Thirteenth International Conference on The Arts in Society

Abstract

The object of this paper is to illustrate how using co-cultural theory can allow the academic community to better understand how musical communities create in a marginal setting. Based on standpoint theory we will concentrate on the actual physical and discursive articulations of the collective identity through the culture created by the marginal community members. We will mostly focus on the mechanisms developed by the community members that allow them to become a voice of the community as well as an individual in a collective. We are thusly trying to better illustrate how using co-cultural theory can allow the subject to position himself as an independent individual in a collective setting all the while by negotiating how and why the power of the collective allows him to better articulate his identity in a social location. This theoretical presentation will be based on a comprehensive literature containing scientific papers, fanzine or ‘zines created by the community as well as documentary work. Through these mediums, we will identify while using discourse analyses, how punks (the marginal community chosen in this presentation) articulate their collective identity in a cultural setting, i.e. how punks represent and articulate their identity through language and music.