Subcultural resistance and cultural underground manifestations in Lithuanian youth groups

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Kultūrinis pasipriešinimas; Kultūrinis pogrindis; Lietuvių jaunimo kultūra; Lietuvos jaunimo kultūra; Pogrindis (undergroundas); Subkultūra; Cultural resistance; Lithuanian youth culture; Subculture; Underground.

ENThe paper presents an analysis of subversive aspects of youth subculture in Lithuania and focuses on the investigation of meanings of cultural underground, commonly associated with youth culture which emerged in Western Europe in the middle of the 1960s. The discussion is based on data collected in the period between 1998 and 2001. Objective: the present discussion aims to analyse subversive aspects of subculture and ways of subversive expression in Lithuanian subcultural groups. Subject', subcultural resistance in contemporary culture. Methods: participant observation, in-depth interview, documentation produced by subcultural groups, and questionnaires. Data of research: interview material collected from interviewing over 200 members of subcultural groups such as metal music fans and performers, pagans, disc jockeys, and others. Data based on observation of about 30 holidays, festivals, and rituals. 169 questionnaires completed by members of subcultural groups. Results: the investigation substantiates our hypothesis that subcultural groups are spheres of culture that are indicative of manifestations of late modernity in Lithuanian culture. Individualisation of cultural values as well as new forms of self- expression based on aesthetisation and experimentalism in culture are expressions of subversiveness in subculture and can be regarded as a form of resistance. [From the publication]

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