Hipster and Postmodern Subcultural Identity
Exploration of Hipsters and Postmodern Subcultural Identity as part of my Senior Capstone Project for CMN 772: Youth and Media course at The University of New Hampshire. Includes personal digital art creations as part of media intervention into the the subject.
Subcultures have long been a part of communication and cultural theories. History shows that subcultures developed as a rejection to and act of deviance towards mainstream culture and society. This was evident in the past with subcultures such as the Rockers, Punks, Goths, Hippies, etc. Many theorists place emphasis on the fact that subcultural association is key in the process of identity formation for youth culture. (Hebdige) How do members of the youth work to show their association to such subcultures? Style becomes a prominent way in which individuals identify with a particular subculture. Individuals seek out what is perceived as cool to show their social status. (Schor) In relation to ideas regarding the commodification of youth, it becomes clear that subcultural signifiers are commoditized as well. As commodification increases and a subculture becomes more known it begins to shift into the mainstream culture contrasting its original intentions. Typically, as a subculture is adopted by the mainstream it begins to work to redefine itself. But what we have come to notice in our postmodern society is that we are experiencing an elevated “crisis of meaning caused by the commodification of everyday life”(Moore 305). Exemplified by hipster culture, it has become evident that society is experiencing a change in the notions regarding subcultural identity. “Through their identifiable fashion, hipsters arose as an identifiable subculture, but now defunct by the very fact that they are recognizable — a particularly post-modern trope”(Kavet 2). Increased commodification of subcultural style has made this shift more possible. But what does this shift mean for a subculture? How is subcultural identity different in today’s postmodern society? These are the questions this paper will explore. In regards to the hipster subculture, its history and presence in today’s society it is evident that increased commodification in our everyday lives and shifts in societal structures have influenced the evolving definition of subcultural identification.
History of Hipster
In order to fully examine the hipster subculture and presence in today’s post-modern society it is important to look at the historical significance of the subculture. Though many perceive the notion of the hipster or the hipster lifestyle as something relatively new or modern this is not the case. It has become a largely recognized phenomenon in recent years but its origin dates back to the Jazz Age of the 1940s. Comprised of mostly middle-class white youth seeking to emulate the lifestyle of the largely black jazz music community, the hipster culture reflected Dick Hebdige’s traditional notion of subcultures. He defines subculture as “the expressive form and rituals of those subordinate groups who are alternately dismissed, denounced, and canonized; treated at different times as threats to public order and as harmless buffoons”(Hebdige). In an act to be recognized as different and diverge from the mainstream, hipsters immersed themselves in the jazz community contradicting societal expectations regarding class and race.
Subcultural Style and Hipsters
In further examining how a subculture is formed through the accumulation of members, its essential to study what marks one’s association to a particular subcultural identity. Style and signifiers have long been noted in communication and cultural theory as key to identity formation. One’s style communicates an intentional message to others often times making a statement and/or directing attention to one’s self to show their association to a particular group. Individuals utilize everyday objects as symbolic representations of identity formation and recognition. These notions of subcultural style and signifiers exemplify the characteristics of the theorists define as bricolage. This notion reflects the idea of the creation of new meaning from the collection of a diverse range of elements. Subcultural participants are able to appropriate commodities in a way that subverts the intended meaning and makes it reflect their own subcultural identity. (Hebdige). In addition, Hebdige discusses the theory of homology noting that it is the symbolic fit between a subculture’s values or lifestyles and the symbols it uses to reinforce those ideals. These are often times reflected in music and fashion choices. These theories regarding subcultural identity formation can be seen, for example, in the utilization of safety pins, pointed shoes and the motor style of historically significant subcultures.
So what are the signifiers and stylistic choices of those a part of the hipster subculture? This is where questions are raised as hipster culture has experienced a large transformation over time. According to Lauren Alfrey, author of “The Search For Authenticity: How Hipsters Transformed From A Local Subculture To A Global Consumption Collective”,
“Most writings on the early hipster struggle to define what are certainly ephemeral elements of this identity. All accounts, however, agree that members of this subculture were generally white and of middle or upper class status, guided by leftist politics and artistic sentiments, and eager to shun class expectations through voluntary poverty. The hipster identity represented an intentional divergence, and idealized escape, from the expected or associated norms of whiteness”(28).
These ideals are seemingly characteristic of all historical subcultures, but with time the hipster subculture and lifestyle evolved. After a relatively dormant stage, ‘Hipsterdom’ resurfaced in the 1990’s in the small community of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. During this time, young individuals moved to this subset of Manhattan in order to maintain the urban lifestyle but finding a cheaper alternative in the small neighborhood. Alfrey, and other theorists, correlate this movement of hipster youth with a desire for authenticity. According to her,
“a search for authenticity, quite ironically, led to mass gentrification and new kinds of artisanal, alternative consumption spaces… As the number of creative class residents increased, and “authentic” consumption spaces were celebrated by mainstream media, entrepreneurs were suddenly invited to capitalize on a new market.”(Alfrey 30–31).
This search for authenticity combined with the bricolage of past trends leads to the idea that the hipster subculture itself is very ironic. It is defined by the sampling of trends, ideas, creations, etc. of the past. Members themselves reject the label yet continue to represent it through their style of dress and lifestyle actions. Like other subcultures it is a lifestyle of conforming to non-conformity.
Subcultural Identification and Consumption
With time, more and more stylistic choices became associated with ‘hipsterdom’. Rooted in authenticity, DIY culture, music, art, etc. the hipster subculture originally was not something you bought at a department store. It was a lifestyle made up of the incorporation of past subcultural movements; a merging of many identities. As the subculture developed, thick-rimmed glasses, film cameras, retro style sneakers, skinny jeans, indie rock, alternative and electronic music, eclectic hobbies, art culture and an environmentally friendly yet urban lifestyle became associated with hipster culture. How is it that individuals are able to pursue the signifiers and style of a subculture? Much of this identity reflection is portrayed through the consumption of goods that a subculture has appropriated as their own. Subcultural identity is visible through performative consumption (Alfrey). It’s important to note that this act of consuming challenges the original intention to diverge from patterns of consumption and mass culture; characteristics associated with subcultural identity. Hebdgie notes that subcultures
“are, as we have seen, cultures of conspicuous consumption — even when, as with the skinheads and the punks, certain types of consumption are conspicuously refused — and it is through distinctive rituals of consumption, through style, that the subculture at once reveals its ‘secret’ identity and communicates its forbidden meanings. It is basically the way in which commodities are used in subculture which marks the subculture off from more orthodox cultural formations”(135).
Clearly, consumption patterns stand as a way in which someone signals their status or affiliation to a particular subculture. In additions the world has progressed we have experienced an increase in commodification tendencies.
Commodification of Subcultures
Recognizing the style and signifiers of a subculture, an opportunity for the commodification of subcultural practices arises. In an attempt to stray from the stigmatic mainstream culture many companies, brands, influencers and media publications adopt the style and signifiers of a particular subculture. Alfrey discusses this idea in terms of the transformation of notions and norms regarding subcultures and commodification stating that
“as these standards and norms evolve, so do the commercial actors who supply the goods and objects used to reify the [subcultural] identity. In this way, consumption patterns serve as the set of standards whereby which an aspirant, aware of the communicative power of these goods, can achieve member status” (Alfrey 13).
As more and more commodification takes place, mainstream culture begins to adopt the representation of the subculture. Hebdige describes this as a process of recuperation known as the commodity form.
“As soon as the original innovations which signify ‘subculture’ are translated into commodities and made generally available, they become ‘frozen’. Once removed from their private contexts by the small entrepreneurs and big fashion interests who produce them on a mass scale, they become codified, made comprehensible, rendered at once public property and profitable merchandise. In this way, the two forms of incorporation (the semantic/ideological and the ‘real’/commercial) can be said to converge on the commodity form”(132).
This conversion of subcultural signs into mass-produced products increases subcultural visibility allowing for it to shift into mainstream culture. This is a concept largely associated with hipster culture, especially contemporary, post-modern ‘hipsterdom’.
As time and technology progressed, the hipster subculture became more recognizable. As noted before, picking up on the trends and characteristics of the culture, further commodification of the hipster subculture developed. Much of the examination of commodification and hipster culture revolves around the ideas of what is perceived as cool, hip, trendy, etc. Communication and youth culture theorists have long noted a correlation between the desire to be cool, social acceptance and identity formation. As noted by Juliet Schor in her piece, “From Tony the Tiger to Slime Time Live: The Content of Commercial Messages” the desire to be “cool” has become an essential strategy in marketing. This concept has come to be known as “The Marketing of Cool”. Accroding to Schor,
“Cool has been around for decades. Back in the fifties, there were cool cats and hipsters. In the sixties, hippies and the Beatles were cool. But in those days, cool was only one of many acceptable personal styles. Now it’s revered as a universal quality-something every product tries to be and every kid needs to have. Marketers have defined cool as the key to social success, as what matters for determining who belongs, who’s popular, and who gets accepted by peers”(47).
Such practices correlate with the commodification of youth subcultures. In particular, much of the hipster culture has been appropriated into mainstream consumption community. Like decades past people are drawn to what seems to be new, different and cool. Clearly, brands, marketers, products, etc. have caught onto this strategy and have used it to expand and capture the attention of many within the youth culture.
Evolution of Hipster Style
Our modern conception of what is to be a hipster seems to have shifted from a strange, unknown culture surrounding the arts, DIY culture, etc. to that of a generally recognized phenomena of what is hip, cool and trendy. Jake Kinzey, author of the book The Sacred And The Profane: An Investigation Of Hipsters, reflects on contemporary ‘hipsterdom’ stating that “The hipsters’ quest for perpetual cool is sustained by endless cultural imperialism: everything is potentially for the taking. In typical postmodern fashion, it seems as if nothing they do is really new, it’s all about sampling, bricolage, remixing, or, usually, just stealing wholesale from the past”(3). Like the commodification of past subcultures, companies, brands, and other influencers have adopted these trends into their products. Contemporary hipster culture is often associated with media publications such as Vice, Nylon, Pitchfork Media and retail companies such as American Apparel, Urban Outfitters, Topshop, etc.
As briefly noted before, much of the irony behind this subculture reflects the notion that hipster style is represented through conspicuous consumption yet they aim to reject modern capitalism. Henke emphasizes how despite the anti-corporate mindset hipster culture is defined through consumerism as it is used as the primary source of expression. In her work “Postmodern Authenticity and Hipster Identity”, Kelsey Henke states
“while previous subcultures have employed consumerist habits for a rebellious end, what most distinguishes hipster culture as pro-consumerist is that consumerism is the primary means of self-expression. Hipsters do not generate new culture forms, but instead retool old countercultural symbols and tropes”(Henke 121).
The mass production of these characteristics of ‘hipsterdom’ has caused a shift from a unique subculture to what we’ve come to accept as part of mainstream culture. Increased commodification combined with technological advances over time have allowed for the global reach of the hipster subculture which in turn facilitated its emergence in mainstream culture.
Postmodern Subcultural Identity
As lines between subcultural identity and the mainstream blur it becomes harder to distinguish authentic subcultural identification and a more performative type of consumption and identity formation. Alfrey notes that “the study of hipsters is further complicated by the popularity of their subcultural style, making group boundaries highly permeable and opportunities for participation and imitation ripe. Thus, group distinction for hipsters has become an act of marketplace competition”(Alfrey 6). Previously hidden populations are now more readily and easily available to the public through digital technologies. The information revolution that took place as society transformed into the postmodern world we live in today provided for many social changes. These technologies combined with opportunities and practices of mass commercialization, in a sense undermine traditional characteristics and notions regarding subcultures and subcultural identity.
“The hipster, ideally, feels their taste to be un-self-consciously unique, expression of their true self, which goes against the mainstream. However, because this image can and has been repackaged and marketed back to the hipster demographic as well as those perhaps aspiring to a unique and niche identity by mainstream fashion, the signifiers of ‘hipsterdom’ quickly lose their potency and very quickly they are no longer marginal, due to their visibility and as their presence is a spectacle”(Kavet 2).
Reflected in Kavet’s work, the global popularity of the hipster aesthetic makes it significantly hard to distinguish between “true” hipsters and “poser” hipsters. The hipster culture today is more appropriately defined as a spectrum ranging from “high hipster” to “low hipster”. The commercialization of hipster signifiers and practices facilitates the possibility for more superficial affiliation without a strict adherence to the subcultural practices as a whole. In addition, as the subculture is popularized and appropriated by the masses, the traditional characteristics are no longer viewed as alternative (Alfrey). In a society that blurs the boundaries of subcultural identification the role of subcultures in postmodern society changes.
As hipster culture and affiliation has become a globally accepted and practiced notion due to a shift to postmodernism, it is important to consider the redefining of what is meant by the idea of a subculture. Reflecting past trends and subcultural signifiers, many take a critical lens on the subject of hipsters deeming it a culture lost in past trends and lacking a distinct ideology. According to René Bogovié in her work “Hipsters: Rebellion Commodified” “hipsters lack an overt identification and agenda” compared to more strict subcultural forms of the past and therefore “it might be easiest to define them along lines of the market forces that present them as a subculture rather than being one sui generis”(Bogovié, 6). As our society has shifted as a whole towards more fluid and individualistic opportunities, so have the ways in which identity formation and group belonging take place. According to David Muggleton and Rupert Weinsierl’s in “The Post Subcultures Reader” quoting them in stating that
“the era seems long gone of working-class youth subcultures ‘heroically’ resisting subordination through ‘semiotic guerilla warefare’. Post-subcultural theorists pose an understanding of subculture as stylistically and individualistically motivated, replacing the ‘romantic’ notion of subculture as a means of subversion, contradiction, and interruption expressed in traditional cultural studies”(119).
As reflected in the ideas presented earlier in this examination, it is clear that the modern hipster culture is less of a deviant movement than subcultures of the past. Outlined by the collaging of styles past and present, less stress on concrete cohesiveness and a melting pot of styles, tastes and behaviors the hipster culture becomes difficult to define as a subculture due to its fluid identity.
Patterns of consumption and commodification in relation to subcultural identity have been present in society for a long time but it is evident that as society advanced the presence of these notions did as well. Subcultural association is visible through particular styles and signifiers. Today, it’s noticeable that companies, brands, media productions, etc. are utilizing opportunities for commodification more than ever. As reflected earlier, hipster culture is no exception. More and more of what is considered traditionally hipster is becoming associated with mainstream culture.
The hipster subculture and it’s transformation is essential when examining subcultures and what it means in a postmodern society by emphasizing the changing role and notions regarding subcultural identity today. “Ultimately, the hipster is important because…it signals a diverge from heroic model of the working class subculture, toward one that seems to resemble patterns of dominant society as well as expressing a genuine appreciation for the cultural capital it produces”(Henke, 129). We have come to notice that postmodern subcultural identity formation is less of a rigid adherence to a particular lifestyle and ideology and more reflects individual desires and self-expression.
Bibliography
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