Punk identities in post-apartheid South Africa

Abstract

In this paper, punk is explored as an “identity ‘, in order to account for individual experiences within the collective identity and to locate this identity within a larger social context. It is found that punk identities are informed by a range of sub-categories and cross-cutting identities, resulting in a diverse array of individual interpretations. Yet despite these differences, there are several spaces and ‘shared experiences’ that facilitate the realisation of a punk collective identity in post-apartheid South Africa. This ‘punk family’ provides a sense of belonging to a white South African minority who claim a strong South African identity despite their potential marginalisation in the post-apartheid context. Whilst in outlook more optimistic than punk scenes of the past, this is the result of both a global shift to new school punk and their location in the post-apartheid South African context. Whereas few punks identified with an overt political agenda, some social critique lingers in layers of lyrics and ridicule. This paper explores a range of post-apartheid punk identities from the radical to the purely hedonistic.