Is Punk Over in Lithuania? The Musical Identity of Late Socialism Generations in Poland, Lithuania, and the Czech Republic as Represented in Literature

Abstract

The point of departure for this reflection is Tim Endsor’s thesis on the end of nations and the cultural paradigm shift accompanying the advance of globalization at the turn of the twenty-first century. The tensions surrounding national identities, built up throughout the nineteenth century and lasting until the mid-twentieth century, appear to be giving way to the global circulation of culture—particularly among younger generations, labeled Generation X, followed by the Millennials and today’s Generation Z. In the countries formerly under Soviet influence, the roots of these transformations are to be sought in music and its role in shaping youth in the 1970s and 1980s. Emerging from countercultural slogans, alternative music became the voice of a generation that began to construct its identity not in reference to literature, but rather through musical experience. Consequently, one can observe a diminishing role of stereotypes shaped by literary representations, in favor of a shared, community-based musical experience. The article exemplifies this thesis through an analysis of Jelgava ‘94 by Jānis Joņevs, The End of Punk in Helsinki by Jaroslav Rudiš, as well as Polish identity narratives by Andrzej Stasiuk, Krzysztof Varga, and Jarosław Klejnocki.