rave-intro.html

The Northwest Rave Scene as a Postmodern Community:

Absolute I*magi*nation or PLUR Reality?


Is rave in the Northwest a scene or can it be identified as a community with postmodern attributes? If it is the latter, what is it exactly about the Northwest rave scene (NWRS) that makes it, or certain aspects of it, a community? And how can the NWRS be identified as a community when it is seemingly transient, essentially mobile and flexible, and moving towards commodification and mainstream assimilation? What holds it together and sustains it? And how exactly does it, if at all, fall under the rather ambiguous (and often dubious) title of postmodern? This paper is an attempt to critically reflect upon the various aspects of this community: as a social phenomena, as experiencing a commodification process, and as a community sustained in electronic space and in part by limited physical space.

Is the NWRS a postmodern community simply because it does not fit into a modernist definition of community? Or does it evade a postmodern title because the darkness (and nihilism) often associated with postmodernism is not a part of PLUR (Peace-Love-Unity-Respect) and the ìvibeî that is so integral to rave culture? While it is true that peace, love, unity, and respect would not be immediately linked with postmodern thought because of their positive attributes, the PLUR aspect of rave can not be labeled as a modernist revival because of the neo-spiritual aspects. Does rave, as a scene and as a community, reside in a space between a modernism and postmodernism? Is it a social phenomena that will eventually dissipate like other fads or will it undergo assimilation into the marketplace and mainstream culture?

This paper is not, by any means, a perfect map of what rave is and what the scene and/or the community constitutes. Instead, it is more of a reflection on the issues proposed within: What is the difference between a scene and a community? When does a scene make the transition to community? How would the NWRS be identified as a community? What does it mean to talk about a postmodern community? What happens when a sub-culture is co-opted into the mainstream capitalist market? The questions are seemingly endless and can not all be answered here. However, this is a work in progress and I welcome any questions, comments, or suggestions you might have. Please feel free to contact me via email: spurlock@lclark.edu

WHAT IT IS

"...it isn't just about raving, it is a way of life for me" (mjb: Fri, 12 Apr 96 01:57:10)
Rave is an experience that is comprised of the people, the space, often but not always the drugs (*E* being the drug of choice, then acid, mushrooms or ganja) and most of all, the music (techno, house, jungle, ambient, trip-hop, acid house, etc.). It is at once a scene and a community. For more information on what raves are all about...


Commodification
PLUR
Postmodern?
Community?
Language Games