Skinheads - Gothics - Rockabillies - Rock 'n' Rollers - Book

Susanne El-Nawab:

Skinheads – Goths – Rockabillies

Violence, Death & Rock'n'Roll

Published: September 2007, 375 pages, hardcover, with 98 illustrations

Description

Skinheads wear bald heads, heavy boots, and bomber jackets. Goths wear deathly pale make-up and dress in bizarre black. With Elvis quiffs, tattoos, and "hoodlum" poses, Rockabillies show their fondness for the 1950s. Why do they do this? Violence and (self-) destructiveness become an element of self-staging style in many youth subcultures. The author examines the style and habitus of young people in subcultures and brings them out of the shadow of media stereotypes. In detailed portraits, the interviewed scene members talk about their lives, their political attitudes, gender roles, death, and violence. El-Nawab does not glamorize, demonize, or downplay; instead, she looks closely. This book concisely describes, photographically documents, and analyzes to provide an exemplary understanding from the internal perspective of young people. Already published by the author: Rockabillies – Rock’n’Rollers – Psychobillies. Portrait of a Subculture. Archive of Youth Cultures 2005.

The author: Susanne El-Nawab, Dr. phil., Social Psychologist M.A., was born in 1973. She is a freelance author (including Skinheads. Aesthetics and Violence, Brandes & Apsel 2001, Rockabillies – Rock’n’Rollers – Psychobillies. Portrait of a Subculture. Archive of Youth Cultures 2005), photographer, and artist. After studying social psychology, sociology, and political science, she was a research assistant to Prof. Dr. Barbara Duden at the Institute of Sociology at the University of Hanover. As a scholarship holder at the University of Hanover, she wrote her dissertation on skinheads, goths, and rockabillies. She currently works in the editorial department of a specialist publisher in Hanover.

“The author begins by thoroughly outlining the research landscape and her own methodological approach. The three main chapters thrive on on-site research through interviews and participant observation. The findings are consolidated in the depiction of the history, stylistic elements, gender relations, and tendency towards right-wing leanings within the three subcultures. – Currently the most profound and illuminating analysis.” Uwe-Friedrich Obsen in: ekz-Informationsdienst

“It's always gratifying to find scientifically sound contributions on youth cultures that are also fluent to read and not encrusted in academic insider jargon, especially amidst the mass of journalistic rubbish published on the subject. The author's field research is vivid and informative. The fact that a scene like the Rockabillies, which is otherwise neglected in relevant literature, is examined, is a bonus. The visual material is artistically noteworthy.” Roman Schweidlenka in: Contraste

“Susanne El-Nawab provides profound insights into life worlds that usually remain closed to outsiders. Without voyeurism or sensationalism, she describes the young people's views of the world, thereby exposing common media portrayals of these scenes as undifferentiated clichés.” Kunststoff