A UNIVERSITY researcher has won a government grant to study the lifestyle habits of head-banging heavy metal fans.
The $NZ96,000 ($A85,240) grant over three years to Kiwi student Dave Snell will allow him to carry out his study ndash; entitled The Everyday Life of Bogans: Identity and Community Among Heavy Metal Fans.
In New Zealand as in Australia bogan is an insulting slang, term for an unsophisticated lower-class yob ndash; if the study is published in the US it may have to include the translation trailer trash .
But Snell is happy to describe himself as a bogan, saying he loves heavy metal music ndash; distinctive for its thick, loud, guitar-and-drums sound.
The stereotype of a bogan is tight black jeans, a Metallica T-shirt, a mullet or a shaved head and a love of beer and cars. I'd very proudly call myself a bogan, he said.
The research will include studying different types of dancing to heavy metal music ndash; head-banging or moshing ndash; as well as the importance of tattoos and body piercings, he said.
Bogans offered a good case study of the importance of identity to different groups of people, he said.
New Zealand's Tertiary Education Commission, which administers the scholarships, defended the study.
This research will help us to understand our communities and our younger people, said commission senior manager Frannie Aston.
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