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Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

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Subcultural Discourse: An Analysis of Identity in the Punk Community

Area: 
Presenter: 
Ellen Bernhard (Ursinus College)
Presentation type: 
Paper
Abstract: 

According to James Paul Gee (1999) a discourse analysis “is based on the details of speech…or writing that are arguably deemed relevant in the context and that are relevant to the arguments the analysis is attempting to make” (p. 117). A discourse analysis allows the researcher to analyze an interview and target specific instances of important or reoccurring themes across the discourse that will achieve the goals of the larger study, and seek to satisfy the research questions that have been established. In using discourse analysis, it will be possible to recognize “patterns or regularities” in the discourse provided by the participants, and to understand “discourse as a socially and culturally organized way of speaking in which certain functions are enacted” (Baxter & Babbie, 2003, p. 355). The goal of this presentation will be to present the findings from a series of in-depth interviews with the punk community by using discourse analysis and applying Gee’s tasks, which help the researcher “construct what are…the relevant parts of the context in which something was said or written” (p. 102). Two separate studies will be conducted, and these will ultimately become chapters in my dissertation. Through a series of five to seven in-depth, open-ended interviews, Study 1 will examine those who produce content related to punk rock. Similarly, Study 2 will also consist of a series of five to seven in-depth interviews with members of the punk community who consider themselves fans within the current punk scene. The purpose of this research is to understand the relationship between the mainstreaming of punk and the people within today’s punk community. The goal is to learn how the mainstreaming of punk rock affects punk’s traditionally antiauthoritarian ethos, punk identity of those who participate, and the DIY practices that are used.

Scheduled on: 
Thursday, November 5, 4:45 pm to 6:00 pm

About the presenter

Ellen Bernhard

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Session information

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