Dick Hebdige "Hiding In The Light"

Dick Hebdige wrote a book published in 1979 called 'Subculture - the Meaning of Style'.

You will find a quotation taken from this book below. It is one you should learn for the exam as it expresses the ways in which young people, such as the mods and rockers of the 1960s, show their belonging to particular groups.

"Members of  a subculture often subject their membership through a distinctive and symbolic use of style, which includes fashions, music and mannerisms" - Hebdige (1979)

Hebdige also wrote a book called 'Hiding in the Light' which was published in 1988. It is here that he discussed the concept of youth being represented as either a threat or a non-threat.

The first chapter of this book opens as below:

Hebdige's hypothesis here is that society in general (through the media) are only concerned in representing youth when there is something negative to say. 

He discusses the birth of the concept of the 'teenager' and goes on to assess the effect of consumerism and the move from a one-dimensional representation of youth, to a two-dimensional representation of "youth as trouble, youth as fun". 

He writes that teenagers are seen as either "troublesome youth" or "fun-loving youth."