Gotycyzm ponowoczesny
The contemporary Gothic

Summary/Abstract: This article presents the contemporary Gothic in the independence culture. Gothic was born in the Middle Ages and was later used and adapted by the romantic writers to create the Gothic novel. The contemporary culture of Gothic was born in London at the end of the 20th century and in Poland at the beginning of the 1990’s. The associations with the Middle Ages are rather superficial and restrict themselves to considerable interest in the dark and the magical. It is an intellectual subculture that centres around writings by E.A. Poe and contemporary vampire literature, mainly {The Vampire Chronicles} by A. Rice. Music is an essential element of that subculture and therefore the festival of Gothic music in Bolko´w is a crucial event for Goths. Goths’ costumes, a fundamental aspect of the subculture, refer to the Victorian Period with their absolute blackness and ghastly make-up. Yet, there remains a question of authenticity of the Gothic subculture as it is full of theatrical and playful elements. What is more, it may be viewed as a rebellion against radically rational reality of the contemporary world.

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