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Searching for a Younger Self: Punk Rock and Ageing Masculinities in Novel A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

In social theory there is an evident constant of understanding of musical subculture primarily through the lens of youth and expression of youthful rebellion against the dominant values and parental culture. Almost four decades since the appearance of punk as a very important musical and social phenomenon it is necessary to incorporate the analysis of the topic of aging and old age (Bennet, 2015 ; Jennings, 2015). The idea of the American sociologist L. A. Coser (1972) that literature matters "for an understanding of society", socio- cultural facts and phenomena, is convincingly confirmed by Jennifer Egan's novel A Visit From the Goon Squad (2010). It is sociologically, philosophically and from the positions of cultural gerontology an extremely relevant and inspiring novel. What has happened to the subversive punk rebellion in recent corporate world of music? How have life circumstances changed youthful plans and ideals of a group of punks who lived their own personal punk revolution uncompromisingly in the early 1980s? The contrasts of past and present, youth and aging, old and young generation suggest that time is the most important player (although hidden in background) – relentless, invisible, nameless, abstract and silent driving force. It is exactly this emphasized temporal perspective – with a touch of moderate pessimism which leaves the possibility of happier endings – that shows the permanence and unstoppability of changes not only in the lives of heroes and heroines, but also in ageist world of music industry. Aging as a process leaves multiple traces – physical, social, professional, in sphere of identity – on experience and (self) perception of the main characters. Fictional life trajectories and identity reconfigurations of Benny, Scotty, Lou, Bosco and Alex show the importance of the theme of the triptych body-gender-aging, which in the context of the music industry takes on a whole new dimension and meaning.

ageing, masculinities, punk rock, Jennifer Egan

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