230188 Rave Culture (S) (WiSe 2024/2025)

In this course we will examine perhaps the last subculture to have emerged in post-war Britain, and the only subculture which, some would say, became a mass culture: rave. We will examine the political and social contexts of the 1980s and 1990s, including the political upheavals and reforms of the Thatcher era, the emergence of rave out of other musical cultures and social and political movements. We will read about the specifics of early rave culture, including its interaction with and impact upon existing racial formations and gender norms. And we will exaine the representation of rave in literary and other cultural texts to ask how rave music and culture interacted with post-war literary culture. We may also talk about rave culture/s today! A pre-existing knowledge of rave culture and/or experience of raving is not required (but it would be welcome), however a readiness to engage seriously with subcultural forms, including their illicit practices, and their political and social reverberations is strongly recommended.

This course is part of the focus semester "Democracy".