Abstract (på engelska):
Arguing against the previous research’s presump on that the subcultural constitutes a single set of meaning, this article addresses the simple question of what constitutes the subcultural? What does it mean when we address an object, practice, identity, or meaning structure as subcultural? Through outlining three dominant strands in regards to how subcultural difference has been defined, the author argues that the previous research on subcultural theory has been preoccupied with a definition of subcultures as being a response to external structural problems, with the result that both the “sub” and the “cultural” become dependent variables. Drawing from his work on punks in Sweden and Indonesia the author argues that although differing, the different strands in regards to subcultural difference can nevertheless be combined into a refinement of subcultural theory that moves beyond style to how objects, actions, and identities are communicated, interpreted, and acted upon. Such a refinement, the author argues, provides for an analysis of plurality within the subcultural in relation to multiple structures of meaning. An increased focus on the prefix sub and its relation to the root cultural allows for a discussion of how the subcultural is symbolically extended and more so, how this involves both conflict and alternative interpretations.
Hela tidskriften, inklusive Erik Hannerz artikel, finns på muep.mah.se
I den andra artikeln diskuteras hur sociala medier kan användas för att utveckla våra sätt att bedriva forskning. Erik Hannerz diskuterar Instagram som en möjlighet att få tillträde till flera olika delar av ett fält. I denna studie handlar det om fältet subkulturell graffiti. Artikeln är publicerad i Street Art and Urban Creativity Scientific Journal (no. 2, 2016).
Abstract (på engelska):
This article discusses using social media, here Instagram, as a point of access in studies on subcultural graffiti, so as to provide an established arena for initiating contact with a variety of participants. Drawing from an ongoing ethnography of Swedish graffiti writers, the approach presented here works to mitigate the often so major hurdle within ethnographic work on subcultural groups: that of access, not only to the field, but also to the diversities and peripheries of that field. Actively exploring diversities and interactions through social media as part of a larger methodological frame opens up an innovative investigation of plural subcultural scripts of what and how and where the subcultural should be, that can then be assessed and explored through other methodological means. As such it also provides the researcher with the means to ground parts of the analysis in how and where the participants themselves present their subcultural activity.