Introduction: Researching Subcultures, Myth and Memory

Abstract

The introduction takes as its starting point that an analysis of subcultural myths and myth-making can contribute valuable insights to subcultural studies. In the past decades, memory studies and the study of myths have gained prominence in the social sciences and humanities. Memory studies investigate the ways in which past and present phenomena are remembered, commemorated, and imagined. Myth studies examine the ways certain representations come to be shared as true or exceptional. As subcultural studies finds itself at a crossroads, with prominent scholars questioning the very existence of subcultures, these notions can open new avenues for research. For subcultures are not only built around shared passions and interests—either for music, politics, board games or anything else—but also around shared stories, imaginations, and memories.