Search

Focusing on the theme of American exceptionalism, this essay explores the interplay between center and margin in punk rock produced in California in the late 1970s and early 1980s. After brief accounts of both punk and exceptionalism, the article surveys instances of exceptionalist rhetoric in lyrics by punk bands from Los Angeles and San Francisco and argues that, although some punks uncritically reproduced the pernicious ideology of exceptionalism, others drew on it as a means of criticizing the nation's failings. The study concludes by considering the different ways of understanding the relationships between margin and center in California punk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]