Skip to content
1981
Goth Histories
  • ISSN: 2044-1983
  • E-ISSN: 2044-3706

Abstract

This article addresses the subcultural imagery deployed in the neo-burlesque communities, through the ways UK performers access the costume, iconography and spectacle of Goth, Gothic and horror. Taking several performances from recent events as case studies (Joe Black, Rosie Lugosi), I maintain that a critical intersection of burlesque and Goth(ic) allows for a reconsideration of both genres. I also suggest that the cabaret and burlesque scene complicates ideas of belonging in subculture, despite the popular narrative that subcultures such as Goth are overwhelmingly welcoming to minorities. Given how both Goth and Gothic are traditionally located in the realm of the unconscious, or the taboo, I also maintain that gender performance is central to any discussion of these artists, with onstage scenes including gender non-conformity, monstrous beauty, and fetish. I maintain that the use of music and costume choice (with especial reference to the films of Tim Burton), suggest a homage to Goth(ic) culture, whilst also satirising the practices and iconographies popularly associated with that community. Finally, addressing the post-COVID-19 climate and the precarity of live performance and health/well-being, I address how far the apocalyptic Gothic has influenced the content of neo-burlesque shows.

Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • Arts and Humanities Research Council project, ‘Fabulous Femininities’ (2020–23) (Award AH/T002344/1)
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/punk_00247_1
2024-11-13
2026-04-22

Metrics

Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. BBC Three (2020), ‘Meet Joe Black: RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Series 2’, YouTube, 16 December, https://youtu.be/1NF3mqfY_eA?si=99yTKcCJlW3-xrWy. Accessed 4 April 2023.
  2. Black, Joe (2017), ‘Burlesque: How to’, YouTube, 5 January, https://youtu.be/7NV1Cx54fk0?si=glrNNew0eG8It7GU. Accessed 9 April 2023.
  3. Black, Joe (2021a), ‘If you leave me I’ll kill you’, YouTube, 8 February, https://youtu.be/L2M6kaqfkh0?si=tnTHCG3QQwG36sfm. Accessed 13 December 2023.
  4. Black, Joe (2021b), ‘Oogie Boogie’s song’, YouTube, 16 December, https://youtu.be/2XYdUszdVSk?si=CFjKb-Q3mskPSP-z. Accessed 13 December 2023.
  5. Black, Joe (2021c), ‘The C*m Face Song’, YouTube, 24 February, https://youtu.be/_xsw3cJHCq8?si=MYIoGTxdAFZQGO7K. Accessed 13 December 2023.
  6. Black, Joe (2022a), Club Cataclysm, The Stand, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, 10 November.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Black, Joe (2022b), ‘Final Curtain’, YouTube, 30 September, https://youtu.be/OHf9uT-pMZ4?si=NTsA2rXFchyp8u0-. Accessed 9 April 2023.
  8. Black, Joe (2023), Zoom interview with the author, 16 March.
  9. Black, Joe (n.d.), ‘About’, Mister Joe Black, https://www.misterjoeblack.com/about. Accessed 30 March 2023.
  10. Bloom, Clive (ed.) (2020), The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Gothic, London: Palgrave.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Brill, Djuna (2008), Goth Culture: Gender, Sexuality and Style, Oxford: Berg.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Burton, Tim (1988), Beetlejuice, USA: The Geffen Company.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Edmundson, Mark (1999), Nightmare on Main Street: Angels, Sadomasochism, and the Culture of Gothic, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Garland, Rosie (1998), ‘Coming out at night: Performing as the lesbian vampire Rosie Lugosi’, Journal of Lesbian Studies, 2:2–3, pp. 20107.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Gelder, Ken (2007), Subcultures: Cultural Histories and Social Practice, Abingdon: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Goodlad, Lauren M. E. and Bibby, Michael (eds) (2007), Goth: Undead Subculture, Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Halberstam, J. (1995), Skin Shows: Gothic Horror and the Technology of Monsters, Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Hebdige, Dick (1979), Subculture: The Meaning of Style, Abingdon: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Leicestershire Press (2022), ‘Review: Joe Black in Leicester – The embodiment of an apocalyptic, stand-up comedy drag-cabaret show’, n.pag., https://leicestershirepress.com/2022/11/04/review-joe-black-in-leicester-the-embodiment-of-an-apocalyptic-stand-up-comedy-drag-cabaret-show/. Accessed 9 April 2023.
  20. Loutitt, Chris (2018), ‘Tim Burton’s pop-Victorian gothic aesthetic’, Gothic Studies, 20:1–2, pp. 27694.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Lugosi, Rosie (2004), Coming Out at Night: Performance Poems, 2nd ed., n.p.: Purple Prose Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Lugosi, Rosie (2023), Zoom interview with the author, 17 March.
  23. Lunning, Frenchy (2013), Fetish Style, London: Bloomsbury.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Mazierska, Ewa and Rigg, Tony (2021), ‘Challenges to British nightclubs during and after the Covid-19 pandemic’, Dancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture, 13:1, pp. 6987.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Muggleton, David (2000), Inside Subculture: The Postmodern Meaning of Style, Oxford: Berg.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Murnau, F. W. (1922), Nosferatu, Germany: Prana Film.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Nash, Catherine J. and Browne, Kath (eds) (2010), Queer Methods and Methodologies: Intersecting Queer Theories and Social Science Research, London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Patterson, Sylvia (2023), ‘Goth’s undead! The dark return of Britain’s spookiest subculture’, The Guardian, 20 February, https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/feb/20/goths-undead-the-dark-return-of-britains-spookiest-subculture. Accessed 20 March 2023.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Reynolds, Simon and Press, Joy (1995), The Sex Revolts, London: Serpent’s Tail.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Rowe, Kathleen (1995), The Unruly Woman: Gender and the Genres of Laughter, Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. RuPaul’s Drag Race UK (2021–present, UK: World of Wonder).
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Sally, Lynn (2022), Neo-Burlesque: Striptease as Transformation, New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Spooner, Catherine (2017), Post-Millennial Gothic: Comedy, Romance and the Rise of Happy Gothic, London: Bloomsbury.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Spracklen, Karl and Spracklen, Beverley (2013), ‘The strange and spooky battle over bats and black dresses: The commodification of Whitby Goth Weekend and the loss of a subculture’, Tourist Studies, 14:1, pp. 86102.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Spracklen, Karl and Spracklen, Beverley (2018), The Evolution of Goth Culture: The Origins and Deeds of the New Goths, Bingley: Emerald.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Steele, Valerie (2001), The Corset: A Cultural History, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. The Latest (2022), ‘Joe Black: Club Cataclysm’, https://thelatest.co.uk/brighton/2022/11/21/joe-black-club-cataclysm/. Accessed 9 April 2023.
  38. Thornton, Sarah (1995), Club Cultures: Music, Media and Subcultural Capital, Oxford: Blackwell.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Tosoni, Simone and Zuccalà, Emanuela (2020), Italian Goth Subculture: Kindred Creatures and Other Dark Enactments in Milan, 1982–1991, London: Palgrave Macmillan.
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Tulloch, Carol (2015), ‘Style–fashion–dress: From Black to post-Black’, Fashion Theory, 14:3, pp. 273303.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. UK Music (2021), ‘This is Music’, https://issuu.com/ukmusic/docs/this_is_music_2021. Accessed 30 March 2023.
  42. Unsworth, Cathi (2023), The Season of the Witch, London: Night Eight Books.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Volcano, Del LaGrace and Dahl, Ulrika (eds) (2008), Femmes of Power: Exploding Queer Femininities, London: Serpent’s Tail.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Weishaar, Schuy R. (2012), Masters of the Grotesque: The Cinema of Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam, the Coen Brothers and David Lynch, Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company.
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Wiene, Robert (1920), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Germany: Decla-Film.
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1386/punk_00247_1
Loading
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error
Please enter a valid_number test