This was my senior thesis. I work on it roughly from Summer 1998 to
Spring 2000. It's published somewhere in the library of my university,
Texas A&M. I started out doing a project comparing punk/hardcore zines
from Austin, TX and Portland, OR. I finished my research pretty early on
and I got kind of distracted and focused a lot more the way the paper was
written then anything I had collected. I hear that happens to a lot of
people who have too much time on their hands. Anyway, check it out and let
me know what you think. I still haven't come up with my next project so if
you have any ideas...
Progress
Report
Fellow: Stephanie Stanbro
Advisor: Mary
Bucholtz, English Dept.
Title: Language
and Style: Print Representation of Punk/Hardcore Culture
Brief Overview:
This excerpt from my submitted abstract should do
well to provide an “overview”
A “zine” is considered an abbreviated form of
magazine, though the definition of zine also extends to include most
independently published texts. My study examines zines
from the punk/hardcore genre. Punk/Hardcore is a youth subculture that
like many others creates zines. The purpose of this study is to determine the
relationship between underground media, zines, and the subcultures that use
them. As a participant observer, I will take an ethnographic approach to
analyzing the textual materials of punk/hardcore culture.
Specifically, I have decided to examine zines from two centers of
punk/hardcore activity in the U.S.; Austin, Texas and Portland, Oregon.
Progress to Date:
As planned, I spent the summer working on gathering
data. I traveled to Austin, Texas
and Portland ,Oregon in order to compare punk culture. I took notes and gathered data in the form of zines and
audio samples from each area that I will later use in the composite project.
At the end of my gathering phase I hold 120 zines under 76 titles.
For many zines I have multiple copies providing insight into the
development of language and style within each zine.
Originally I had planned to use linguistic analysis in
coding each zine for specific stylistic and textual qualities in order to
trace similarities within the zines. I
thought that this would help me come to a conclusion about what it means to be
a member of and producer of punk/hardcore subculture.
However, as I immersed myself in participant observation of many
different individuals all involved in entirely separate activities each under
the guise of “punk/hardcore,” I realized that the commonality that unified
punk/hardcore as a subculture movement was related to zines and evident in
zines but was not however the result of zines.
Early on in my research I had to make a decision about
what was and was not a punk hardcore zine.
This distinction was difficult not only because I did not feel
qualified to state objectively on what texts held punk/hardcore values but
what these values might even be. In
the end I accepted all zines I came across that shared one simple element, the
production of identity. In this
way I was able to gather a large amount of zines and talk to a broad range of
individuals who identified themselves with punk/hardcore’s implied values. I will talk more about these values in my final paper but at
this point it is important in discussing why in the end I have chosen not to
code the texts for linguistic and stylistic variables.
I spent this semester looking
mainly at developing a theoretical background in order to better contextualize
my work. I became interested in
post-structuralist and deconstructionist philosophy’s affect on ethnography.
Writing this paper has become easier and more difficult.
After reaching a point in my data collection that I felt comfortable
managing, I branched out intellectually trying to expand the meanings of the
zines and experiences I collected. Reading
about experimental ethnographic writing techniques, such as the use of
autobiography and dialectic relationships between the researcher and the
researched, I turned back to my project with new ideas for my final paper.
Timetable for Completion:
Over the break I plan to give myself an extensive reading list in order
to close up my textual research for the project.
In the spring semester I begin a tight schedule of writing and
revising, planning on early completion of the project for submission into at
least one convention panel. The
spring semester will be dedicated to writing the final thesis as expected, but
because of the new emphasis on experimental techniques I gained this semester
the material I produce will be less defined than formal essay drafts.
The months of January and February are dedicated to the production of
text that will be crafted into the final thesis during March and involved in
ongoing revision until April. The
final presentation of the senior thesis in April of 2000 will mark the
completion of this project, but not the end of my ongoing interest in youth
subculture and ethnographic textual analysis.
the music, i would think is the most important part of the whole movement.
again i don't know much about it but i picked a few zines (heartattack,
cuddlecore). This really nice guy i went to high school with is helping
and to him i owe this whole project. It's really in the super beginning stages now. *i started last week* so i haven't really organized my thoughts.
One day i will and when i do you'll be the first to know.