Belfast punk and the Troubles : an oral history

This book is an oral history of the punk scene in Belfast between 1977 and 1986. Interrogating the idea that punk was a non-sectarian subculture, it argues that the accounts of my interviewees suggest a more nuanced and complex relationship between the punk scene and Northern Irish society. Drawing on post-positivist oral history, the work of the Popular Memory Group and the cultural materialism of Raymond Williams, it considers how people’s memories of the punk scene have been shaped in the years since its zenith in the city and how they were shaped in the moment of the interview. Thinking of punk as a structure of feeling that is present in the oral history interview, the book suggests, is a way to draw out its relationship to structures of class, gender and sectarianism in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, and its continuing affective and political legacies in the present.

Belfast punk and the Troubles is an oral history of thepunk scene in Belfast from the mid-1970s to the mid-80s. The bookexplores what it was like to be a punk in a city shaped by theviolence of the Troubles, and how this differed from being a punkelsewhere. It also asks what it means to have been a punk- how punk unravels as a thread throughout the lives of the peopleinterviewed, and what that unravelling means in the context ofpost-peace-process Northern Ireland. In doing so, it suggests acritical understanding of sectarianism, subjectivity and memorypolitics in the North, and argues for the importance of placingpunk within the segregated structures of everyday life described bythe interviewees. Adopting an innovative oral history approachdrawing on the work of Luisa Passerini and Alessandro Portelli, thebook analyses a small number of oral history interviews withparticipants in granular detail. Outlining the historical contextand the cultural memory of punk, the central chapters each delveinto one or two interviews to draw out the affective, imaginativeand political ways in which punks and former punks evoke theirmemories of taking part in the scene. Through this method, itanalyses the punk scene as a structure of feeling shaped throughthe experience of growing up in wartime Belfast. Belfast punkand the Troubles is an intervention in Northern Irishhistoriography stressing the importance of history from below, andwill be compelling reading for historians of Ireland and of punk,as well as those interested in innovative approaches to oralhistory.

Belfast punk and the Troubles is an oral history of the punk scene in Belfast from the mid-1970s to the mid-80s. The book explores what it was like to be a punk in a city shaped by the violence of the Troubles, and how this differed from being a punk elsewhere. It also asks what it means to have been a punk – how punk unravels as a thread throughout the lives of the people interviewed, and what that unravelling means in the context of post-peace-process Northern Ireland. In doing so, it suggests a critical understanding of sectarianism, subjectivity and memory politics in the North, and argues for the importance of placing punk within the segregated structures of everyday life described by the interviewees.Adopting an innovative oral history approach drawing on the work of Luisa Passerini and Alessandro Portelli, the book analyses a small number of oral history interviews with participants in granular detail. Outlining the historical context and the cultural memory of punk, the central chapters each delve into one or two interviews to draw out the affective, imaginative and political ways in which punks and former punks evoke their memories of taking part in the scene. Through this method, it analyses the punk scene as a structure of feeling shaped through the experience of growing up in wartime Belfast.Belfast punk and the Troubles is an intervention in Northern Irish historiography stressing the importance of history from below, and will be compelling reading for historians of Ireland and of punk, as well as those interested in innovative approaches to oral history. "Belfast punk and the Troubles is an oral history of the punk scene in Belfast from the mid-1970s to the mid-80s. The book explores what it was like to be a punk in a city shaped by the violence of the Troubles, and how this differed from being a punk elsewhere. It also asks what it means to have been a punk - how punk unravels as a thread throughout the lives of the people interviewed, and what that unravelling means in the context of post-peace-process Northern Ireland. In doing so, it suggests a critical understanding of sectarianism, subjectivity and memory politics in the North, and argues for the importance of placing punk within the segregated structures of everyday life described by the interviewees. Adopting an innovative oral history approach drawing on the work of Luisa Passerini and Alessandro Portelli, the book analyses a small number of oral history interviews with participants in granular detail. Outlining the historical context and the cultural memory of punk, the central chapters each delve into one or two interviews to draw out the affective, imaginative and political ways in which punks and former punks evoke their memories of taking part in the scene. Through this method, it analyses the punk scene as a structure of feeling shaped through the experience of growing up in wartime Belfast." -- Publisher's website Front matter Preface Dedication Contents Acknowledgements Note on transcription and notation Introduction Alternative Ulster? Sectarianism, segregation and the punk scene The Belfast punk scene in cultural memory Epiphany, transgression and movement Making affective and political spaces Gender, respectability and emigration Collecting, storytelling and memory Conclusion Appendix: Bands Select bibliography Index This book is an oral history of punk in Belfast from the mid-70s to the mid-80s. It reads a small number of interviews in close detail to place them in the context of the Troubles and to draw out the imaginative ways that interviewees evoke the experience of growing up in Northern Ireland and punk’s intervention in that complex conjuncture.