Metalo muzikos gerbėjų "fanzinai": subkultūrinės grupės tapatybės kodai

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Fanzinas; Identitetas (kolektyvinis); Jaunimas; Kodai (audio, verbalinis, vizualinis, ideologinis); Metalistai; Metalo muzika; Sociokultūrinė grupė; Subkultūra; Codes (sonic, verbal, visual, ideological); Fanzine; Headbangers; Identity; Lithuania; Metal music; Sociocultural group; Subculture; Youth.

ENThe article presents a part of the empirical research on the Lithuanian metal music subcultural identity as it is portrayed in its media, the fanzines. The article aims at exploring the forms of the collective identity of the expressive youth socio-cultural group (subculture) as it is presented by the specific media. Through their verbal and visual texts, the fanzines present the ideas and views of three structural parts of the subculture: the musicians, the fans and the media (editors and publishers). However, they do not include any "other" external parts which would be interested in commerce and profit. For that reason, fanzines acquire their special traits and gain the possibilities not only to delineate and reinforce the standards of the metal music subculture, but also to participate in the formation and maintenance of the collective identity of this sociocultural group. As claimed by Deena Weinstein (2000), the name of the metal music subculture comes from the name of a musical genre, thus the music is the main emblem of this subcultural group, but it is not its reason for existence. In her analysis of the metal music subculture, Weinstein (2000) originally singled out three codes – sonic, verbal and visual – that were inherent to the given subculture. The idea of such codes was employed in the analysis of the identity of the Lithuanian metal music subculture. The empirical research of fanzines revealed that the identity of the Lithuanian metal music subculture manifests itself not only in its sonic, visual and verbal forms but also in the existence of one more very important level which, in the present article, is referred to as an ideological code (worldviews, cultural ideas, opposition, protests, etc.). The external elements of the identity are recognised by the participants of the metal music subculture, however, the internal ideological elements that consolidate all participants are more important.The ideological code, nevertheless, should not be seen as the ultimate and "allexplaining" factor in the identity analysis. As Gary Clarke (1981) points out, the greater part of youth does not belong to the subculture 100 percent, but only adopt its specific style elements as well as create their own meanings and uses for them. The analysis based on four levels (sonic, visual, verbal and ideological) revealed that: a) the main form of representation of the Lithuanian metal music subculture’s identity is music, strongly connected with the group’s lifestyle and worldviews; b) there are no significant differences between Lithuanian and foreign (Western) metal subcultures, but the Lithuanian metal music subculture has its local distinctions; c) the Lithuanian metal music subculture locates itself in the cultural youth underground and expresses its opposition to the norms and values of the contemporary society through symbolic cultural forms. [From the publication]

• Sociologija / Sociology
• Etnologija / Ethnology