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Title variants
Black metal, white faces: corpse paint as an element in the performative construction of subjectivity in black metal
Languages of publication
Abstracts
The aim of this article is to analyse the phenomenon of corpse pain, a style of stage make-up used by black metal bands developed in Norway in the 1990s. Black metal is a subgenre of rock music. Its relationship with violence is very complex and hardly obvious. The focal point of the culture that has developed around this genre is an independent subject whose functioning is based on the categories of agency, power, and domination perceived through the prism of masculinity. Such a subjectivity emerges from the consolidation of artists’ stage and non-stage lives, and needs to have its authenticity constantly confirmed. One way to authenticate it is through the use of corpse paint. This type of stage make-up connects musicians with the content they symbolise and seek to embody. The subject is born out of the performative act of merging with corpse paint. This specific make-up may be perceived as a stage mask originating from ancient theatre. The juxtaposition of corpse paint and a theatrical mask highlights the process that leads to the creation of a black metal subject while revealing its dark sides. One of them is masculinity based on the exclusion of others. In its most extreme manifestations it reaches out for elements of fascist or racist ideologies only to reassert its power and advantage, and thus strengthen its position in the world.
Publisher
Year
Volume
Issue
Pages
162-175
Physical description
Contributors
References
Document Type
Publication order reference
Identifiers
Biblioteka Nauki
1944371
YADDA identifier
bwmeta1.element.ojs-doi-10_26112_kw_2021_114_12
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