- Established that subcultures can be studied using semiotics, by considering it a language. At this point it cannot be interpreted by society because there are no pre-existing points of reference.
- There are many inital reactions to subcultures generally ranging from fear, to fasination, to amusement. The elements which attract the initial media attention are the most aesthetic and stylistic, and this is the beginings of the subcultures ideology degrading it begins to be understood by the population.
- As mainstream culture begins to learn more about the subculture it diffuses, and asymilates with the mainstream. Elements are extracted and exploited for commercial success and in doing so the subculture loses it originality and often their value systems (very evident in punk's "do it yourself" image being exploited to create a "punk look" seen commonly in mainstream fashion).
- The media can also choose to simply intergrate the subcultures elements, by finding points of "sameness" in order to domesticate it in order to make sense of it.
- The quest to understand the subculture inevitably ends in that subculture being intergrated into the mainstream culture, meaning the subculture is no longer seperate and no longer exist.
by James
