Dance, Drugs and Escape

In the late 1980s the rave phenomenon swept the youth culture of the United Kingdom, incorporating the generations’ two newest social stimulants: modern electronic dance music and a notorious designer drug known as Ecstasy. Although the movement began in rebellion against mainstream culture, its underground dynamism soon attracted the interest of novelists, screenwriters, and filmmakers who attempted to reflect the phenomenon in their works. Through artistic and commercial popularization, the once obscure subculture was transformed into a pop-culture behemoth with powerful links to the entertainment industry.
This study deals with the transformative effects of film, television and literature on club culture. Chapters furthermore reflect club culture’s own effect on crime, ethnicity, sexuality and drug use. As the study traces artistic depictions of club culture’s development, each chapter focuses on individual books, films and television shows that reflect the transformation of the club culture into what it is today.

Stan Beeler is a professor in the English department at the University of Northern British Columbia in Canada. His publications include books and articles on television, film and popular culture.

Stan Beeler
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 222
Bibliographic Info: notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2007
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3001-7
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0667-5
Imprint: McFarland

Preface      1

Introduction      3

1. The Rise and Fall of Club Culture: Idealism to Economics      17

2. Crime and Club Life      51

3. Whose Club Is It Anyway? Ethnicity and Club Culture      74

4. It’s Raining Men: Representations of Gay Lifestyle in Club Fiction      94

5. Drugs, Sex and Disco Dancing 115

6. Take the Money and Run: Exploitation of Rave Culture       152

Conclusion      182

Notes      185

Bibliography      195

Index      201