For the people that speak out, and talk of how Goth or
Gothic, has nothing to do with people today, and that people into the subculture don't
know what they are talking about. After reading this, it should be easily seen how it can
be applied today. Anything less, would just show a persons stubbornness, or an inability
to see themselves in thinking something in an incorrect manner. People into this today,
usually fit into some of the definitions the history of this topic can state, whether in
it's form of a mysterious, dark, or barbaric appearance, an interest in this type of art
or architecture, or someone into supernatural literature, and more. Instead of trying to
sound all knowing and educated in a field where you choose to close your mind, perhaps you
should expand and try to have more of an understanding for the other person. Or at least
keep to yourself. I would not doubt if someday generations from now there will be more of
this subculture written in educational books, beyond a book you buy online or at a
subculture type store.
On this page I will try to clear up all this "What's Goth?", "What's
Gothic?" chatter. We will take the words and try to dissect them some, to give some
of you a better understanding on why or how these words are used in modern times and
lifestyles. I guess there is room left open for some interpretation, but if you look close
enough, you should be able to see and understand, that this word doesn't necessarily have
one definition to it. It may have an origin, but as time goes on, many words in life, will
take on more characteristics than just the origins definition. These are a couple words
that have gone from being a tribe of people, to art, and into fictional stories. Any
definitions below were taken from the Merriam-Webster dictionary, lets try to dissect it a
little more, at least through my eyes. Will all this be a 100 percent factual? Probably
not. Over so many years I would imagine it would be impossible for anything that's so old,
to be known to an exact science. We can only do our best, using the information on such a
subject, that we posses today.
Goth - a member of a Germanic people that overran the Roman Empire in the early centuries
of the Christian era.
What religion is Goth or are Goths tied to?
None as far as an exact belief for every one. It seems more so open minded, but perhaps
there was some core belief for most of them, who really knows for sure. I do find that
this should clear up the question of "Do Goths worship the devil?" or "Is
Goth/Gothic directly connected to Satanism?" It seems evident this is not true, they
just happened to not have the Christian beliefs, perhaps this is why they were looked at
as being "evil" or "satanic" since most Christians would be forced to
say, that believing in any god other than their own, would be sin, and some hard-core
bible thumpers would believe any other form of worship would be a tool of the devil. A bit
of history is quoted below, that I attained from an online source, dealing with the
history of this subject. Although only one source, I have read from many other sources,
and these writings say about the same, as said in other texts.
"During the third and fourth centuries, there were large migrations of land-hungry
Germans southward and westward onto the Rhine-Danube Frontier. The basic Germanic
political structure was the tribe, headed by a chief who was elected for his ability as a
war leader. It was these tribes that resulted in Rome's losing control of the great
frontier. The Roman and Germanic cultures greatly clashed. The Germanic religion was
polytheistic, their society was a warrior aristocracy, and finally their societal
structure was a mobile one. By 370 AD, the tribe had become nations led by warrior kings.
It was at this time that the Huns swept out of central Asia westward until they
encountered two Germanic nations of Visigoths and Ostrogoths. This was the spark of many
years of invasions and warfare that provoked the downfall of the Roman-controlled
frontier. The following information describes some of the Germanic tribes such as Franks,
Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Burgundians, Angles, Saxons, Ostrogoths, Vandals and
Lombards."
Notice it says that the Germanic tribes or "Goths" had a polytheistic belief
system. Which means they had beliefs in multiple gods. Quite a far cry from saying someone
worships the devil, unless your a bible thumper of course. These beliefs could have even
been intact during the BC era, or before Christianity was even around. It would be hard to
truly specify, that all of them had the same beliefs, or hard to even dare say they were
"satanic" in any way.
After reading the above, it is easy to see how Goths could be looked at as being barbaric,
or dark in a sense. So now we move onto the word "Gothic."
Gothic - 1 a: of, relating to, or resembling the Goths , their civilization, or their
language b : TEUTONIC, GERMANIC c : MEDIEVAL d : UNCOUTH, BARBAROUS
2 - A: of, relating to, or having the characteristics of a style of architecture developed
in northern France and spreading through western Europe from the middle of the 12th
century to the early 16th century that is characterized by the converging of weights and
strains at isolated points upon slender vertical piers and counterbalancing buttresses and
by pointed arches and vaulting
B: of or relating to an architectural style reflecting the influence of the medieval
Gothic
3 - often not capitalized: of or relating to a style of fiction characterized by the use
of desolate or remote settings and macabre, mysterious, or violent incidents
Now if you noticed, the word soon spread to what would be known as "Gothic
architecture," which was also looked at in sort of a barbaric manner, and if you look
at some old buildings built in such ways, and try to tell me it doesn't have somewhat of a
dark, mysterious, or barbaric appearance, than I don't know what the fuck does. Funny that
the Christian religion took in such an appearance for their places of worship. Maybe
that's why some churches always look so cool.
Also, if you notice number 3 under the definitions of Gothic, you will see how the word or
words (Goth, Gothic) was applied to fictional writings. Often these writings dealt with
barbaric, mysterious, violent, or supernatural events. Not a far cry from what we know
today as ghosts, and perhaps even immortal beings and monsters such as dracula, or the
werewolf. Now, I would imagine after all this, most people would have to see the
correlation between these words, from there beginnings, to the now present.
In this day and age, we have people walking around dressed in black, looking barbaric or
mysterious, admiring the dark nature of things which can also be found in Goth/Gothic
music, whether it be finding the beauty in death, the look on a persons face as they lay
cold, still, peaceful, and breathless. Some may like the quiet, mournful, and resting
feelings of a graveyard, and the art that lies at the head of a grave. Having a
fascination for stories of ghosts, vampires, or children of the night. Having an intense
love for scary looking structures, or statues. Admiring a gray rainy sky with the
occasional golden glow of the sun as it cries to get through, leaving the day with a most
beautiful darkened appeal. Perhaps some people have lustful thoughts that include mildly
violent acts dealing with the shedding of blood in erotic actions. Some people may fit
under all of these likes, or perhaps just one of them. This is what we refer to as
"Goths" today or people into the "gothic subculture." Perhaps it is
just the fantasy inside there head that ties them to what these words can mean. No one has
to look a certain way, believe a certain way, have a particular religion, or do any
particular acts to have an appreciation for some of this topic. I myself don't care to
call myself or label myself a title. I simply say that I have an interest in the
Goth/Gothic subculture. What I am trying to do here, is to help people understand where
these couple words have come from, and how they have evolved through time. Not to just
mean one thing, but to actually be a little more interesting than that, and evolve through
time, to mean so much more, in which history has proved. |
