When and how is the word 'scene' used for a group of people, and what are alternatives?

Question

In German, the word 'Szene', which translates literally to 'scene' and has an identical meaning in the context of a movie or a play, has a second use in referring to a group of people that form a community around a common interest with a high identification factor, in particular music genres.

In English, I've come across "drug scene", or "clubbing scene", which seems to match the German usage, but more often it seems to be "community", which appears to have a slightly larger scope, though. While a "community" can have many purposes, and particularly may well be of a professional nature (as in "programmer community"), a "Szene" would almost always be related to leisure activities, with a slight bias towards nightlife.

A good example for that is the German word "Schwulenszene", which would probably translate to "gay community", but the two terms don't match exactly. The German one would tend to not include gay rights activists, for instance, and mostly refer to bars, clubs or parties that are directed specifically at the gay community.

The German word is mostly neutral (in 2012 Berlin, anyway), has a slightly positive connotation of something fashionable in nightlife (the expression "Szenekneipe" might be used like the English "hip joint"), but shifts to clearly derogatory when used for political groups, usually of the more extreme sort ('Naziszene', 'Autonomenszene', 'Islamistenszene'). I'm hypothesizing, but it might be that it started out as a derogatory term and got its connotation transformed by some of the hipper crowds thusly described.

Some contexts where it would be natural in German to use "Szene", but where I haven't heard the English expression yet:

• ballroom dancing (Tango, Salsa etc)
• music genres with associated looks / lifestyles (Metal, Punk, Gothic etc.)
• pastimes that form strong communities, like LARPing or various outdoor sports

Answer 1

I don't think the English usage of "scene" carries the negative connotation. If I were joining a university, for example, I might ask about the "downtown scene", "bar scene", "sports scene", or "student life scene" and I wouldn't be inferring anything negative.

Actually, it's pretty unusual for someone in English to use the term "scene" negatively, and people generally tend to use more inflammatory words such as "agenda." You will find this most often in politics. For example, in the United States you will find that far-right leaning people will often talk about the "gay agenda" or the "liberal agenda", inferring that there is a sort of subversive current.

Answer 2

Hmm, just speaking anecdotally here, I think the word "scene" is fairly often used to describe the community around musical styles, like "the heavy metal scene", "the rap scene", etc. I don't recall ever hearing someone say "the Baroque music scene", maybe it's limited to more contemporary popular forms of music.

It's common to talk about the "night club scene" and "the bar scene", which are just vague ways of referring to such places and the people who frequent them. This usage is often, but not necessarily, derogatory. Like, "He just wastes his time running around the bar scene."

Outside of that ... ? I've never heard someone say, "the Libertarian scene" or "the Presbyterian scene" or "the coal slurry pipeline maintenance scene". If you said such a thing I think people would understand that you were referring to the community around that idea or activity, but it would likely be taken as derogatory, saying that this group is not a serious intellectual or professional group but is more like a bunch of mindless fans of a music style or a bunch of partiers at a bar.

I'm interested to hear if others can name examples where the word is regularly used to refer to some other community.

Answer 3

Perhaps uncommon, but such uses can be found...

Of course, unless you look at them you cannot be sure: maybe they are describing a scene in a movie or something...