MASARYK UNIVERSITY IN BRNO FACULTY OF EDUCATION BACHELOR THESIS Brno 2017 Radim JAKUBEC MASARYK UNIVERSITY IN BRNO FACULTY OF EDUCATION Department of English Language and Literature HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF PUNK SUBCULTURE IN THE USA AND THE UK Bachelor Thesis Radim JAKUBEC Supervisor: Mgr. Zdeněk Janík, M.A., Ph.D. Brno 2017 „Prohlašuji, že jsem bakalářskou práci vypracoval samostatně, s využitím pouze citovaných pramenů, dalších informací a zdrojů v souladu s Disciplinárním řádem pro studenty Pedagogické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity a se zákonem č. 121/2000 Sb., o právu autorském, o právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o změně některých zákonů (autorský zákon), ve znění pozdějších předpisů.“ V Brně dne ………………….. …………………………………………….. Radim Jakubec Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to Mgr. Zdeněk Janík, M.A., Ph.D. for allowing me to choose this topic and for his supervision. Abstract The aim of this Bachelor Thesis is to investigate and describe the history and development of punk subculture in the USA and the UK. The punk subculture has been in existence for about 40 years, yet not many books on the topic have been written. Using comparative, contrastive and empirical methods – together with description and analysis – the thesis focuses on the subculture from different points of view. The main emphasis is put on the USA and the UK punk scenes and the differences and similarities between them. Based on observation, experience and other empirical methods, the importance of real life in the history and development of punk subculture is stressed, too. The thesis is composed of the following chapters: Introduction, Subculture and punk, Main thoughts of punk, History of punk subculture, Movements related to punk, Punk style and fashion, Punk today and future visions, Survey and Conclusion. Not only books, but also many interviews, lyrics, magazines and articles were used in the process of writing. Taking into consideration all the materials and conclusions included and analysed in the thesis, the work attempts to answer the question whether punk is dead or not. Keywords anarchism, culture, hardcore, Nazism, neo-Nazism, Oi!, punk, punk subculture, reggae, riot grrrl, ska, skinheads, straight edge, street punk, subculture Contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 8 1. Subculture and punk ................................................................................................... 10 1.1 Culture and subculture ................................................................................................................ 10 1.2 Punk ............................................................................................................................................. 11 1.3 Punk subculture ........................................................................................................................... 13 2. Main thoughts of punk ................................................................................................ 16 3. History of punk subculture .......................................................................................... 19 3.1 The roots of punk subculture .................................................................................................. 19 3.2 The US punk subculture........................................................................................................... 20 3.3 The UK punk subculture .......................................................................................................... 23 3.4 Differences between the US and the UK punk subcultures .................................................... 28 3.5 The end and resurrection of punk subculture ......................................................................... 29 4. Movements related to punk ........................................................................................ 31 4.1 Skinheads ..................................................................................................................................... 31 4.1.1 Oi! ......................................................................................................................................... 32 4.1.2 Street punk ........................................................................................................................... 33 4.2 Hippies ......................................................................................................................................... 33 4.3 Nazism and neo-Nazis ................................................................................................................. 34 4.3.1 Nazi-punk .............................................................................................................................. 38 4.3.2 The white power skinheads .................................................................................................. 38 4.4 Anarchism .................................................................................................................................... 39 4.4.1 Punk-anarchism .................................................................................................................... 40 4.4.2 Anarcho punk ....................................................................................................................... 41 4.5 Ska and reggae ............................................................................................................................ 41 4.5.1 Ska punk ............................................................................................................................... 42 4.6 Hardcore punk ............................................................................................................................. 42 4.6.1 Straight edge ........................................................................................................................ 43 4.7 Feminism and women in punk .................................................................................................... 43 4.7.1 Riot girrrl ............................................................................................................................... 45 4.8 Popular punk ............................................................................................................................... 46 5. Punk style and fashion ................................................................................................ 47 6. Punk today and future visions ..................................................................................... 50 7. Survey......................................................................................................................... 52 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 55 List of references ............................................................................................................ 57 Appendix 1 – Survey (transcription) ................................................................................ 62 Introduction Punk is a highly abstract phenomenon and the subculture related to it has attracted attention since it came into existence. As such, punk has had a significant impact on many aspects of life of not only British and American society, but its influence can be found all over the world. This thesis aims to investigate and describe the history and development of the punk subculture in the USA and the UK. Since the meaning of the term punk has changed throughout time, the first chapter will be focused on defining the expressions essential for the thesis, i.e. culture, subculture, punk and punk subculture, with the goal to explain the meaning under which they will be used further in this work. The next part will focus on the main thoughts of punk in order to reveal the cornerstones upon which its ideology is built and to introduce the main attitudes of an ordinary punk follower. Chapter 3 will be centred on the history of punk and subcultures in both the USA and the UK. First, each of them separately and, consequently, they will be compared with one another so that the main differences, as well as similarities, could be found. The punk movement did not exist in a vacuum, and thus during its history it has been influenced, adopted and, to some extent, consumed by many other subcultures. The most important of them will be introduced in detail in Chapter 4. Next, style and fashion and punk today and future visions of the subculture will be examined. The two chapters aim to present the appearance of punk members and contemporary trends in the movement with respect to the future. The contribution of punk to the arts (graphic design and typography) will be stressed, too. 8 The last Chapter will be focused on the survey conducted among present and/or former followers of the punk subculture from various countries, as well as among followers of the subcultures related to it. The survey will be aimed at their attitudes towards the subcultures and ideas they share. The most remarkable outcomes will be discussed. 9 1. Subculture and punk 1.1 Culture and subculture The punk subculture has undergone a remarkable evolution since the 1970s. Thus, for the first approach, it is necessary to focus both on punk and subculture and examine their original meanings. Each of them separately, and then together, may provide a relatively