"Save my soul from the poisons of this world": straight edge punk and religious re-enchantment

Stewart, F. (2021) "Save my soul from the poisons of this world": straight edge punk and religious re-enchantment. In: Exploring the Spiritual in Popular Music. Bloomsbury studies in religion and popular music . Bloomsbury, London, pp. 175-192. ISBN 9781350086920

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Abstract

Religion and punk (of any iteration) are not often words found in sympatico and yet, although implicit, religion is a key component in identity construction and performance of Straight Edge punk identity. It is a form of religiosity that is predicated upon notions of individuality and authenticity rather than meta-narratives and future gain. It is deeply enmeshed within popular culture, analogous with the rise of the ordinary within religion. (Taylor 2007: 539 - 556) As such, Straight Edge culture can embody a wider social approach to religion and spirituality that has taken root within modern western societies for a myriad of reasons, some of which will be explored in this chapter. The focus of this chapter will be on demonstrating that Straight Edge punks have, through their musical subculture, found a way to re-enchant their world that enables them to articulate notions of the divine, the ineffable, the sublime and salvation within both themselves and their Straight Edge scene, in a way that marks them as different from other, more well-known iterations of punk. This chapter will argue that religion in Straight Edge is more than the appearance of a religious metaphor within the lingua franca or a sublimation of worship into fandom as is often argued about appearances of religion within aspects of popular culture. (Doss, 1999; Forbes & Mahan, 2017, p9) Rather, this chapter will demonstrate that this Straight Edge engagement with religion is part of a wider approach that necessitates or desires a relocation and re-articulation of religion as a concept and in praxis.

Item Type: Book Section
Keywords: Straight Edge Punk, Religious Re-enchantment, Implicit Religion, Music
Divisions: School of Humanities
Depositing User: Francis Stewart
Date Deposited: 19 Feb 2019 16:24
Last Modified: 26 Aug 2021 09:02
URI: https://bgro.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/459

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