Alternatieve stereotypes
While Goth is not bound to a single style or a particular form it does draw on familiar images and stereotypes, which can be combined in endlessly different ways. These can be literal objects, including symbols such as skulls, graveyards and bats. The surface suggests the depths below.
From the outset, however, Gothic literature has also had a great many different characters, the visualization of which can touch on certain sexist or racist stereotypes. The image of the woman in the black dress, for instance, evokes the femme fatale or hysterical witch who drives men to ruin. A white dress, meanwhile, can represent the innocent girl as defenceless victim who has returned to haunt the castle. The frequently male monster is a rampant beast or vile deceiver – an outsider or foreigner who has come to disrupt the natural order.
Onbekende fotograaf, “Theda Bara, publiciteitsfoto van de film Sin (regie Herbert Brenon)”, 1915. C/o Granger Historical Picture Archive / Alamy Stock Photo.
“Believe me, for every woman vampire there are ten men of the same type. Men who take everything from women – love, devotion, beauty, youth and give nothing in return! V stands for Vampire and it stands for Vengeance too. The vampire that I play is the vengeance of my sex upon its exploiters. You see, I have the face of a vampire, perhaps, but the heart of a feministe.” — Actress Theda Bara, 1915
At the same time, Goth’s subversive nature allows stereotypes to be interpreted in new and positive ways. Those who identify with outsiders can, after all, appropriate them for their own liberation. The demonic Lilith, for example, is transformed from a depraved woman into a symbol of female empowerment. The Goth subculture more than any other experiments with gender, sexuality and style and in doing so constantly finds fresh meanings for old stereotypes.
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Identity and community
From the exposition: goth is a battleground for the great issues of identity, individual and community. Now, and already in the nineteenth century.
The dark mirror of the soul
From the exhibition: a sublime nature in this sense features prominently in the Gothic tradition, not only as a setting for elusive mysteries or unspeakable secrets, but also as a protagonist in its own right.
An invented past
From the exhibition: in the Gothic tradition, historyis exaggerated, twisted or straightforwardly invented. The past on which Goth is based is an intoxicating mixture of fantasy and reality.
Atmosphere over form
From the exhibition: The Goth tradition allows you to mix imagery, symbols and styles to your heart’s content. The result is an emphatic atmosphere, which stimulates the imagination and creates darkness. Goth isn’t a style in the traditional sense but a feeling.
The theatre of authenticity
From the exhibition: Goth eagerly pursues a sense of authenticity and is not afraid to evoke it artificially.
Dark technology
From the exhibition: new technologies help to visualize the dark sense of life in constantly changing ways, although it is frequently the shortcomings of such technology – scratches on the film or fading of the photograph – that give a ‘Gothic feel’ to an image.
The haunted city
From the exhibition: the threatening, impersonal and all-consuming metropolis shaped the Gothic imagination of this uncertain period. It is a form of the Gothic where fear of the future becomes entangled with the dread of the past.
