Goth's Dark Empire

by Carol Siegel

In Goth's Dark Empire cultural historian Carol Siegel provides a fascinating look at Goth, a subculture among Western youth. It came to prominence with punk performers such as Marilyn Manson and was made infamous when it was linked (erroneously) to the Columbine High School murders. While the fortunes of Goth culture form a portion of this book's story, Carol Siegel is more interested in pursuing Goth as a means of resisting regimes of sexual normalcy, especially in its celebration of sadomasochism (S/M). The world of Goth can appear from films such as Edward Scissorhands and The Crow to popular fiction such as Anne Rice's "vampire" novels to rock bands such as Nine Inch Nails. But for Siegel, Goth appears as a mode of being sexually undead―and loving it. What was Goth and what happened to it? In this book, Siegel tracks Goth down, reveals the sources of its darkness, and shows that Goth as a response to the modern world has not disappeared but only escaped underground.

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[OskariF · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite the name of the book, most of the discussion in the book seems to concern Goth only tangentially. Instead the articles are more in the realm of cultural study and feminist research. While the articles are interesting in their own right, their connection with goth is only derivative. More honest name for the book could be something along the lines of "Critical cultural study and transgressive gender...and goth".

[Daniel Fitzgerald · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was pretty wacky. Some of the info/analysis was insightful/useful, and much of the secondary material Siegel brought in was interesting. However, this thing frequently went off the rails, exploring wacky tangents and drawing together all sorts of material without contextualizing fully or explaining WHY various gothy things belonged together. Moreover, I really didn't get a good feel for how actual individual goths (beyond the author) experienced and organized all this gothy stuff. An interesting read, nonetheless, with some illuminating insights into goth culture.

[Rachel Pollock · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fairly interesting academic look at the gothic subculture, but full of strange diversionary lenses through which the author views it, which sometimes feel forced. Also a weird combination of dense prose about Foucault and Deleuze, and fluffy personal opinions/observations of the author. Still, interesting.

[William Durden]

My mentor Carol Siegel wrote this book, and it's leaps and bounds beyond other academic goth material out there (I'm thinking of Hodkinson.) Carol's a very perceptive thinker and writer and explores the spaces left out of even the best of dominant (subversive-dominant) discourses.