurant. Just know that this book was not only used as an accessory, but it excelled at it. And I thoroughly enjoyed it!
It gets into a lot of semiotics which I love but I think a lot of people might find dense. If you know enough punk history before going in, it's a delightful examination of the sociological forces at play in the intersection of media, documentation, live shows, commercialization of art, fashion marketing, race, and class. Has a lot to chew on! Great book to read the footnotes throughout which felt David Foster Wallace/Ocean Vuong.
(I wish I knew a female author that was doing this level of epistolary annotation formatting because I really love the process of reading it! I will be on the look out)
It gets into a lot of semiotics which I love but I think a lot of people might find dense. If you know enough punk history before going in, it's a delightful examination of the sociological forces at play in the intersection of media, documentation, live shows, commercialization of art, fashion marketing, race, and class. Has a lot to chew on! Great book to read the footnotes throughout which felt David Foster Wallace/Ocean Vuong.
(I wish I knew a female author that was doing this level of epistolary annotation formatting because I really love the process of reading it! I will be on the look out)
May 27, 2020
I miss academia every now and then and a dense little book like this one satisfies the craving. Hebdige explores the post-war youth subculture movements of Britain with a strong focus on punk, reggae, artistic expression, race relations, and capitalism. As a 21st century pop culture scholar familiar with these movements at least vaguely, I was refreshed by Hebdige’s proximity in time to these changes, big and small. But to be clear, there is almost no memoiristic presence of his in the text. The reader has sense of where our author’s cultural interests lie; instead he is a creator of a viewpoint made using academic tools to observe what have been condemned as social nuisances. Be prepared to encounter citations from Barthes, Marx, Kristeva and more. If you don’t like philosophy or anthropology, this one’s not for you!
June 9, 2025
Dick Hebdige’s Subculture: The Meaning of Style is a seminal work in cultural studies that offers a groundbreaking analysis of how style functions as a form of resistance and identity among youth subcultures. First published in 1979, this insightful text remains profoundly relevant for understanding the relationship between fashion, music, and social meaning.
Hebdige’s keen observations and detailed case studies—from punks to mods—illuminate how marginalised groups use style to challenge dominant cultural narratives. The book is both academically rigorous and accessible, making it essential reading for anyone interested in sociology, fashion, or cultural theory.
Subculture is a timeless classic that continues to influence scholars, creatives, and anyone curious about the power of style as a social statement.
Hebdige’s keen observations and detailed case studies—from punks to mods—illuminate how marginalised groups use style to challenge dominant cultural narratives. The book is both academically rigorous and accessible, making it essential reading for anyone interested in sociology, fashion, or cultural theory.
Subculture is a timeless classic that continues to influence scholars, creatives, and anyone curious about the power of style as a social statement.
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