From Midnight to Broad Daylight
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outside and over against me, cannot see himself" (1990, p.23). In other words, as individuals we
cannot ever fully understand ourselves and it is through contact with others that our
understanding grows. The horizon is the moment of one’s unique positioning meeting another.
Even though Bakhtin discusses the concept in relation to novelistic work whereby the author’s
lived horizon affects the hero’s performance, the term is equally applicable to the study of EDM
culture. In a sense, the idea of the horizon helps rationalize the need that people have for coming
together and creating unique environments. Participants take pride in their activities because
they are equal place in the party space. Martin observes that "the hierarchies in rave culture are
less damaging to those at the bottom than the hierarchies found in other subcultures and in the
dominant social order" (1999, p. 87). The rave is a situation unlike that which participants
experience in their daily lives because power relations are brought to a minimum. All
participants are the "I" at the same time as there are the "other." The promoters, DJs, and
participants are all equally necessary for the event to be a success. Early on, the locations of
raves were warehouses in urban neighborhoods. Before the days when elaborate decorations
were added to the space, the atmosphere – or "vibe" as it is often referred to – was created solely
by the presence and connections created between the promoters, DJs, and participants. Unlike
rock based music subcultures in which there exists a clear distinction between these elements, in
the rave, everyone present is an author.
Another useful Bakhtinian concept is the chronotope. Literally translated the term
means "time-space." In this specific sense, the two categories are interdependent with neither
one being privileged over the other" (Holquist, 1981, p. 425-426). The chronotope considers the
culture system from which texts spring. The conceptual uses of the term transfer beyond the
realm of literally analysis and are more generally applicable to a conversation about art and art
Convention