Exploring youth cultures of yesteryear

Dr Christine Felman-Barrett.
Dr Christine Felman-Barrett.

From 1960s Greenlandic bands and underground Iranian hip hop to the US Civil War and Maoist China, a new book examining the contributions of youth cultures across the world will be launched at the Ship Inn, South Bank on November 5.

“Young people have always been producers and consumers of culture,’’ says Lost Histories of Youth Culture editor Dr Christine Feldman-Barrett.

“The everyday culture of young people often seems obvious in the contemporary moment but what happened in the past is not always remembered.”

The book explores the more unusual historical narratives of young people around the world from the 19th century to the early 21st century.

“Most people don’t know a lot about what’s happening in Greenland for example, nor how young people there related to or created popular culture before the age of the internet.,’’ Dr Feldman-Barrett said.

For young people, learning about youth culture history could also help bridge the generation gap.

She said some features of youth culture common today might seem curious to people in the future similar to how Marty McFly in the first Back to the Future movie experiences the youth culture of his parents.

“When young people learn about the history of youth culture they have a better appreciation for the way their parents or grandparents experienced being young.

“People who have grown up with the internet may believe that all possibilities or opportunities for youth culture are digitally driven.

“This book can serve as a reminder that youth culture is multifaceted and that there are many interesting activities and ways of experiencing youth offline.”

Christine Feldman-Barrett is a sociology lecturer at Griffith University. She was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Hamburg between 2006 and 2007 and is the author ofWe Are the Mods: A Transnational History of a Youth Subculture(Peter Lang, 2009).

WHAT: Lost Histories of Youth Culture

WHEN: Thursday, November 5, 6pm-7pm

WHERE: The Ship Inn, South Bank.