Dancing into darkness : cosmopolitanism and 'peripherality' in the Greek goth scene
This thesis discusses concepts of cosmopolitism and peripherality in the Greek and wider European goth scene. The research took place primarily in Greece but extended to Germany, the United Kingdom and online as I followed the movement of Athenian goths who were searching for connectivity, hybridity and their cosmopolitan selves. In living a hybrid cosmopolitan identity, goths regularly challenge national stereotypes and transgress international boundaries. But sometimes the complexities of goth cosmopolitan identity may also contain unpalatable aspects, such as hard-core Greek or German nationalism and views that verge on xenophobia or anarchism that are seemingly at odds with the âopen' and âegalitarian' persona put forward by Athenian goths. It is through performance (particularly dance) that Athenian goths choose to express their beliefs and desires, blending aspects of the contemporary goth scene with twists of âtraditional' Greek ideas. Often performance, with all its paradoxes and hybrid contradictions, says more than words. Movement is at the centre of goth identity; the movement of ideas on social media, the physical movement of goths to overseas festivals and the exchange of opinions among
Karampampas, Panagiotis
Goth ; Music scene ; Subculture ; Greece ; Germany ; Social media ; Cosmopolitanism ; Individualism ; Athens ; Dance ; Nationalism ; Stereotypes ; Hybridity ; Movement ; Identity ; Multisited ethnography ; Performativity ; Europe
Dancing into darkness : cosmopolitanism and 'peripherality' in the Greek goth scene. This thesis discusses concepts of cosmopolitism and peripherality in the Greek and wider European goth scene. The research took place primarily in Greece but extended to Germany, the United Kingdom and online as I followed the movement of Athenian goths who were searching for connectivity, hybridity and their cosmopolitan selves. In living a hybrid cosmopolitan identity, goths regularly challenge national stereotypes and transgress international boundaries. But sometimes the complexities of goth cosmopolitan identity may also contain unpalatable aspects, such as hard-core Greek or German nationalism and views that verge on xenophobia or anarchism that are seemingly at odds with the âopen' and âegalitarian' persona put forward by Athenian goths. It is through performance (particularly dance) that Athenian goths choose to express their beliefs and desires, blending aspects of the contemporary goth scene with twists of âtraditional' Greek ideas. Often performance, with all its paradoxes and hybrid contradictions, says more than words. Movement is at the centre of goth identity; the movement of ideas on social media, the physical movement of goths to overseas festivals and the exchange of opinions among
cosmopolitanism greek scene discus concept greek wider european scene take_place primarily greece extend germany united_kingdom online follow movement athenian search connectivity hybridity cosmopolitan self live hybrid cosmopolitan identity regularly challenge national stereotype international boundary sometimes complexity cosmopolitan identity may_also contain aspect hard core greek german nationalism view verge anarchism seemingly odds open egalitarian persona put_forward athenian performance particularly dance athenian choose express belief_desire blend aspect contemporary scene twist traditional greek idea often performance paradox hybrid contradiction say word movement centre identity movement idea social medium physical movement overseas festival exchange opinion among