Transnational punk communities in Poland : from nihilism to nothing outside punk /

In this unique book, Marciniak (American studies, Univ. of Buffalo, SUNY) provides a detailed exploration of the punk subculture in Poland and the US. Based on her dissertation work, the book compares and contrasts communities of the subculture in Poland's Warsaw and Upper Silesia regions with their US counterparts in New York, Cleveland, and New Jersey. In the book's five chapters, she provides an ethnographic exploration of the oral history, subcultural practice, and socio-political environments of 1980s punk communities. Marciniak first explains the concepts of the DIY ethic, modernity, gentrification, and outsiderism as a foundation of how these communities arose. From these concepts, the author moves on to discuss influences and connections that Polish punk has to punk in Cleveland and New Jersey, considering political and nihilistic attitudes toward governmental ideologies. Of particular note is Marciniak's concise unfolding of punk histories and their connections to prominent bands, lyrics, and cultural practices. She includes exhaustive notes, a list of interviewees, and an appendix of questions used during her fieldwork. Overall, this volume offers musicologists, punk aficionados, and anthropology students an insightful look at punk subcultural practice through a global and historical lens. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --Joan Jocson-Singh, Columbia University