Dick Hebdige
Encyclopedia
Richard "Dick" Hebdige (born 1951) is an expatriate British media theorist and sociologist most commonly associated with the study of subculture
s, and its resistance against the mainstream
of society.
from the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies
in Birmingham
, United Kingdom
. He is best known for his influential book in subcultural
studies, Subculture: The Meaning of Style, originally published in 1979. He has been teaching in art schools since the mid-1970s, having served as the Dean of Critical Studies and the Director of the experimental writing program at the California Institute of the Arts
before going to UCSB. He is currently a professor of film and media studies and art at the University of California, Santa Barbara
.
Hebdige's Subculture: The Meaning of Style builds on earlier work at Birmingham on youth subcultures. But whereas much of this research was concerned with the relation between subcultures and social class in postwar Britain, Hebdige saw youth cultures in terms of a dialogue between Black and white youth. He argues that punk emerged as a mainly white style when Black youth became more separatist in the 1970s in response to discrimination in British society. Whereas previous research described a homology
between the different aspects of a subcultural style (dress, hairstyle, music, drugs), Hebdige argues that punk in London in 1976-77 borrowed from all previous subcultures and its only homology was chaos. In making this argument he was drawing on the early work of Julia Kristeva
who also found such subversion of meaning in French poets such as Mallarmé
and Lautréamont
.
His book Subculture has been criticized for offering a semiotic reading of punk and adopting an omniscient position in relation to it. Dave Laing in One Chord Wonders (1985) provides more of a sociology
of punk. For example he shows that many punk musicians actually came from middle-class families (43%) and that there was a strong influence of art school students.
Hebdidge also wrote Cut'n'Mix (1987) on Caribbean music and identity, and Hiding in the Light (1988) a book of essays that includes some further thoughts about punk.
He recently contributed a chapter to Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music and Culture (The MIT Press, 2008) edited by Paul D. Miller a.k.a. DJ Spooky
.
Subculture
In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.- Definition :...
s, and its resistance against the mainstream
Mainstream
Mainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....
of society.
Life and career
Hebdige received his M.A.Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
from the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies
Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies
The Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies was a research centre at the University of Birmingham, England. It was founded in 1964 by Richard Hoggart, its first director...
in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. He is best known for his influential book in subcultural
Subculture
In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.- Definition :...
studies, Subculture: The Meaning of Style, originally published in 1979. He has been teaching in art schools since the mid-1970s, having served as the Dean of Critical Studies and the Director of the experimental writing program at the California Institute of the Arts
California Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts, commonly referred to as CalArts, is located in Valencia, in Los Angeles County, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the United States created specifically for students of both the visual and the...
before going to UCSB. He is currently a professor of film and media studies and art at the University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
.
Hebdige's Subculture: The Meaning of Style builds on earlier work at Birmingham on youth subcultures. But whereas much of this research was concerned with the relation between subcultures and social class in postwar Britain, Hebdige saw youth cultures in terms of a dialogue between Black and white youth. He argues that punk emerged as a mainly white style when Black youth became more separatist in the 1970s in response to discrimination in British society. Whereas previous research described a homology
Homology (sociology)
Homologies are "structural 'resonances'...between the different elements making up a socio-cultural whole." Examples include Alan Lomax's cantometrics, which:...
between the different aspects of a subcultural style (dress, hairstyle, music, drugs), Hebdige argues that punk in London in 1976-77 borrowed from all previous subcultures and its only homology was chaos. In making this argument he was drawing on the early work of Julia Kristeva
Julia Kristeva
Julia Kristeva is a Bulgarian-French philosopher, literary critic, psychoanalyst, sociologist, feminist, and, most recently, novelist, who has lived in France since the mid-1960s. She is now a Professor at the University Paris Diderot...
who also found such subversion of meaning in French poets such as Mallarmé
Stéphane Mallarmé
Stéphane Mallarmé , whose real name was Étienne Mallarmé, was a French poet and critic. He was a major French symbolist poet, and his work anticipated and inspired several revolutionary artistic schools of the early 20th century, such as Dadaism, Surrealism, and Futurism.-Biography:Stéphane...
and Lautréamont
Comte de Lautréamont
Comte de Lautréamont was the pseudonym of Isidore Lucien Ducasse , an Uruguayan-born French poet....
.
His book Subculture has been criticized for offering a semiotic reading of punk and adopting an omniscient position in relation to it. Dave Laing in One Chord Wonders (1985) provides more of a sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
of punk. For example he shows that many punk musicians actually came from middle-class families (43%) and that there was a strong influence of art school students.
Hebdidge also wrote Cut'n'Mix (1987) on Caribbean music and identity, and Hiding in the Light (1988) a book of essays that includes some further thoughts about punk.
He recently contributed a chapter to Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music and Culture (The MIT Press, 2008) edited by Paul D. Miller a.k.a. DJ Spooky
DJ Spooky
Paul D. Miller , known by his stage name DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid, is a Washington DC-born electronic and experimental hip hop musician whose work is often called by critics or his fans as "illbient" or "trip hop". He is a turntablist, a producer, a philosopher, and an author...
.
External links
- Profile on the UCSB Film and Media Studies Department site
- Rekindling the Punk Flame, article
- The Mutated Child of Punk by Jason Lawrence Fulghum (Spanish translation)