Fragile scenes, fractured communities: Tunisian Metal and sceneness

Abstract

The paper proposes a reshaping of musical and cultural scene as a framework for the study of youth cultures. Developed in the ambit of post-subcultural theories, scene well represents the forces and flaws of such a category: high dynamism and ethnographic richness on one side; vagueness on the other. In order to reduce such vagueness, I conceptualise sceneness, intended as the substance of scenes, their density in networking and infrastructures. I use Arjun Appadurai’s concepts of locality and neighbourhoods to signify, respectively, sceneness and the actual scenes: in this way I redefine scene as a fragile construct that needs to be ritually revived, and that can work as a context for the development of new meanings and social groups. This implies conflict as a central element of scenes, one which can lead them to disequilibrium and disappearance. Such a redefinition is helpful for analysing fragile scenes which struggle to exist in troubled contexts, such as poor and hostile social environments. I provide, as an example, my ethnographic research on Metal in Tunisia. Caught between idealised images of community and an actual community which was conflictual and ‘fractured’, the Tunisian Metal scene lives a precarious existence threatened by material constraints and cultural marginality.

Keywords:

• musical scene
• post-subcultures
• sceneness
• Metal
• Tunisia
• locality

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. As it was theorised in the ambit of Birmingham University’s Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies: see Hall and Jefferson (1976), Willis (1978), (Hebdige 1979). For a broader excursus on subculture in sociology (see Blackman 2014).

2. See Redhead (1990), Muggleton (2000), Muggleton and Weinzierl (2003). On lifestyles see Chaney (1996); on club cultures Redhead (1990) and Thornton (1996), on neo-tribes Maffesoli (1995), Bennett (1999, 2005) and Malbon (2002).

3. For a critique of post-subcultural models (see Blackman 2007; Shildrick and MacDonald 2006; see also Bennett 2011).

4. For a critique of scenes (see Hesmondhalgh 2005).

5. For a discussion on Metal (see Weinstein 2009; Walser 1993; Kahn-Harris 2006). For an analysis of Metal outside the Western world (see Wallach, Berger, and Greene 2011). For an account of Metal in Middle Eastern, Muslim countries (see LeVine 2008).

6. On Tunisian Revolution, see Allal (2011), Ayari (2013), Hibou (2011) and Hmed (2012) among the others.

7. The Mediterranean FMG (Festival Mediterranéen de la Guitare) was organised by the entrepreneur Hichem Hemrit. The Festival structured the Metal year, through local auditions, a further selection through the Tunisian bands-only Festival Accor de Guitare, and the very FMG, which brought to Tunisia many important Rock and Metal bands, from Robert Plant to Symphony X. The FMG was mirrored by other occasions like Rock in Rades, organised by the same agency, which hosted Adagio and After Forever among the other bands. Hemrit’s events were criticised for many reasons, from ambiguous political ties to various, allegedly disgusting, practices of the organiser – such as exploiting and mistreating the playing bands and the organisation crew. Still, they were the key events for Tunisian bands and fans, which tried hard to be present and often formed groups for that purpose alone.

8. Connell and Gibson (2003) draw a similar comparison talking about the new possibilities provided to independent music scenes by the Internet.

9. See Bourdieu (1984). For Bourdieu’s theories applied to scenes see, among the others, Kahn-Harris (2006), O’Connor (2002, 2004), Thornton (1996).

10. Something that Bourdieu (1993) himself seems to hint.

11. Indeed, Metal and its Hard rock genealogy have been the pillar of Tunisian Rock culture, and its generational chain of transmission. The international Rock concerts of the last decade have exclusively hosted Metal or contiguous bands. Many famous Tunisian artists have Metal roots – it’s the case, for instance, of well-known folksinger Emel Mathlouthi and Electro pioneer Shinigami San. Competing styles and youth cultures such as Indie, Punk, Goth and the like were either absent/marginalised or conceived as branches of Metal. For example, Punk in itself was seemingly non-existent, but some punks played in Metalcore bands; the same happened with Goth, which offered many girls from the scene a peculiarly gendered version of Metal.

12. Interview with Hamda, 2011.

13. Since the Muslim party Ennahdha won the first post-revolutionary elections, and the diverse political presence of Islam gained a momentum, this opinion has strengthened.

14. Electro, in particular, offered a safe hub for unsatisfied metallers, who found a more compelling career in electronic experimentalism

15. For a similar approach in ethnography see O’Connor (2002, 2004). The author argues against some postmodern ‘global flow’ theories such as those posited by Appadurai. Indeed, my discussion can be seen as an attempt to overcome the shortcomings criticised by O’Connor, while retaining some elements of Appadurai’s theorisation.