Musicology Commons^™

The Semiotics Of Tension In American Punk Rock, Christian Smith

Honor Scholar Theses

Punk rock is a musical subculture with numerous driving forces behind it. The countercultural values of the movement in addition to the demographics of its membership put it at odds against the larger parent culture of the United States. The tension that is created between the subculture and parent culture is evident through the symbolic language and imagery produced in Punk fanzines. Fanzines give a bottom-up view of the Punk rock movement in a unique way which allows for the observation of the created semiotic relationship and how it affects the daily lives of Punks living in the communities of …