Exploring the activist trends of Punk as a Chronotope

More than a musical label, punk is an alternative lens for a lifestyle, a DIY aesthetic, and political position culminating in a unique culture. Together, these elements denote a resistance and activism against the mainstream and elite. In a similar vein to the US and the UK scenes, Canadian punk emerged and developed with a mix of influences connected to different styles, genres, people in time and space. This research reconsiders the ferocity, bands, and performances of Canadian Punk through the lens of Mikhail Bakhtin’s notion of the chronotope, which translates to time and space. For Bakhtin, the chronotope engages reality by shaping it through a presented interpretation of space and time through the creation of boundaries and difference. Through an examination of some of Canadian punk’s most notorious artists, albums and lyrics, interviews and performances, this research traces how their unique space (e.g., politicized places of conflict, vulnerable communities, geographic culture and difference, etc.) and time (e.g., controversial events, behaviours and activities in response to strife, uncertainty about the future, etc.) are constructed, while presenting the genre in a more complex light. As a chronotope, Canadian punk offers its audiences and academics a glimpse through a social activist lens that acts as a dialogic bridge between the artist’s mind and the reality of the world.