Although most people think "Generation X" is a recently coined label for the post-Baby Boom generation, since the early 1950s the phrase has signified a seemingly identity-less group of young people trying to define themselves within an uncertain, even hostile world.
GenXegesis: Essays on Alternative Youth (Sub)Culture
is the first collection of critical essays on Generation X.
Resituating the term in its neglected (sub)cultural context, the contributors offer a critical assessment of the "Generation X" phenomenon and its relation to the fashioning of differing identities within and against the mainstream. The essays explore a variety of topics, including punk subculture, alternative music, reality television, postmodernism, and the Internet. Together, the contributors share a refreshingly self-conscious approach to Generation X's precarious, often paradoxical position as an alternative to the mainstream. This collection will be enjoyed by scholars, graduate and undergraduate students, and anyone interested in popular culture, including Gen-Xers themselves.