Goblincore is an aesthetic and subculture inspired by the folklore of

goblins A goblin is a small, grotesque, monstrous creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearances depending on t ...

, centered on the celebration of natural ecosystems usually considered less beautiful by conventional norms, such as

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debri ...

, animals, and second-hand objects.

Aesthetic

Second-hand and thrifted aesthetics feature prominently in the fashion of goblincore, often emphasizing comfort and brown, green, and clashing colours. The aesthetic often features idealised imagery of natural creatures such as snakes, frogs, snails, and earthworms; animal skeletons and rocks; plants and fungi like ferns, moss, and mushrooms. Journalist Sabrina Faramarzi has stated that the subculture is about "chaos, dirt and mud." Proponents of the subculture have also been noted to collect shiny objects, similarly to folklore goblins, such as silverware, small jewelry, and coins. The subculture has been described as connected to

maximalism In the arts, maximalism, a reaction against minimalism, is an aesthetic of excess. The philosophy can be summarized as "more is more", contrasting with the minimalist motto "less is more". Literature The term ''maximalism'' is sometimes associ ...

and

escapism Escapism is mental diversion from unpleasant or boring aspects of daily life, typically through activities involving imagination or entertainment. Escapism may be used to occupy one's self away from persistent feelings of depression or gener ...

. Alternative names also used for the subculture include crowcore, dirtcore, cottagegoth, and feralcore.

History

Goblincore is believed to have surfaced in online communities in the late 2010s, particularly on

Tumblr Tumblr (stylized as tumblr; pronounced "tumbler") is an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a sho ...

and

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version o ...

, with

Amanda Brennan Amanda Brennan is the former Head of Editorial at Tumblr and is known as the "meme librarian." At Tumblr, she sorted through site's content and cataloged trends. She began her career at Know Your Meme where she gained her nickname. Due to her his ...

stating that it "started picking up in spring 2019 and hit full steam in 2020 as people stumbled upon it during the pandemic." As of July 2021, the goblincore subreddit had 19 000 subscribers, an increase of 395% from July 2020. E-commerce company

Etsy Etsy, Inc. is an American e-commerce company focused on handmade or vintage items and craft supplies. These items fall under a wide range of categories, including jewelry, bags, clothing, home décor and furniture, toys, art, as well as craft ...

reported a 695% increase in searches related to goblincore in June 2021.

Reception

The subculture has been described as anti-consumerist, with Mashable writer Morgan Sung stating that "in a maximalist goblincore home, decor is found or built, not bought." It has also been noted as having a significant number of LGBT+, and specifically

non-binary Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

, proponents, with a common catchphrase being "no gender, only bugs". Some have described the subculture as a darker companion to

cottagecore Cottagecore is an internet aesthetic popularised by teenagers and young adults celebrating an idealized rural life. Traditionally based on a rural English and European life, it was developed throughout the 2010s and was first named ''cottagecore ...

, with Faramarzi stating that "goblincore is cottagecore for those that actually spend time in nature, who know that nature is not sunlit wheat fields but gnarly forests and chaotic animals".

References

{{reflist Fashion aesthetics Internet memes 2010s fads and trends 2020s fads and trends Subcultures

Aesthetic

History

Reception

See also

References