Date of Award
2020
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design
Department
Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design
First Advisor
Jessica Strübel
Abstract
During the 1990s, Costa Rica experienced a growth in youth bands performing emergent music genres. With this emergence, new social groupings also rise creating new relationships and memberships linked with music taste. The significance of the study is twofold: First, to understand how foreign cultural influences and local sociocultural dynamics came together to create new styles. Second, to know how these groups created new spaces of socialization for youth, forms of expression, and patterns of consumption expressed through clothing. By interviewing members of different rock and reggae groups, information was gathered in order to visualize the development of these scenes.
From a post-subcultural approach, this thesis argues that different musical genres and scenes created a sense of unity and support that led to the creation of the underground scene during the 1990s. The ‘underground scene’ served as a platform that opened up a series of spaces that were alternative to the mainstream, where youth groups were able to perform their music and create new styles. In these new spaces, members of the underground developed new clothing styles linked to their musical tastes.
Musical influences came from all over the Americas, both in Spanish and English, and allowed the emergence of different genres, social relationships, and the creation of identities. The development of new genres was possible because of the role of media and direct access to new music, mainly through television. Guided by their musical taste, members of the scene socialized in both subcultural and post-subcultural groups. Both allegiances led to the creation of new spaces of socialization for gigs and gatherings. Members of the scenes established their clothing styles based on their icons and could be identified within a specific genre due to their dress. Aesthetics were, therefore, a mix of influences and brands that came directly from the United States. Americanas was their primary outlet for clothing hunting and adopted the current styles directly from the United States.
Recommended Citation
Aguero Barrantes, Mariela, "POST-SUBCULTURAL GROUPS IN COSTA RICA: MUSIC SCENES, THE UNDERGROUND, AND CLOTHING STYLES DURING THE 1990s" (2020). Open Access Master's Theses. Paper 1857.
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/theses/1857
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