A howl of the estranged: post-punk and contemporary underground scenes in Bulgarian popular Music

Asya Draganova, Shane Blackman

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

    Abstract

    In the 1980s, post-punk underground scenes emerged as a distinctive phenomenon in Bulgarian popular music. This chapter focuses on their subcultural meanings, influences and longevity, using ethnographic and participatory research methods. Bulgaria is situated in south-eastern Europe on the Balkans, at a crossroads between perceived Eastern and Western cultural constructs. ‘Older’ generations involved with music cultures–as in the case of Bulgarian post-punk–allow the inheritance of values, meanings and practices. Post-punk scenes in Bulgaria emerged in the 1980s, during the communist regime. The genre developed as part of the subcultural music scenes associated with the holistic-rock spectrum subjected to censorship, restriction and even criminalization. Prohibition and censorship acted as creative impulses as rock genres grew to become the aesthetic and musical core of pre-1989 Bulgarian youth subcultures, including hippie, rocker, punk and post-punk. Bulgarian post-punk scenes’ contemporary subcultural value is contained in their artistic continuity and their flexibility in constructing critical alternatives to dominating paradigms.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publication DIY Cultures and Underground Music Scenes
    PublisherRoutledge
    Publication statusPublished (VoR) - 27 Nov 2018

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