Angst

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The Scream (1893) by Edvard Munch.

Angst is a Dutch, German, and Scandinavian word for fear or anxiety. It is used in English to describe an intense feeling of emotional strife. It is usually, but not always, associated with teenage angst, or confusion and anxiety within the self.

A different but related meaning is attributed to Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855). In The Concept of Anxiety, Kierkegaard used the word angest (Danish, meaning "dread") to describe a profound and deep-seated spiritual condition of insecurity and despair in the free human being. Where the animal is a slave to its God-given instincts but always confident in its own actions, Kierkegaard believed that the freedom given to mankind leaves the human in a constant fear of failing its responsibilities to God. Kierkegaard's concept of angst is considered to be an important stepping stone for 20th-century existentialism.

While Kierkegaard's feeling of angst is fear of actual responsibility to God, in modern use, angst is broadened to include general frustration associated with the conflict between actual responsibilities to self, one's principles, and others (possibly including God). Still, the angst in alternative music may be more accessible to most audiences than existentialism. The term "angst" is now widely used as a theme in many great modern writers. Often, as in the Catcher in the Rye the expression is used as a common adolescent experience of malaise; in this sense it has become one of the most central themes used in the fiction of modern novelists like Don DeLillo^[1], David Foster Wallace and others.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Angst in contemporary music

Angst, in contemporary connotative use, most often describes the intense frustration and other related emotions of teenagers and the mood of the music and art with which they identify. Punk rock, grunge, nu metal, and virtually any alternative rock dramatically combining elements of discord, melancholy and excitement may be said to express angst.

Angst was probably first discussed in relation to contemporary music in the mid to late 1980s and 1990s. In the 1980s "teen angst" was expressed in music to a certain extent in the rise of punk, post punk, and Alternative music with bands such as The Smiths. The word "angst" is currently more associated with, and was probably first used in reference to, the grunge movement and the band Nirvana. Nirvana themselves seem to have been aware of this, as evidenced by the first line of "Serve the Servants" in which Kurt Cobain describes the success of writing songs dealing with the subject (Teenage angst has paid off well | Now I'm bored and old...). Although KMFDM, a German industrial band, released an album entitled Angst at the same time. The band Placebo also has a song "Teenage Angst" which deals with many of these same themes. One of the many examples of describing the feeling of teen angst in electric music is M83's "Teen Angst" (from the 2005 album Before The Dawn Heals Us). The band From First to Last released an album titled Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has A Body Count (a quote from the film "Heathers") in June 2004. The band NOFX also has a song titled "All Outta Angst" which mocks the teenage need for angst and condemns those who use it as an excuse for their behaviour.

In Orlando, FL, there is a punk band known as The Angst who play many songs condemning politics and racism.

[edit] Angst in subculture stereotyping

Sometimes, the term is used derisively to refer to members of the "goth" or "emo" subcultures who may seem to be in competition with each other as to who can give the most "tragic" account of his or her circumstances. These sorts of perceptions can produce a backlash in the general public, who accuse the members of the subculture of exaggerating the normal frustrations of life to ridiculous extremes in an attempt to elicit pity and make excuses for their situation. Thus, the description of such a person as "angst-ridden" may involve a note of sarcasm. Similar negative characterizations have been made of other subcultures, such as the "Beat Generation", the grunge rock movement, and various literary and artistic movements. The term is also sometimes used to negatively stereotype the very wealthy and well-to-do, with the implication being that angst (and occasionally ennui) are the only problems that they face as they mull over things that only concern themselves.

[edit] See also

• Byronic hero, an archetypal "rebel" in literature, described by Byron in 1812, with attitudes similar to those with angst in modernity.
• Fear
• Guilt
• Panic
• Phobia
• Shame
• Weltschmerz