“Hardcore makes me sick” truth, youth and unity in Australian hardcore punk subculture

Abstract

Within various hardcore punk communities in Australia, subcultural members demonstrate strong cultural commitment, close bonds with other hardcore kids, extreme dedication to living the hardcore lifestyle and passion for their music and identity. In this thesis, hardcore punk is understood as a subculture, unified by the self-conscious practices of its members of contesting and negotiating its boundaries. Taking this living subculture as my object, and applying Bourdieuan critical reflexivity, this thesis elucidates the sensibility of hardcore through Geertzian thick description and insider accounts. Focusing on three themes around which hardcore discourse and lifestyle consolidate—unity, youth and truth—I examine the complexities and paradoxes of a subculture whose members glorify difference, yet yearn for a sense of unity; redefine what it means to be young; and make and remake hardcore truth based on constructions of sincerity, passion and commitment.