Willis’ Subculture Theory And Gramsci’s Hegemony-Resistance Theory:Acceptance And Innovation

Paul Willis is one of the representatives in Birmingham School and iswell-known for the study on youth subculture. In his eyes, subculture is both acounter and creative culture. His works involve in three aspects: youthcounter-school culture, cultural commodity, and its influence to social reproduction.Willis is greatly influenced by Hegemony-Resistance Theory proposed by AntonioGramsci, the great pioneer of cultural studies. That is because Willis records andexposes how subculture is affected by hegemony which incorporates it into the setmode of exploitation and concerts with the ruling-class culture. Furthermore, Willissheds more light on the initiatives and creativity of working-class youth rather thandecoding the spectacularity of subculture. He manages to prove that it is the positiveselection of working-class kids to become the future working-class. Upon this point,Willis transcends Gramsci’s hegemony theory.Based on Willis’ research approach, the thesis is structured in three aspects: first,to analyze the hegemony-resistance in the specific cultural elements incounter-school culture; second, to explore the tension between hegemony andresistance in the economic aspect of subculture; third, the both elements of cultureand economy results in the class reproduction so as to meet the requirement of socialmobility. Through the discussion in three aspects, the thesis aims to prove: Willis’study is an extension of Gramsci’s Hegemony-Resistance Theory, particularly provedby his early research mode. But in the later stage, Willis puts more emphasis on theproductivity of subculture, no longer confining subculture as a counter-culture but toexpand its influence to a wider community besides teenagers. In this sense, hetranscends the limitation of Hegemony-Resistance, and promotes the subculturestudy into a new high. Through the discussion, the author hopes to make a littlecontribution to the subculture study home and abroad.