UNCOMFORTABLY NUMB - COUNTERCULTURAL IMPULSES IN THE POSTMODERN ERA

Informed by 1960s research suggesting that early signs of emerging soc ial psychological trends are visible in countercultural groups, the ar ticle uses in-depth interviews and participant observation to explore the attitudes of the ''Freaks''-a group of countercultural students. F inding that they express pessimism and cynicism, rejection of metanarr atives and fragmented identities, the article suggests some comparison s between the Freaks' attitudes and those held by their 1960s predeces sors and elaborates on the meaning of these attitudes in light of cont emporary theoretical debates about a postmodern self.