November 20, 2025

Doctoral Programme in Sociology

Claudino Ferreira

The city presents itself as a space of diversity, but also (perhaps for that very reason) as a site of symbolic contestation and tensions between dominant and alternative cultures. Based on this premise, this thesis aims to explore the argument that subcultural events contribute to the integration of subcultures in small and medium-sized urban contexts. The selected case study was the gothic festival Entre/Extramuralhas, held in the city of Leiria. The research sought to understand how gothic identity is lived, constructed, and negotiated by its participants, as well as how the city receives, transforms, and reconfigures this subcultural expression. Furthermore, it aimed to situate Goth within a continuum between subcultural and post-subcultural theory, interrogating its ambivalent identity through the lenses of cultural commodification, festivalization, and the institutionalization of difference.
A qualitative methodology was adopted, combining ethnographically inspired fieldwork with semi-structured interviews conducted with festival organizers, participants in the gothic subculture, and other local political, cultural, and economic actors. Participant observation of events and festivals promoted by the Fade In cultural association, particularly the 2022 and 2023 editions of Extramuralhas, allowed for the observation of symbolic, aesthetic, and political dynamics surrounding the gothic presence in the city. The study focused its analysis on the intersection between alternative culture and urban cultural policy.

Among the main findings is the identification of a "gothic condition" marked by continuity and generational ageing among subcultural participants. The research also revealed a clear ambivalence between more "essentialist" forms of belonging and others that are more fluid and transversal, challenging the rigidity of traditional subcultural substance indicators in light of post-subcultural critiques. At the urban level, the gothic subculture has shifted from a marginal position to one of strategic integration within local cultural policies, having been appropriated as a resource for tourism and city branding. The case study revealed this tension between subcultural authenticity and the commodification of difference, highlighting processes of negotiation between audiences, promoters, and institutions. Ultimately, the case of Leiria demonstrates how the city becomes a stage for the symbolic reconfiguration of a subculture that simultaneously asserts its presence and adapts to evolving cultural and institutional logics.

Keywords: Entre/Extramuralhas festival; goth subculture; cultural identity; subcultural ambivalence; festivalization