Argot and Signalling

I want to talk about a phenomenon within subculture that I find interesting, the idea of "argot;" what it is and why it exists, and the use of fashions of mannerisms to signal other members.

When I talk about the formalisation of subculture, I am referring to the process by which unique mannerisms within a community become standardized for use by the whole. This concept, is explored in depth in Dick Hebdige's book "Subculture: The Meaning of Style."

A subculture is a group of people that is distinct from mainstream culture. The members of these subcultures come together because of a common interest, motive or ideal. As a subculture grows in size and evolves beyond it's original, undeveloped state, certain distinctive traits will begin to become apparent that makes that culture unique and recognisable. That is how signalling is allowed to happen.

Members of subcultures often state that they feel as if they "belong," and identify with the culture on a very personal, even spiritual level. I have heard some subculture members say that they regard their group as a "family." It is only natural, humans being the social creatures that we are, that we would attempt to locate those of our own kind. The beauty of a subculture is that you can be sure any other members that you meet will, to at least some degree, share your ideals, opinions and tastes.

"Argot" can be defined as a jargon or slang associated with a subculture, a "sub language." As a subculture develops and gains it's own identity, various events that happen around the time, artifacts associated with the culture or phenomina observed within the population can become so common that a word is invented for it. This new word is added to the subculture's universal "lexicon" and becomes that culture's argot. A good example of this within the Punk movement is the word "pogo," which may seem innocuous to you and me, but is in fact part of the movement's diverse and insular language. Pogo refers to "a dance from the 1970s that consisted of jumping up and down in place."

"Signalling" is another interesting phenomenon. In the days before the internet was widely available, it was possible to set up meetings with fellow subculture members through analogue methods such as low-budget magazines called "zines," and at events such as concerts, but the problem of how to recognise someone in the fold on the street was a difficult one. For punks, this dilemma was solved by their unique fashion style, but there are some subcultures which do not have a uniform to rely on.

The furry fandom is a subculture that first developed in 1980, born from the science fiction fandom. It's members are deeply interested in anthropomorphic (human like) animals. They attend conventions and more casual "furmeets" organised using the web in order to meet. While there is a developed argot for the fandom, there is no fashion or uniform associated with them, which makes signalling almost impossible.

The "phipaw" is a symbol that was introduced to the fandom in 2007. It's intention was that it could be worn on a tshirt, as a badge or car bumper sticker in order to allow one fandom member to recognise another. Simply put, the fandom was aware that it had no method of signalling and created one to be rolled out across the whole community, which is an excellent example of a subculture becoming more formal in it's activities.

The phipaw symbol did not take off as well as it was hoped, even after being backed by some of the most influential members of the community. While it is still occasionally seen, it did not become the standard "symbol" of the fandom.

While it is possible for a culture to become more formal in it's practice, it isn't always easy, or particularly wise, to encourage it. Next post I will be discussing how a subculture becoming formalised can transform it completely - and not always in a good way.


(1) Punks: A Guide to American Subculture/Sharon M Hannon
(2) Subculture: The Meaning of Style/Dick Hebdige