The Lolita Complex: - Scholarly Commons Home

Is this the Beginning or the End?
On March 11, just over a couple of months before writing this, the huge
tsunami hit Japan. After the initial shock subsided, it had me wondering what
it would mean for this entire endeavour of mine, and what it might affect in
terms of the Lolita subculture itself. Would this research still be relevant? I
will return to these points toward the end of this chapter.
My original intention for naming this conclusion, “The Death of a
Subculture?”, was in contemplation of just how much the parameters of my
initial theories on Lolita may or may not have now become obsolete, and
how the movement itself has altered since I embarked on this research.
Does it still operate in the same way? How has it shifted since its
globalisation? Can we still speak of an authentic movement? I have been
asking myself whether or not the Lolita movement can still be recognised as
a subculture, and wondering if it even continues to exist. A difficulty with
researching and writing on a contemporary fashion, which may be a cutting
edge topic at the time of its conception, is that by the time one gets to
completing the thesis, the subject may no longer be of currency. Or, like the
painting of a bridge, once one gets to the other end, must one go back and
start again? This chapter will raise and discuss some of these queries by
revisiting my journey into Lolita.
Page | 242