YOUTH ontology was developed to interpret and describe the societal phenomenon of youth subcultures, including their members, historical context, and associated cultural practices, drawing on precise theoretical assumptions. It is part of the end-of-course project of Knowledge Representation and Knowledge Extraction, taught by Professor Aldo Gangemi during the a.y. 2023/2024 at the University of Bologna, part of the Master’s program in Digital Humanities and Digital Knowledge.
This property captures the potential neutral, positive or negative attitude an individual with an external or internal viewpoint has towards a youth subculture. Example query: "Individuals over x years of age have a positive attitude towards x youth subcultures."
Links the classes Stereotype and Value to the classes PositiveAttitude, NegativeAttitude, and NeutralAttitude. It indicates that attitudes (positive, negative, or neutral) towards a subculture are shaped by the stereotypes associated with it and the values it upholds.
Links a subculture to its fashion style(s).
Values and stereotypes have different implications.
Links a subculture to its associated music genre(s).
Links a youth subculture to a person (indicating that the person is a member of the subculture).
Links a person to their internal or external viewpoint with regards to a youth subculture.
Connects viewpoints to the factors that influence them. This property shows how external and internal viepoints are affected by various influencing factors such as media representations, societal attitudes, and personal experiences. It models the relationship between perspectives and the elements that shape them.
This property links a specific external or internal viewpoint to the perspective shift. It captures how the views of subcultures, both internally (self-perception) and externally (public perception), are affected by shifts in perspective.
Links individuals and subcultures to geographic locations.
Connects the youth subculture to its historical period, representing the time frame during which they have developed or undergone significant changes.
A subculture typically originates in one historical period, so this is a functional property.
Links a Person to a YouthSubculture (indicating that the person belongs to that subculture).
Links a stereotype to the subcultures that it affects or challenges. This property identifies how certain stereotypes are associated with subcultures and how these stereotypes may influence or be related to the subculture’s public image. It highlights the stereotypes that subcultures confront or embody.
Describes the content of instances from different classes.
This pattern is applied to model the involvement of people within subcultures, distinguishing between participants and non-participants.
Any Region in a dimensional space that aims at representing time.
Represents the style of clothing and aesthetics associated with a subculture.
Represents the time frame (time-span) during which a subculture emerged, developed, or experienced significant influences. ODP: http://www.ontologydesignpatterns.org/ont/dul/DUL.owl#TimeInterval
Represents the factors that shape and affect the interpretation of a youth subculture and how it is perceived from both external and internal viewpoints. This can include a variety of influences such as media portrayals, social institutions - like family, work, school, home -, personal experiences, education level, and cultural trends, all of which contribute to the evolving perceptions of subcultures by both insiders and outsiders. Hall’s Encoding/Decoding theory is integrated into this analysis, allowing us to deconstruct the role of television as a primary source of information on the subject. See bibliography: Hall, Stuart. "Encoding/Decoding in the Television Discourse." University of Birmingham: Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, 1973. Moore, Ryan. "Alternative to What? Subcultural Capital and the Commercialization of a Music Scene." Deviant Behavior 26, no. 3 (2005): 229-252.
This class defines the geographic context or physical setting where a subculture originates, encompassing specific regions, cities, or areas integral to its identity and activities. In the context of our project, "location" primarily refers to the geographical place (such as a city or state) where youth subcultures historically emerged. This meaning could be broadened to include more nuanced relationships, highlighting areas where these subcultures actively thrive or are predominantly practiced.
Represents the fundamental principles and beliefs that underpin a subculture, guiding the behavior, attitudes, and norms of its members.
Represents the type of music associated with a subculture.
Represents the interpretations or portrayals of a youth subculture following the evolution or transformation of perspectives. This class captures shifts in how subcultures are viewed, whether by the public or by their own members. It includes changes in societal attitudes, evolving stereotypes, or shifts in self-perception within the subculture, highlighting how perspectives can develop and alter across different historical or cultural contexts.
Represents the activities that usually characterize a specific youth subculture.
Represents common stereotypes associated with subcultures, drawing on M. Cardwell's definition of a stereotype as "a fixed, often simplistic generalization about a particular group or class of people. [...] These stereotypes are often negative and unflattering, and may underly prejudice and discrimination". In our ontology, the Stereotype class encapsulates the generalized beliefs and oversimplified notions frequently attributed to members of specific subcultures. These stereotypes reflect societal perceptions and can shape mainstream discourse, influencing how subcultures are understood and portrayed. By capturing these stereotypes, the class facilitates the analysis of misrepresentations and biases that may skew public perception, offering insights into the disparity between societal views of subcultures and their actual characteristics and values. See also: Cardwell, Mike, Dictionary of Psychology, Chicago Fitzroy Dearborn, 1999: 292.
Represents the overall style associated with a subculture, which can be further divided into Fashion Style, Music Genre, Ritual.
A group of people within a cultural society that represents a specific community formed by younger generations, characterized by distinct values, practices, and identities that differentiate them from the dominant culture. See bibliography: Cohen, Albert K. Delinquent Boys: The Culture of the Gang. New York: Free Press, 1955. Cohen, Phil. "Subcultural Conflict and Working-Class Community." In CCCS Selected Working Papers, edited by Ann Gray, Jan Campbell, and Mark Erickson, 554-577. London: Routledge, 2007. Williams, Patrick J. "Youth Subcultural Studies: Sociological Traditions and Core Concepts." Sociology Compass 1, no. 2 (2007): 572-593. Widdicombe, Sue. "Autobiography and Change: Rhetoric and Authenticity of 'Gothic' Style." In Repertoires and Readings of Texts in Action, edited by Erica Burman and Ian Parker, 94-113. London: Routledge, 1993.
Represents the perspective of individuals who are not participants within a youth subculture. It determines the type of attitude that a non-participant holds towards the subculture.
Represents the self-perception and self-definition of members within a subculture. This includes how individuals within the subculture view themselves and their own identity, as well as how they interpret their place within the subculture.
Attitude in this context refers to the evaluative stance or disposition that is held toward a youth subculture, whether by its members or by outsiders. Depending on whether a particular attitude aligns more closely with the values or stereotypes associated with a subculture, it will take on a positive, negative, or neutral connotation.
YOUTH ontology interprets and describes the societal phenomenon of youth subcultures, including their members, historical context, and associated cultural practices, drawing on precise theoretical assumptions. It was developed as the end-of-the-course project of Knowledge Representation and Knowledge Extraction held by professor Aldo Gangemi in a.y. 2023/2024, Digital Humanities and Digital Knowledge - University of Bologna. For further information, visit the following address: https://krke24.gitbook.io/krke-project-2023-2024