Beginning in the mid 1980s the practices of Soviet youth became a scene of heightened academic interest as western scholars eagerly turned their attention to the changing ???subcultural??? realities of youth in the wake of the relaxations introduced under Perestroika and Glasnost. Unfortunately, despite this growing interest, the Russian punk community has remained, predominantly on the periphery of scholarly inquiry. One can surmise, however, that a dominant reason for this has been the over-reliance on New Subcultural Theory, which marks many of these studies and which seeks to understand ???subcultures??? in terms of their homogeneous values and symbolic resistance to a socio-structural Other within a rigid and vertical cultural model. This paradigm, when coupled with prominent western themes exhibited in the behaviour of Russian punks, has led to a somewhat anomalous understanding of this group???s existence and has championed the apparent drive within the academy to discredit both the punk community and its membership as little more than cultural mimics. By drawing on data collected from a Russian punk internet forum located at http://offtop.ru/punkforum, this exploratory grounded theory study investigates (1) how the community exists as a discursive space (2) how individual participants construct and put forward their self-presentation and, (3) to what extent may we consider that these presentations of self both construct, and are constructed by the community? The overall concern of the study is to consider whether a conceptual break from the notion of ???subculture??? permits a fuller understanding of how individual members??? identities are both constructed by, and construct this particular punk community. The findings suggest that while members exhibit some general commonalities, there is significant diversity among them as well. A key finding is how members become ???authentic??? in relation to the punk idea, while taking part in the construction of that idea and the group as a whole. This presents a significant departure from the notion of ???subculture??? and from common-place ideas about punk, namely that being punk involves little more than a style of dress and behaviours. Thus, this exploratory study implies that this Russian punk community is a dynamic discursive space within which identity must continuously be negotiated and renegotiated through language.

Thesis (M.M.) Florida State University, 2006. / Advisor: Frank Gunderson, Florida State University, College of Music. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed DATE). Document formatted into pages; contains 101 pages. Includes biographical sketch. Includes bibliographical references.

In the Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) do-it-yourself (DIY) punk scene, participants attempt to adhere to notions of authenticity that dictate whether a band, record label, performance venue, or individual are in compliance with punk philosophy. These guiding principles champion individual expression, contributions to one's community (scene), independence from the mainstream music industry and consumerism, and the celebration of amateurism and the idea that everyone should "do it yourself." While each city or scene has its own punk culture, participants draw on their perceptions of the historic legacy of punk and on experiences with contemporaries from around the world. For this thesis, I emphasize the significance of performance spaces and the sonic aesthetic of the music in enacting and reinforcing notions of punk authenticity. The live performance of music is perceived as the most authentic setting for punk music, and bands go to great lengths to recreate this soundscape in the recording studio. Bands achieve this sense of liveness by recording as a group, rather than individually for a polished studio sound mix, or by inviting friends and fans into the studio to help record a live show experience. House venues have been key to the development of the DFW scene with an emphasis on individual participation through hosting concerts in their homes. This creates a stronger sense of community in DIY punk performance. Through participation observation, interviews, analysis of source materials, as well as research in previous Punk scholarship, questions of authenticity, consumerism, and technology and sound studies, this thesis updates work on the experience of sound, listening, and the importance of space in DIY punk communities today.

This collection of short stories attempts to examine the role of a changing and often indifferent world has in the way various characters achieve maturity. Though the past is not always obvious in each story, each protagonist is characterized as holding onto some aspect of his or her past life in a way that is detrimental to their growing as human beings. the stories attempt to portray the indifference of the world as it moves forward to the plight of these characters, and to portray the manner in which they each come to terms with such a world and with their own lives.

The relationship between identity and tattooing regarding female members of the punk community has not been fully explored by the academic community. Through the exploration of the anthropological history of tattoos as markers of identity, the pro-social aspects of this form of body modification can be illustrated. Placing emphasis on punk women, tattoos are shown to positively affect individual identity and reinforce social bonds. The pioneering nature of punk music and the outright rejection of cultural norms creates an atmosphere in which women can more adequately express their identity through the use of body modification. In this open environment where societal norms regarding body modification are rebuked, tattoos are also used to reinforce social bonds amongst those willing to permanently display their dedication to a non-mainstream aesthetic.

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

This thesis explores the punk phenomenon in China. In order to examine punk members and practices, an ethnographic research was conducted in large-scale cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, and small-scale cities, such as Wuhan and Huaihua in China, as well as on the Internet. In particular, the thesis focuses on two prominent themes subculture and resistance as the main directions of analysis. Through discussing findings from the three dimensions of the individual, collective and online, it is argued that the Chinese punk phenomenon exists as a subculture and punk subcultural practices can be regarded as manifesting forms of resistance in China. First, this study presents a detailed individual biography of one punk musician and then further examines those of other participants. It is discovered that subcultural resistance can have a different impact at different stages of a person s life. Second, this study demonstrates forms of collective practices and how they are manifested, and reveals how Chinese punk subculture members collectively produce different forms of subcultural resistance. Finally, this study examines Chinese punk online. It focuses on how online group members produce meanings of their activities and deploy specific techniques to resist online norms and censorship. Overall this thesis contributes to the ongoing discussions in current field of subcultural studies. By providing a study on punk subculture in China, the research engages empirically in the question of power relations in a society from both individual and collective levels, which has rarely been undertaken before.

Beginning in the mid 1980s the practices of Soviet youth became a scene of heightened academic interest as western scholars eagerly turned their attention to the changing ‘subcultural’ realities of youth in the wake of the relaxations introduced under Perestroika and Glasnost. Unfortunately, despite this growing interest, the Russian punk community has remained, predominantly on the periphery of scholarly inquiry. One can surmise, however, that a dominant reason for this has been the over-reliance on New Subcultural Theory, which marks many of these studies and which seeks to understand ‘subcultures’ in terms of their homogeneous values and symbolic resistance to a socio-structural Other within a rigid and vertical cultural model. This paradigm, when coupled with prominent western themes exhibited in the behaviour of Russian punks, has led to a somewhat anomalous understanding of this group’s existence and has championed the apparent drive within the academy to discredit both the punk community and its membership as little more than cultural mimics. By drawing on data collected from a Russian punk internet forum located at http://offtop.ru/punkforum, this exploratory grounded theory study investigates (1) how the community exists as a discursive space (2) how individual participants construct and put forward their self-presentation and, (3) to what extent may we consider that these presentations of self both construct, and are constructed by the community? The overall concern of the study is to consider whether a conceptual break from the notion of ‘subculture’ permits a fuller understanding of how individual members’ identities are both constructed by, and construct this particular punk community. The findings suggest that while members exhibit some general commonalities, there is significant diversity among them as well. A key finding is how members become “authentic” in relation to the punk idea, while taking part in the construction of that idea and the group as a whole. This presents a significant departure from the notion of ‘subculture’ and from common-place ideas about punk, namely that being punk involves little more than a style of dress and behaviours. Thus, this exploratory study implies that this Russian punk community is a dynamic discursive space within which identity must continuously be negotiated and renegotiated through language.

Orientador: Helio Rebello Cardoso Junior / Banca: Karina Anhezini de Araujo / Banca: Clóvis Gruner / Resumo: A emergência do punk no Brasil se deu em finais da ditadura militar tornando, para esse grupo de jovens, fundamentais os acontecimentos referentes à redemocratização, a Assembleia Constituinte e as eleições diretas. Não obstante, a nova democracia deu espaço a organizações políticas das mais diversas, as quais passaram a fazer parte do cotidiano dos brasileiros. Tais acontecimentos foram indispensáveis aos fanzines, que se empenharam em debatê-los e que, por vezes, buscaram neles inspiração para sua forma material e discursiva. Dessa maneira, os fanzines punks manifestam a bricolagem, inerente à estética punk, como eixo de suas práticas de leitura e práticas discursivas. Através de colagens de excertos de outros impressos, os fanzines subvertiam os sentidos iniciais dos recortes que empregavam inserindo-os nesses suportes de leitura de aparência confusa, que obrigam o leitor a divagar seus olhos pelas páginas. Não por acaso, eles fizeram parte da forma discursiva igualmente confusa e entrecortada, de difícil compreensão ao público externo ao punk, que se empenhou em restringir a violência interna do grupo e a representá-lo como um agente engajado na transformação do país e do mundo. Trata-se do discurso aqui denominado união e conscientização. / Abstract: The development of punk in Brazil happened by the end of the military dictatorship. It made essential, to this group of young people, the events concerning the redemocratization of the Constituent Assembly and the direct elections. However, this new democracy gave room to many different political organizations that became part of the Brazilian daily life. Such events were essential to fanzines, that made efforts to discuss them and, sometimes, looked into them for inspiration to their material and discursive form. Thus, punk fanzines manifest the concept of bricolage, inherent of the punk esthetics, as the axis of its discursive and reading practices. Through the collage of excerpts of other prints, fanzines subverted the original meanings of the cutouts they used, inserting them in reading supports of confuse appearance, making the reader divagate along the pages. Not coincidentally, they were part of a discursive form that sounded confuse and truncated, hard to understand for the public outside the punk subculture. This discourse made efforts in restricting the internal violence of the group and represent it as an agent committed to transforming the country and the world. Such discourse was named union and awareness. / Mestre

The chief argument of this work rests on the idea that culture-blindness—especially White ethnic-cultural blindness—contributed as much as issues of race to the heavily documented social rift between predominantly Chicanx, Eastside punk and the mostly-White, Westside punk rock communities of Los Angeles, 1976-1981. To date, historical blame for the divide has centered on racism, including racist intent. The second area of analysis directly relates to the first in that it demonstrates the inextricable link between cultural and spatial identity formation and assignment among the various scenes. This aspect of the study evaluates the complaints of some Eastside acts who have contended that based on racist attitude(s), they were prohibited from playing in Westside venues, thereby limiting their opportunities for gaining notoriety in the industry overall. This evaluation attempts to weigh the validity of that complaint against other determinative, influential aspects of the entire punk phenomenon. Lastly, through historically tracking the remnants of cultural Chicanismo clear into L.A.’s first and succeeding punk waves, this work analyzes the art of protest, and the protest in art as applied to that city’s diverse punk aesthetics.