Colin MacInnes - Absolute Beginners (1959)

[genrenaut]

Absolute Beginners is, unfortunately, now best remembered for a lacklustre 1980s film version (except among neo-mods, where it remains a well-kept secret, depicting as it does the formative days of coffee bars, scooters and jazz as subcultural pursuits). The work is divided into four months; while there is no strong central narrative arc, the

Comments

[dfordoom]

The emergence of those teen sub-cultures in England, the mods and the teddy boys, is a fascinating subject in itself. Why do sub-cultures of that type bloom so spectacularly in Britain?

We had something similar in Australia in the early 60s, with Sharpies and a homegrown version of Mods, but not on the same scale.

I have no idea if anything written exists on the subject of those Australian sub-cultures. Unfortunately their emergence pre-dates the resurrection of our film industry so I suspect most Australians have never even heard of Sharpies.

[genrenaut]

I've flicked through Dick Hebdige's Subculture, but I've been meaning to read it thoroughly for ages. Australia has its moments - things like the little bands scene - and there's definitely some work to be done on homegrown Australian subcultures (nice to see the revival of interest recently in the Australian postpunk scene).

[dfordoom]

I had a copy of Dick Hebdige's Subculture but it seems to have disappeared. I must chase down another copy.