Horizons of Punk: Punk-Rock Scholarship and its Methodologies

 A Collaboration Between Gustave Eiffel University (Laboratoire LISAA) and

Punk Scholars Network UK & South Korea

When: Friday 9th June 2023, 09:30 – 21:00 (Opening events: Thursday 8th June, 16:00–20:00)

Where: Gustave Eiffel University, France

Organized by Sangheon Lee, Grace Healy, and Guillaume Dupetit

Scientific committee: Russ Bestley, Kevin Dahan, Mike Dines, and Martin Laliberté

Keynote: Bernhard Steinbrecher, Musicologist (popular music aesthetics, practices, and discourses), Senior Scientist at the University of Innsbruck (Austria), and IASPM Membership Secretary

Special Interview: Hervé Zénouda, musician (active as a drummer in the first French punk scene 1976-1979), composer and producer in experimental music, researcher (maître de conférence) in digital communication at the University of Toulon (France) 

“The horizon is the range of vision that includes everything that can be seen from a particular vantage point […] A person who has no horizon is a man who does not see far enough and hence overvalues what is nearest to him. On the other hand, ‘to have a horizon’ means not being limited to what is nearby, but to being able to see beyond it.” (Gadamer, Truth and Method).

What are the horizons of punk-rock? What are the horizons of punk-rock scholarship? How are these horizons defined, and how do they operate in punk music, culture, and scholarship? As they evolve through time, history, and geography, what commonalities and contradictions emerge?

Punk-rock is an established area of research in (Western) subcultural studies and has historically been interpreted at the intersection between socio-political resistance and popular culture. In recent years, interdisciplinary work has led to examinations of punk through various lenses: the Global Punk series, for example, focusses on the development of contemporary punk ‘scenes’, reflecting on punk origins, aesthetics, legacy, identity, and circulation. Critical interdisciplinary approaches have emerged within punk scholarship, drawing on sociology, cultural studies, musicology, and philosophy to broaden the horizons of punk. Moreover, tensions between academic studies and personal histories have led to an increasing scholarly interest in documenting local scenes and local subcultural histories. Despite these developments many questions remain on the boundaries of punk: Has punk scholarship formed its own methodologies? Has it established its own field? What relation does it have (or should it have) with the boundaries of pop/rock musicology in general? In what disciplines, and to what extent, can we extend our perspectives on punk? What ‘new’ methodological approaches can be envisioned from interdisciplinary work, and what ‘old’ perspectives can be revisioned?

 Timetable

 Thursday 8th June 2023, 16:00 – 20:00

 Opening Events

Amphithéâtre F2, Bâtiment A. David-Néel, Université Gustave Eiffel

2 Allée du Promontoire, 93160 Noisy-le-Grand

16:00 – 16:20 Documentary Preview: Liv Wynter Presents How to Catch a Pig – A Film by Conrad Armstrong

16:20 – 16:30 Break

16:30 – 18:00 Film Screening: Faeryville by Tzang Merwyn Tong

18:00 – 18:15 Q&A and discussion

18:15 – 19:45 Special panel, “Punk and Pedagogy”

Zachary J. McDowell (University of Illinois at Chicago), “Horizons of (Edu)Punk: Reclaiming the “Open” in Open Education”

Mike Dines (Middlesex University), “The World Turned Upside Down: Punk Pedagogy,            Auto-Didacticism and Ripping Up the Rulebook in Krishnacore”

Tzang Merwyn Tong (Singapore Independent Scholar), “Zen-Mind Filmmaking: A Pedagogical Approach with roots in Punk”

Friday 9th June 2023, 09:30 – 21:00

Main Conference

Salle de conférence, Bibliothèque Georges Perec, Université Gustave Eiffel

1 Rue des Frères Lumière, 77420 Champs-sur-Marne

 09:30 – 10:00 Coffee / Opening speech

 10:00 – 11:00 Keynote: Bernhard Steinbrecher (University of Innsbruck), ““Punk rock can                               never be new again”. About the horizons of punk(-music) analysis”

 11:00 – 12:30 Panel 1: Trace & Lineage (20 min presentation for each + 30 min discussion)

Yorgos Paschos (University of York), “Exploring subcultural narratives in postmodern tourist enclaves: The case of York, UK”

Selin Yagci (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya), “Punk Scenes and the Urban Past: How to look for the traces of a punk scene in a city?”

Daniele Babusci (University of Rome), “The limits and potential of DIY practice in organizing great punk festivals, an ethnographic investigation.”

 12:30 – 13:30 Lunch (Salon d’honneur)

 13:30 – 14:15 Conversation with Hervé Zénouda: “From Punk to Electroacoustic and                                                                                                       Minimalism”

 14:15 – 15:15 Panel 2: Against the Rules (20 min presentation for each + 20 min discussion)

Ondřej Daniel (Metropolitan University Prague), “Methodologies of Czech Punk Scholarship: Politics Above All?”

Céline Murillo (Pléiade-Université Sorbonne Paris Nord), “Binding film-analysis and history to outline the feminist playground in No Wave Films”

 15:15 – 15:45 Coffee Break

 15:45 – 16:45 Panel 3: Approaches from the proto- and early punk rock

Grace Healy (University of Huddersfield), “The Individual and the Collective in 1970s British Punk-Rock: Towards a Philosophical-Subcultural Hybrid Approach”

Guillaume Dupetit (Université Gustave Eiffel), “Detroit in the late 1960s: crossing “black rock” and “proto punk””

 16:45 – 17:15 Closing Address

Evening Events

Cafétéria, Maison de l’étudiant, Université Gustave Eiffel

1 Rue des Frères Lumière, 77420 Champs-sur-Marne

17:30 – 18:10 Book Launch, Marie Arleth Skov (Danish art historian based in Berlin), Punk Art                      History: Artworks from the European No Future Generation (May 2023).

 18:10 – 18:45 Performance: Punk Poetry from Liv Wynter

 18.45 – 19.15 Exhibition: Artwork from Toby Evans-Jesra & The Snailman

 19.15 – 21:00 DJing + Buffet/Drinks