What do fans of atmospheric post-punk music have in common with ancient barbarians? Not much. So why are both known as goths? Is it a weird coincidence or a deeper connection stretching across the centuries? The story begins in Ancient Rome. As the Roman Empire expanded, it faced raids and invasions from the semi-nomadic populations along its borders. Among the most powerful were a Germanic people known as Goths who were composed of two tribal groups, the Visigoths and Ostrogoths. While some of the Germanic tribes remained Rome's enemies, the Empire incorporated others into the imperial army. As the Roman Empire split in two, these tribal armies played larger roles in its defense and internal power struggles. In the 5th century, a mercenary revolt lead by a soldier named Odoacer captured Rome and deposed the Western Emperor. Odoacer and his Ostrogoth successor Theoderic technically remained under the Eastern Emperor's authority and maintained Roman traditions. But the Western Empire would never be united again. Its dominions fragmented into kingdoms ruled by Goths and other Germanic tribes who assimilated into local cultures, though many of their names still mark the map. This was the end of the Classical Period and the beginning of what many call the Dark Ages. Although Roman culture was never fully lost, its influence declined and new art styles arose focused on religious symbolism and allegory rather than proportion and realism. This shift extended to architecture with the construction of the Abbey of Saint Denis in France in 1137. Pointed arches, flying buttresses, and large windows made the structure more skeletal and ornate. That emphasized its open, luminous interior rather than the sturdy walls and columns of Classical buildings. Over the next few centuries, this became a model for Cathedrals throughout Europe. But fashions change. With the Italian Renaissance's renewed admiration for Ancient Greece and Rome, the more recent style began to seem crude and inferior in comparison. Writing in his 1550 book, "Lives of the Artists," Giorgio Vasari was the first to describe it as Gothic, a derogatory reference to the Barbarians thought to have destroyed Classical civilization. The name stuck, and soon came to describe the Medieval period overall, with its associations of darkness, superstition, and simplicity. But time marched on, as did what was considered fashionable. In the 1700s, a period called the Enlightenment came about, which valued scientific reason above all else. Reacting against that, Romantic authors like Goethe and Byron sought idealized visions of a past of natural landscapes and mysterious spiritual forces. Here, the word Gothic was repurposed again to describe a literary genre that emerged as a darker strain of Romanticism. The term was first applied by Horace Walpole to his own 1764 novel, "The Castle of Otranto" as a reference to the plot and general atmosphere. Many of the novel's elements became genre staples inspiring classics and the countless movies they spawned. The gothic label belonged to literature and film until the 1970s when a new musical scene emerged. Taking cues from artists like The Doors and The Velvet Underground, British post-punk groups, like Joy Division, Bauhaus, and The Cure, combined gloomy lyrics and punk dissonance with imagery inspired by the Victorian era, classic horror, and androgynous glam fashion. By the early 1980s, similar bands were consistently described as Gothic rock by the music press, and the stye's popularity brought it out of dimly lit clubs to major labels and MTV. And today, despite occasional negative media attention and stereotypes, Gothic music and fashion continue as a strong underground phenomenon. They've also branched into sub-genres, such as cybergoth, gothabilly, gothic metal, and even steampunk. The history of the word gothic is embedded in thousands of years worth of countercultural movements, from invading outsiders becoming kings to towering spires replacing solid columns to artists finding beauty in darkness. Each step has seen a revolution of sorts and a tendency for civilization to reach into its past to reshape its present.
充满神秘感的后朋克音乐的粉丝们 与古代野蛮人有什么共同之处呢? 虽然看上去毫无关联, 但为何他们都被称为哥特人。 这是个奇怪的巧合? 还是二者间有长达几个世纪的深层联系? 故事开始于古罗马。 随着罗马帝国不断扩张,它面临着 国境线附近半游牧民族的入侵和袭击。 其中最强大的势力是一伙德国人——哥特, 他们由两个部落构成: 东哥特人, 西哥特人。 虽然一些德国部落始终与罗马为敌, 但罗马帝国将其他部落收归整合入军队。 当罗马帝国一分为二时, 这些部落军队在防御和内部权力斗争上 起到了很大作用。 5世纪时,由一名名叫 Odoacer 的士兵领导了 一次雇佣兵反叛, 他们抓住并废黜了西罗马国王。 Odoacer 及东哥特首领 Theoderic 理论上仍受东罗马皇帝统治, 并保持着罗马的传统。 但此时西罗马帝国不在团结, 并分裂成不同的国家, 其统治者为哥特人以及 融入当地文化的其他德国部落, 但现在的地图上仍能够 反映出当时部落的名称。 这标志着古典时期的终结, 以及黑暗时期的开始。 尽管罗马文化从未完全消失, 但它的影响力不断减少, 新的艺术风格逐渐产生, 它们关注宗教符号和寓言 而不是和谐的比例和现实意义。 这种转变也延伸到了建筑风格。 1137年法国圣丹尼斯修道院建立, 尖拱、飞拱、大窗这样的设计 使得建筑结构显得更加瘦削豪华。 它强调室内要开放、明亮 而不是充满古典建筑中的结实墙面和柱子。 在接下来的几个世纪, 这成为欧洲教堂风格的范本。 但是时尚易变, 意大利文艺复兴重新燃起了 对古希腊古罗马的崇敬, 哥特这种近代风格 相比之下显得原始简陋。 1550年,在《艺术家的生活》中 作者 Giorgio Vasari 首次将这种风格称为哥特。 但这是一种意指野蛮人的贬义说法, 并认为这种思想毁了古典文明。 这个词语一直存在, 并且开始用于描述整个中世纪时期, 因为它让人联想到黑暗、迷信以及原始。 时间推进,时尚也在推进。 1700年代,启蒙时期到来, 科学理性最受推崇。 与此相对,浪漫主义作家例如歌德与拜伦, 则寻求将自然景观理想化的视角 以及神秘的精神力量。 于此,哥特一词的含义被重新定义, 它用来描述由浪漫主义衍生的 一种更黑暗的文学体裁。 Horace Walpole 于1764年 在他的小说《奥特兰托堡》中 首次使用这个词, 用来描述小说情节及整体氛围。 小说中的众多元素成为了哥特体裁的典型, 并启发了众多经典故事及改编电影。 直到1970年代,哥特一直是 文学和电影的风格, 之后,一种新的音乐剧开始出现。 受到门户乐队,地下丝绒乐队的启发, 英国的大量后朋克群体, 例如 Joy Division 乐队, Bauhaus 乐队, The Cure 乐队, 他们的音乐混合了 阴郁的歌词,朋克的不协调音乐, 维多利亚时代的意象, 经典的恐惧元素, 以及中性魅力。 直到1980年代早期,这类风格相似的乐队 都被音乐媒体称为哥特摇滚。 这种风格日渐流行, 表演也由灯光阴暗的俱乐部 转向主流唱片公司和音乐电视。 如今,尽管偶尔会有媒体的 负面评价和刻板印象, 哥特音乐和时尚仍然是活跃的地下现象。 并出现了更多的细分种类, 例如赛博哥特, 哥特比利, 哥特金属, 甚至是蒸汽朋克。 哥特这个词伴随了上千年的历史, 它是一种反对传统文化的运动, 开始于哥特民族作为外族入侵称王, 而后,高耸的尖塔代替了粗壮的圆柱, 艺术家在黑暗中发现了美。 每一步都是一种改革, 也是文明回溯过去 进而重塑现在的趋势。