From ‘commercial sell out’ to community-based event: The paradoxes of Polish punk rock music festivals | Intellect Skip to content
1981
Volume 11, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 2044-1983
  • E-ISSN: 2044-3706

Abstract

This article is based on both ethnographic field research and the author’s many years of experience as a punk fan. The researcher-participant analyses the 40-year history of two Polish music festivals in order to trace the complex trajectory and changing meaning of the punk subculture in Poland. The analysis is centred on two significant events: the Jarocin Rock Festival and the Rock on the Swamp Festival. The author suggests that the countercultural past of punk, rooted in the 1980s, is now being sentimentalized and commercialized. It is treated by conservative local authorities as an insignificant monument of the past. On the other hand, punk has become an agent of important and surprising social changes. A small festival in a provincial town is inclusive for its inhabitants, integrating two very different communities. Thanks to this, the notion of ‘selling out’ is contrasted in the form of a punk-inspired, community-based event.

Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • National Center for Sciences, for the project ‘Festivalization of Values: An Axionormative Dimensions of Contemporary Music Festivals in Poland’ (Award 430491)
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/punk_00102_1
2022-02-01
2024-05-03
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Adamski, Tomasz. ( 2008;), ‘ Idzie wojna’ (‘War is coming’). , Na wszystkich frontach świata, CD, Bytom:: Manufaktura Legenda;.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Autissier, Anne-Marie. ( 2008), Festivals in Europe: From Zagreb to Edinburgh, Paris-Touluse:: Les Editions de l’Attribut;.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Bakhtin, Mikhail. ( 1968), Rabelais and His World, Bloomington, IN:: Indiana University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Bakhtin, Mikhail. ( 1984), Problems of Dostoevsky's Poetics, Manchester:: Manchester University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Bauman, Zygmunt. ( 2017), Retrotopia, Cambridge:: Polity Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Bonnett, Alastair. ( 2010), Left in the Past: Radicalism and the Politics of Nostalgia, New York and London:: Bloomsbury;.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Bowman, Edith. ( 2015), Edith Bowman’s Great British Music Festivals, London:: Bonnier Publishing;.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Buchowski, Michał. ( 2017), Czyściec: Antropologia neoliberalnego postsocjalizmu, Poznań:: Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM;.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Caillois, Roger. ( 2001), Man, Play and Games (trans. M. Barash), Urbana, IL and Chicago:: University of Illinois Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Charles, Nickie,, Davies, Charlotte A., and Harris, Chris. ( 2008), Families in Transition: Social Change, Family Formation and Kin Relationships, Bristol:: Policy Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Cichoński, Marcin. ( 2019;), ‘ Rusza Jarocin, ale już nikt nie mówi o nim “nasz festiwal”: Bilety za skrzynkę piwa. ’, dziennik.pl, 12 July, https://muzyka.dziennik.pl/koncerty/artykuly/602448,jarocin-kultowy-festiwal-upadek-bilety-kontrowersje-felieton.html. Accessed 13 March 2021.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Dragicevic-Sesic, Milena, and Dragojevic, Sanjin. ( 2004), Intercultural Mediation in the Balkans, Sarajevo:: OKO;.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Durkheim, Emile. ( 1986), The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, Beverly Hills, CA:: Sage Publications;.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Eliade, Mircea. ( 1959), The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion, New York:: Harcourt, Brace & Company;.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Gardner, Robert Owen. ( 2020), The Portable Community: Place and Displacement in Bluegrass Festival Life, London and New York:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Getz, David. ( 2005), Event Management and Event Tourism, New York:: Wiley;.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Getz, David. ( 2010;), ‘ The nature and the scope of festival studies. ’, International Journal of Event Management Research, 5:1, pp. 147.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Grabowski, Krzysztof. ( 1983), Spytaj milicjanta (‘Ask the policeman’), 7” EP, Warszawa:: Tonpress;.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Gumola, Paweł. ( 1989;), ‘ Powietrza’ (‘Need some air’). , Moskwa, vinyl album, Pionki:: Pronit;.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Holden, John. ( 2015), The Ecology of Culture, London:: AHRC;.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Idzikowska-Czubaj, Anna. ( 2020;), ‘ Rock and politics in the People’s Republic of Poland. ’, in P. Galuszka. (ed.), Made in Poland: Studies in Popular Music, New York and London:: Routledge;, pp. 3749.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Krupski, Michał. ( 2019;), ‘ Jarocinie, dokąd zmierzasz?. ’, Fresh Mag, 12 May, http://freshmag.pl/magazyn/czytelnia/jarocinie-dokad-zmierzasz-2. Accessed 19 March 2021.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Kuligowski, Waldemar. ( 2015;), ‘ Sentymentalizacja, topofilia i pokoleniowość: Jarocin re-study. ’, Czas Kultury, 4, pp. 3242.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Kuligowski, Waldemar. ( 2017;), ‘ Collective vertigo: Roger Caillois “theorie de la fete” toward contemporary music festivals in Poland and Hungary. ’, Acta Ethnographica Hungarica: An International Journal of Ethnography, 62:2, pp. 3552.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Kuligowski, Waldemar. ( 2019;), ‘ “They sold the festival out!”: Axionormativity as a future of festivals. ’, in E. Mazierska,, L. Gillon, and T. Rigg. (eds), Popular Music in the Post-Digital Age: Politics, Economy, Culture and Technology, London and New York:: Bloomsbury Academic;, pp. 93110.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Landis, Paul H.. ( 1941), After Three Years: A Restudy of the Social and Economic Adjustment of a Group of Drought Migrants, Washington, DC:: Pullman;.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Lassiter, Luke E.,, Goodall, Hurley,, Campbell, Elizabeth, and Johnson, Michelle N.. ( 2004), The Other Side of Middletown: Exploring Muncie’s African American Community, Walnut Creek, CA:: Altamira Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Lesiakowski, Krzysztof,, Perzyna, Paweł, and Toborek, Tomasz. ( 2004), Jarocin w obiektywie bezpieki, Warszawa:: Instytut Pamięci Narodowej;.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Lynd, Robert S., and Lynd, Helen M.. ( 1929), Middletown: A Study in Contemporary American Culture, New York:: Harcourt, Brace & Company;.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Lynd, Robert S., and Lynd, Helen M.. ( 1937), Middletown in Transition: A Study in Cultural Conflicts, New York:: Harcourt, Brace & Company;.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Malinowski, Brosniław. ( 1923;), ‘ The problem of meaning in primitive society. ’, in C. K. Ogden. (ed.), The Meaning of Meaning: A Study of the Influence of Language upon Thought and of the Science of Symbolism, London:: Routledge and Kegan Paul;, pp. 296336.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Marciniak, Marta. ( 2020;), ‘ Deserters with a chance of success: Polish punks before and after 1989. ’, in P. Galuszka. (ed.), Made in Poland: Studies in Popular Music, New York and London:: Routledge;, pp. 10718.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Mauss, Marcel. ( 2004), Seasonal Variations of the Eskimo: A Study in Social Morphology, London and New York:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Nawrocki, Bartek. ( 2019;), ‘ Bilet na Jarocin Festiwal 2019 gratis do piwa? Nie tylko …. ’, Zwielkopolski24, 12 July, https://www.zwielkopolski24.pl/wiadomosci/bilet-na-jarocin-festiwal-2019-gratis-do-piwa-nie-tylko/uIrqIf9L6xv03ZKduou9. Accessed 19 March 2021.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Nocne Szczury ( 2014;), ‘ Zostawcie mnie’ (‘Leave me alone’). , 1980, CD, Dębica:: Pasażer;.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Patton, Raymond A.. ( 2018), Punk Crisis: The Global Punk Rock Revolution, New York:: Oxford University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Pęczak, Mirosław. ( 2010;), ‘ 30 lat rocka w Jarocinie: Młódź już nie młóci. ’, Polityka, 26:2765, 17 July, p. 56.
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Pęczak, Mirosław. ( 2013), Subkultury w PRL: Opór, kreacja, imitacja, Warszawa:: Narodowe Centrum Kultury;.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Piotrowski, Grzegorz. ( 2016;), ‘ Punk against communism: The Jarocin Rock Festival and Revolting Youth in 1980s Poland. ’, in K. Andresen, and B. van der Steen. (eds), A European Youth Revolt: European Perspectives on Youth Protest and Social Movements in the 1980s, Basingstoke:: Palgrave Macmillan;, pp. 20316.
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Poprawski, Marcin,, Jakubowska, Alicja,, Firych, Piotr,, Mękarski, Michał,, Brodniewicz Magdalena,, Landsberg, Piotr,, Kieliszewski, Przemysław,, Kędzierska, Roksana,, Kłosiewicz, Ewa,, Michalczuk, Joanna,, Zielińska, Klaudia,, Gorgoń, Justyna,, Węglarska, Justyna, and Wróblewski, Filip. (eds) ( 2015), Oddziaływanie festiwali na polskie miasta: Studium kompetencji kadr sektora kultury oraz synergii międzysektorowej, Poznań:: Związek Miast Polskich;, http://rok.amu.edu.pl/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Oddzia%C5%82ywanie-Festiwali-na-Polskie-Miasta-Raport-z-bada%C5%84-2014-15-ZMP-ROK-v2.2.pdf. Accessed 12 February 2021.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Pratt, Mary L.. ( 1992), Imperial Eyes: Travel Writing and Transculturation, London:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Schechner, Richard. ( 1988), Performance Theory, London:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Sztompka, Piotr. ( 1993;), ‘ Dilemmas of the great transition. ’, Sisyphus: Social Studies, 2:8, pp. 928.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Sztompka, Piotr. ( 1996;), ‘ Looking back: The year of 1989 as a cultural and civilizational break. ’, Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 29:2, pp. 11529.
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Tsangaris, Michael. ( 2019;), ‘ Social networks, festivals and the sense of belonging: Framing rebellion festivals in Blackpool. ’, Punk & Post-Punk, 8:1, pp. 5572.
    [Google Scholar]
  46. Turner, Victor. ( 1969), The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure, Chicago:: Aldine Publishing Co;.
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Weiner, Nathaniel. ( 2018;), ‘ “Put on your boots and Harrington!”: The ordinariness of 1970’s UK punk dress. ’, Punk & Post-Punk, 7:2, pp. 181202.
    [Google Scholar]
  48. Wertenstein-Żuławski, Jerzy, and Pęczak, Mirosław. (eds) ( 1991), Spontaniczna kultura młodzieżowa: Wybrane zjawiska, Wrocław:: Wydawnictwo ‘Wiedza o Kulturze’;.
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Willmott, Peter, and Young, Michael D.. ( 1960), Family and Class in a London Suburb, London:: Routledge and K. Paul;.
    [Google Scholar]
  50. Witkowski, Grzegorz K.. ( 2011), Grunt to bunt, vol. I, Czerwonak:: In Rock Music Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  51. Witkowski, Grzegorz K.. ( 2012), Grunt to bunt, vol. I, Czerwonak:: In Rock Music Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  52. Witkowski, Grzegorz K.. ( 2013), Grunt to bunt, vol. III, Czerwonak:: In Rock Music Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  53. Wojciechowski, Konrad,, Makowski, Mirosław R., and Witkowski, Grzegorz K.. ( 2011), Pokolenie J8 Jarocin 80-89, Poznań:: In Rock Music Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  54. Żędzian, Jacek. ( 2020;), e-mail interview with the author. , 2 June.
  55. Żmijewska, Monika. ( 2020;), ‘ Koronawirus: Rock na Bagnie odwołany, ale zebrano 100 tys: zł na rzecz Biebrzańskiego Parku Narodowego. ’, wyborcza.pl, 28 April, https://bialystok.wyborcza.pl/bialystok/7,35241,25906237,koronawirus-rock-na-bagnie-odwolany-ale-zebrano-100-tys-zl.html. Accessed 17 March 2021.
    [Google Scholar]
  56. Kuligowski, Waldemar. ( 2022;), ‘ From “commercial sell out” to communitybased event: The paradoxes of Polish punk rock music festivals. ’, Punk & Post-Punk, 11:1, pp. 5170, https://doi.org/10.1386/punk_00102_1
    [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/punk_00102_1
Loading
/content/journals/10.1386/punk_00102_1
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error