Dark culture
Sometimes referred to as 'dark alternative scene', the term is rarely used in the English language, despite its significance in shaping several other movements and subcultures that emerged throughout history.
[4] Dark culture is regarded as a community defined by common interests such as art, fashion, philosophy, and arguably most significantly, by music.
In the 21st century, the culture is appreciated as a heterogeneous collection of different subcultural currents,[5] without being tied to a particular style of music, associated thinking, behavior, or dress code, despite most members sharing similar interests of such due to its emergence from the dark scene.
[2][6] The dark scene is a community which defines itself through the characteristic fashions of the different currents, as well as through its media and meeting places, especially events and dance clubs.
Due to its emergence in Germany, an assessment was done to conduct the size of German dark culture in 2004, resulting in an estimation of around 50,000 to 100,000 members of people,[9] this number later re-confirmed in 2010.
Music, the colour black, and fashion can be viewed as the main features of dark culture and are a few of the characteristics that allow for individual expression within the movement itself.
The element of religion has been historically scrutinised as a signifier of dark culture, however many members of the scene attribute occultist ways of thinking to religious beliefs.
Due to its internationally recognized events and the high proportion of music produced in Germany, the German subculture is perceived as outstanding and special.
The event is one of the largest worldwide celebrations of the gothic, cybergoth, steampunk, and rivethead subcultures, hosting up to 200 alternate bands each year.
Despite the deep rooting in the history of dark culture's fashion, the evolution of stylistic elements and their fluid nature means that the scene cannot be reduced to a certain appearance.
The colour black and the rise of consciousness surrounding aesthetics and visual self expression have been developed through the stylistic elements that dark culture represents.
The concept of death which stands as a main theme within dark culture, as well as the human emotion in dealing with mourning is considered by some members of the movement to be relative to religious content.
This engagement with finding a higher power of meaning in life, specifically within religion, although not directly relative, has been considered by some to be a leading element of what dark culture represents.
