Rodger, DianneHemer, SusanMorrison, Briony Erin Lynette Kate2019-08-122019-08-122018http://hdl.handle.net/2440/120504This dissertation utilises dynamic practice theory to examine how goth is negotiated and practiced in two distinct but overlapping scenes (Dar k Alternative and Post-Punk) in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted from 2012 to 2014, I explore how goths negotiate and renegotiate the definition and the boundaries of goth in the flow of practice. This fieldwork included an extended period of participant observation, interviews with key participants and ‘online’ research on social media sites, social networking sites, and various online resources that were available to goths in Adelaide. This multifaceted approach helped account for the complexities of research participants’ lives and practices and of my research field, where goth was a marginal cultural practice that overlapped with other similar practices in local scenes. The primary aim of this thesis is to unpack how goths work to sustain an image of goth as a legitimate cultural practice that is not only distinctive, but ‘normal’ to do and be. As the title of this dissertation suggests, what goth ‘means’ and how it ‘should’ be practiced is a prevalent concern and recurrent source of tension among goths. Throughout my fieldwork these tensions and concerns became apparent in different ways, including: overt questions such as ‘What is goth?’, ‘Is [x] goth?’ and ‘Am I goth if…?’, as well as in implicit and explicit value judgements, the policing of boundaries of inclusion and exclusion, and an emphasis on tacit understandings and actions. This dissertation focuses on these evaluations of authentic and legitimate people, practices, and things. I demonstrate that my participants use these evaluative processes to claim authentic identities and a legitimate status among goths. This impacts where and how they practice goth, and whether or not others believe they have the authority to represent goth in various contexts. An essential part of this process involves participants’ development of personalised interpretations of goth, which I call ‘my goth’. This process requires significant commitments to goth practices and interests, particularly its musical aspects. However, it also necessitates that individuals do not limit themselves to goth but embrace ‘non - goth’ aspects of their lives and interests, negotiating these diverse dimensions in practice. Throughout the thesis chapters, I explore goths’ practical negotia tions of their cultural practice and its boundaries. I contend that these local practices intersect with transnational practices, histories, and definitions—both those within goth and within the popular imagination. I demonstrate that these transnational discourses are vital to the practices of goths in my research field due to the small number of goths in Adelaide. I suggest that locally -grounded practices, especially public performances within Adelaide’s Dark Alternative and Postpunk scenes, are also vital spaces for collective negotiations of goth in Adelaide. My findings make important contributions to both the study of youth cultures and the application of dynamic practice theory. In particular, I demonstrate that dynamic practice theory is a useful theoretical lens that helps account for the complex, dynamic and everyday characteristics of goth as a distinct cultural practice.enYouth culturegothAdelaideauthenticitysubcultureculture - social aspectspractice theoryThesis