Year of the Goblin
Tracing New Developments of Digital Folklore and Urban Modes of Living in Online Music Subcultures
Abstract
This paper sheds light on the connections between musical undergrounds and the global emergence of ‘goblin mode’ as a political aesthetic. In March 2022 The Guardian published an article discussing the popularity of a new locution emerging on social media: ‘goblin mode’. Characterized by a “complete lack of aesthetic” and vaguely pointing towards “the opposite of trying to better oneself”, ‘goblin mode’ was linked to embracing dishevelment, rejecting societal expectations, and giving in to the heavy consumption of junk food and digital content in reaction to the pandemic obsession for domestic and personal improvement.
Presentato: 20 Settembre 2023 | Accettato: 21 Novembre 2023 | Pubblicato 19 Dicembre 2023 | Lingua: en
Keywords Aesthetics • Digital folklore • Bestiaries • Class • Ethnomusicology • Underground • Urban studies • Digital infrastructures • Music
Subtags Technology Publication Society Works of Art Visualisation Image data
Copyright © 2023 Luigi Monteanni. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/mag/2724-3923/2023/02/006