In 1963, Howard S. Becker pusblished his famous studies on deviant cultures. While a lot has changed since then, his theory can still be applied to contemporary subcultures, which I will illustrate by describing some of my own experiences with subcultures.

 

Outsiders

In his work Outsiders (1963), Howard S. Becker describes his studies on deviants or outsiders; “those people who are judged by others to be deviant and thus stand outside the circle of “normal” members of the group” (p. 15). This judgment is a result from the rules that are created by and maintained within a specific group. Such a group, held together by common understandings (like their rules and norms) among its members, is also known as a culture. Becker argues that, while society as a whole is often seen as a culture, the term can also be applied to the smaller groups that exist within this society. Deviant groups are a good example of this. The members of a deviant group regard their own activities in a different way than other members of the society do. When a group of people faces a common problem, such as this one, a culture arises: “Where people who engage in deviant activities have the opportunity to interact with one another they are likely to develop a culture built around the problems rising out of the differences between their definition of what they do and the definition held by other members of the society” (p.81). It follows, then, that these smaller cultures operate not only within, but also in distinction to a larger culture, such as a national society. They are therefore often called subcultures (Becker, 1963).

 

Subculture slang

One of the things that often occur in subcultures is the use of a kind of slang that is unique to this subculture. Becker describes this in his studies on dance musicians (musicians within the jazz scene). Within this subculture, the word “square” was used to indicate people who were considered “outsiders” and who didn’t understand music and life in the same way that the “insiders” of the group did. This also brings us to a second meaning of “outsiders” that Becker distinguishes. The word can be used by a larger society and refer to those people who don’t conform to it, but it is also used by members of subcultures to indicate the people that do not share their views, and therefore do not conform to the rules and norms of the subculture (Becker, 1963).

 

Careers within deviant groups

Another aspect that Becker discusses, is the career one can have in a deviant occupational group. This career has to do with the position of a particular occupation in relation to other groups in society; the career of a dance musician, for example, is in part shaped by the employers and public that they play for, which are outsiders to them. The amount of success the musician gains, determines their place within the hierarchy of the subculture. It is possible, however, to move through this hierarchy. To do so, one needs to have a lot of connections with fellow musicians –preferably within higher levels. These connections can then introduce the dance musicians to new jobs, and if the musician plays well enough, they will eventually move up a level (Becker, 1963).

 

Personal Experiences

Within my own life, I can distinguish several different subcultures that I am a part of, or have been a part of in the past. Some of these are considered ‘normal’, maybe even expected at my age. Others I am sure would be labeled as ‘deviant’ by people who do not belong to them.

 

University Culture

The fact that I’m studying at Tilburg University automatically places me within the subculture of students – more specifically, ‘students at Tilburg University’. Since it is often considered ‘normal’ to study at my age – I am twenty-one – me being a student and ‘doing student things’ is easily accepted by the people around me. For example, when I can’t work an extra afternoon because I have to attend a lecture, my colleagues accept this without question.

Within this subculture, I don’t consider myself a novice anymore; I am currently in my third year, and therefore I know what is expected of me, both in terms of behavior while at the university and in terms of academic achievements. I am also familiar with a lot of the professors within my department, as well as with the courses that belong to my field of study. Most of this knowledge comes with repeating certain processes, such as essay writing, as well as by asking questions, both directed to fellow students as well as to older ones.

Despite my experience, however, I don’t always feel like a master within this subculture either – there are some things that prevent me from being confident in this status at times. I am not involved with any committees within the university – as opposed to some of my friends – which means I don’t understand the inner workings of the university as well as they do, and know less people outside of my direct circle. Furthermore, I don’t live in Tilburg, which means I’m not very familiar with the best places to go here, or the activities that take place. Situations in which these topics come up can therefore make me feel like more of a novice than a master.

 

Otaku culture

I also consider myself a member of a more deviant subculture – that of manga and anime fans in the West. Since I have been reading manga (Japanese comics), watching anime (Japanese cartoons) and occasionally going to conventions for almost six years now, I feel confident enough to call myself an anime fan. In the beginning, however, I often felt like an outsider to the community, even though I really wanted to be part of it.

I picked up my first manga volume while on a visit to another city when I was fifteen. I read it, enjoyed it…and didn’t know how to continue from there. Where could I buy a second volume? What other series were there, and where to start? As fate would have it, I made some new friends at school not much later, friends who turned out to be experienced anime fans. They directed me to websites where I could buy or consume manga and anime, provided me with information about which titles they enjoyed, and took me along to my first anime convention.

While I enjoyed the convention, it also became obvious to me how much of a beginner I was. Like the dance musicians described by Becker, the anime community knows its own slang, which I was directly confronted with during the convention. The community is in general quite open, in the sense that a lot of people enjoy talking to strangers during these events, and new members of the group are accepted with open arms. This resulted in me having a conversation with a more experienced member, who asked me about my interests. When I told him I’d only read a few manga series and watched one anime series, he asked me: “So you're not an otaku, then?” The term ‘otaku’, I later learned, is used in the Western anime community to indicate someone who is a big fan of manga and/or anime (in Japan, the term means ‘nerd’, and often carries more negative connotations). Since I didn't know this back then, I reacted confused - much to the amusement of the people around me, to whom this was a very familiar term.

After being introduced to the community by my friends, and gaining experience by immersing myself in the culture online (watching anime, spending time within online communities) as well as offline (going to conventions, talking to other manga/anime fans), I now feel more secure in my position within the community. I know what resources there are for consuming manga and anime, which series are popular, which conventions there are and when they take place, and what to expect when going to such an event. There are still things that I have little experience in, however. I’ve mostly visited smaller conventions, so when I went to one of the bigger events for the first time last year, I felt a bit like a novice again, despite having considerably more knowledge than during my first convention. I also have little experience with cosplaying (dressing up as a fictional character), and while I don't feel like is a prerequisite for being an ‘otaku’, not being in cosplay at a convention makes me feel less like a part of the community - less of an insider - than others who are dressed up.

 

Modern developments

One of Becker’s main studies, that of the dance musicians, is one that is typical for his time. Jazz culture still exists, but it isn’t as big as it was in the 1960s. Furthermore, the music industry has changed a lot - for example with the rise of the major record labels as we know them nowadays and the arrival of new genres - which means that logically, the subcultures within the music industry must have changed as well. This doesn’t mean that Becker’s theory cannot be applied to modern subcultures anymore; as my personal experiences described above show, Becker’s research still holds value. However, there have been developments since the 1960s that should be taken into account when one wants to look at contemporary sub cultures. The emergence of the internet is a good example; in order to gain the information one needs to be part of a certain subculture, one is no longer only dependent on other members of this subculture in their direct vicinity. The internet has made it possible to find the required information online, often supplied by people from all over the world.

 

 

 

Literature

Becker, H. S. (1963). Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of Deviance. New York, NY: The Free Press