For years now, hipsters have been everywhere:
from cafés and barber shops to TV shows and Taylor Swift lyrics. But what does
it actually mean to be a hipster? Where did hipsters come from? What values do
hipsters have (or not have), are all hipsters the same, and can you even
identify a hipster at first sight?
This discussion-based
seminar will trace the emergence, history, and recent developments of hipster
culture, discussing problems and potentials of various embodiments of the
hipster habitus. It will focus particularly on questions of representation and
the prerequisites and dynamics of performing hipness in front of a critical,
but also fascinated audience. Drawing on
a wide range of material from literature and audiovisual culture, broaching
music, comedy, fashion, film, food culture, and sociology, we are going to
investigate hipsters’ cultural significance. From their seeming subcultural
status, everyday performances of hip, policies of ‘cool,’ and the role of
nostalgia, we will move to economic ramifications of hip (e.g. in the form of
gentrification) as well as social conflicts and discriminatory practices such
as ‘hipster racism’ to reflect on hipsters’ self-image and social standing.
Our discussions will be enhanced by a continuous
reflection of the hipster’s shift from a cultural figure anchored within Black
culture to a predominantly white phenomenon in the early 2000s, to current
diverse manifestations of hipsters. Taking into account the significance of
this trajectory, the seminar will then highlight contemporary African American
hipsters and individual interpretations of hip.
Readings will include (amongst others) texts by
Anatole Broyard, Norman Mailer, James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison, Mark Greif, Svetlana
Boym, Linda Hutcheon, and Grégory Pierrot.
Students are expected to
read and prepare the assigned material. Further information on course materials
will be provided in the first session.