Ironic as it is, the minority grows as more and more people try to set themselves apart, thinking that they don't want to be a part of the majority of people. However, they try to fit in and change themselves and the process just becomes more and more ironic. This may also be another reason why the majority of people dislike countercultures. It can be seen with the hippies, the counterculture in the book, and hipsters today. These abstract people are seen as a threat to the normal way of life.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Hipsterism...what does it mean?
I loved reading this book because it was so interesting and easy to relate to. The idea that stuck out to me the most was the idea of being a part of a counterculture. Personally, I have been called a hipster more than a couple of times in my life. Often because I dress differently and listen to "hipster" music. Either way I don't know how to respond to that accusation. Maybe I am, and maybe I'm not, but the definition is so unclear, and for some reason everyone looks down upon hipsters. I suppose it is because people think hipsters are trying so hard to be something different. I saw the same conflicting emotions from the main character in the book. He wanted to be a part of the underground scene in New York for the sole reason that he wanted to be different. In the second half of the book he went so far as to brag about himself to his new friends, just so he would fit in. I feel he did that because he liked the fact that it was exclusive and different. It allowed him to morph himself into that special, almost unobtainable sense of belonging. I think that's why people liked being in that community; it made them feel better and more interesting than their old self. This new sense of self is not appreciated by his parents, which is seen in the scene where Anatole's ex-girlfriend comes to his home. I think that "normal" people don't like the newness of that counterculture he was a part of. Maybe that is the reason why hipsters and the counterculture in the book aren't accepted is because they are taken as a threat to the normal way of life. They view themselves as above the majority of people because they are an exclusive minority, constantly trying to set themselves apart.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This post really got me thinking about how we refer to the "hipster" in today's society. It seems as though today's hipsters are keen on regurgitating old trends in fashion and rejuvenating them in modern culture. A big part of modern hipsterism is also about diverging from what would be considered mainstream and going out of one's way to think independently. I notice that many modern hipsters seem to do this in their taste of music, for example, with a great deal of snobbery. It wouldn't be unhipster to say "that song is so mainstream... i even heard it on the radio" in some sort of snobbish tone. One way that I have observed hipsters defining themselves as hipsters would be by rejecting the styles and tastes of those around them. This alienation is very different from what we see in "Kafka was the Rage".
ReplyDeleteAnatole wishes to be a hipster as a way of conforming to the lifestyle of the Greenwich Village inhabitants whom he feels he cannot connect to. I feel that Anatole's feelings are mirrored by many young American hipster wannabes who take all that the term hipster represents and completely obliterate it by Making what was hipster into what is mainstream. This cycle, however, will continue to repeat itself due to the "true hipsters'" alienation from everyone but themselves.
Just to be clear, I am not referring to anyone in particular ;). Just idealizing what I think it means to be hipster in today's society.
I don't think "hipsterism" is any sort of counter culture. Where I am from, New York, hipsters are just people who try to be "trendy" to the point that they are not. I guess you're correct in saying a certain attitude goes along with being called a hipster. But, this gets me thinking because being a hipster is defined differently based on where you are from. You look at these people as trying to set themselves apart, while I look at them as trying to conform as much as possible. Hipsters will take a certain trend and take it to the extreme. Hipsters are not necessarily looked down upon as you say because of fear, I feel like they are looked down upon because they try to hard. They try to set themselves apart, but they just become a part of the hipster group, so therefore, in the end, they are in no way original.
ReplyDeleteI have also been accused of being a hipster, which I don't really understand. I’ve always seen hipsters as really trendy fashionable people which I am not at all. Mostly I think people call me a hipster because I wear glasses and hats a lot, which I suppose is unusual. I disagree however that trying to be different is a type of conforming. I think that trying to be different from everything you have known can help you change and grow. I guess I would like to be a hipster however if that is what the character in Kafka was because I love the idea of being in love with books and art. Having your entire life be based on and surrounded by art and literature sounds very ideal to this hipster.
ReplyDelete