The ageing clubber : an exploration of ageing in clubculture in Malta

Abstract

Creative freedom and the capacity for rebellion and resistance are characteristics perceived as normative only in youth. Thus, dominant discourses dictate that subcultural expression should not only be unavailable to adults but is also unhealthy and abnormal (Skott-Myhre, 2009). Emerging literature is challenging the idea that certain behaviours should be limited to youth or adulthood. This is engendering new understandings and realisations about the relationship between continued participation of adults in their youth subculture and maintaining adult responsibilities. Drawing on recent works on ageing in youth cultures and clubcultures, this study hopes to achieve a deeper insight into ageing in clubculture in Malta. Through a series of in-depth interviews with ageing clubbers, who are still active in the clubbing scene, and participant observation that took place in local clubs and parties, this study sheds light on the clubbing experience of ageing clubbers in Malta. These experiences disclosed the collective, yet individualistic aspect of clubbing and the ritualistic practices of escape and hedonism that come with it. The analysis revealed a series of negotiation processes by the ageing clubbers to keep up with the limitations of their ageing bodies and to measure up to the expectations of Maltese society. Looking through the reflexive lens of cultural ageing, by way of the narrative generated in this study, it is evident that the ageing clubbers have developed and are responding to broader changes in priorities, self-perceptions and outlooks that happen as a natural consequence of ageing. This development is contributing to a negotiation of adulthood that is allowing for continued participation in subcultures beyond the proverbial 'drinking from the fountain of youth'.