Language and subcultures

The term subculture is ambiguous. This is not just due to the fact that the term culture can be defined in many ways. What adds to the broad meaning scope of the term is the polysemy of the suffix sub- . There are at least three senses of this suffix that could be argued to be relevant for the notion of a ‘subculture’. The first meaning refers to a classification that is more specific than that of an overarching class (as in subcategory , subgenre ). In this meaning, subcultures are particular types of culture, and they are a part of culture in a broader sense. A second meaning of sub- is spatial (as in subway, submarine ), i.e., it describes something that is located underneath something else. Applying a metaphorical reading, subcultures could be viewed as social formations that operate in the underground or, to some extent, below the level of public visibility. The third meaning of sub- often expresses a negative evaluation, as it describes something that is of lesser value than something else or not quite something else (as in substandard, suboptimal ) or, in the personal realm, someone who is subordinate to someone else (as in sub-delegate, sub-officer ). This would characterize a subculture as a somehow corrupt or subordinate form of culture – a reading that is less prominent today but clearly used to affect early research on subcultures.