Performing Punk

Arguing against the presumption that subcultural meaning constitutes a single set of meaning, Hannerz addresses how punks draw upon plural definitions of the mainstream and notions of subcultural authenticity. Drawing from an exceptionally rich fieldwork in Sweden and Indonesia, Hannerz demonstrates that how, where, and against what, punk style and identification are structured and lived comes down to how the mainstream is positioned. Outlining how different subcultural patterns of meanings are spatially and symbolically interrelated, Hannerz concludes that subcultural plurality constitutes a fundamental aspect of subcultural establishment, performance, and change, rather than a sign of deviations from a single subcultural authenticity.

Erik Hannerz is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Lund, University, Sweden. Hannerz' research interests include cultural sociology, subcultures, urban sociology, and ethnography. He is currently working on a project on graffiti writers' perception and use of space, and is a faculty fellow at the Center for Cultural Sociology, Yale University, USA.