Lu s

Fernandes &
Teresa
Vel asquez,
2014
PUNK CORPORALITY:
SELF-CONSTRUCTION
BASED ON ONES
LOOK
1. Studying the looks: The significance of Punk
appearance.
2. Methodology: The usage of semi-projective
excerpts.
3. Bodies: Instruments of self construction.
4. Punk: beyond trasgression and hedonism.
INDEX
The si gnificance of Punk appearance
1. STUDYING THE LOOKS
Since its begining, Punk has a strong, distinctive
image, expressed by its actors appearance (common
sense).
Our approach:
1st step: 40 brief interviews with individuals non
related to the Punk scene
STUDYING THE LOOKS
Data
collection
Theory
BRIEF INTERVIEWS
Aims:
1. To understand
common senses
view of the Punk
scene
2. To validate our
study subject
Aestethics were the
most mentioned
dimension in these
interviews, more
specifically Punk
visual/appearance.
Adjectives more
associated to Punk:
exuberant,
exotic, shocking
and others in the
same line (referring
to an anti-
establishment
lifestyle).
The usage of semi - projective excerpts.
2. METHODOLOGY:
Two main
sources
of data
collection
were
used:
1. Interviews with
individuals related to the
Punk scene (N=20);
2. Documental analysis
METHODOLOGIES
The interviews were mediated by the employment of
semi-projective excerpts
Semi-projective Excerpts Sentences describing Punk-related
characteristics that were transformed into cards and shown to
the participants during the interview, asking for their
comment.
Semi-projective excerpts are:
1. Sentences selected from Punk-related articles in music
magazines;
2. Sentences selected from interviews to Key-figures in the Punk
scene (i.e. Richard Hell).
INTERVIEWS
SEMI-PROJECTIVE EXCERPTS
Aim: To
facilitate
the
evocation of
a certain
subject
This technique has been useful in
previous studies (Lus Fernandes, 2003)
to interview socially excluded individuals.
Instead of sequencing the interview in a
question-answer logic, the speech is
constructed according to these visual
stimuli.
SEMI- PROJECTIVE EXCERPTS (CARDS 1 TO 5)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
4t h and 5t h
car ds:
Sentences
evoki ng
cor por al i t y
r el ated
aspect s.
SEMI -
PROJECTIVE
EXCERPTS
In order to complement the
information provided by our 20
interviews, we conducted a
documental analysis with
Portuguese music magazines
using KISMIFs online platform
82 articles were selected in four
Portuguese magazines (Msica
& Som, Musicalssimo, Ritual e
Rock emPortugal)
Criteria: the article should address
directly the Punk scene
DOCUMENTAL ANALYSIS
I nstruments of sel f construction.
3. BODIES:
Our data shows that bodi es can be used as a means of
sel f- construction
The result of thi s sel f - construction, i n thi s case, i s Punk
corporal ity.
Punk corporalitys functions can be:
A. Instrumental (for instance, attain juvenile identity through
the inclusion in a group different from other groups and
from adulthood).
B. Symbolic, or associated to the symbolic expression of
transgression.
C. Hedonic.
SELF-CONSTRUCTION
Concept developed by V tor Srgio Ferreira
The opposite of Incorporation: Excorporation refers to social
exhibition practices arising from the subjects personal choices and
actions (i.e. the investment that is made in ones body with
significance, objectives and effects more or less expected).
I n the i nterviews conducted for thi s study, excorporation was a
central di mension i n parti cipants speech.
EXCORPORATION
Beyond trasgression and hedonism.
4. PUNK:
Transgressi on and Hedoni sm do not appear as two di stinct,
i ndependent di mensions.
These fi ndi ngs rai sed some questi ons, such as:
Is Punk corporality derived from transgression or hedonism?
Was it born from resistance, or simply from the wearers pleasure?
Is Punk corporality motivated by political beliefs, or by sensuality?
SOME QUESTIONS REMAIN UNASWERED
Our data seem to indicate that these dimensions should remain
entangled: Transgression and Hedonism are not mutually exclusive
categories, but rather two dimensions that form a pattern that gives
Punk style a complexity that common sense is unable to capture.