Dadaism, Futurism, And The Punk Subculture

The final movement which radically challenged tradition and authority, among many other things, was the Punk movement. Emerging in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia in the mid-1970s, the Punk subculture centers on punk rock music, “which was a reaction to the popular music in the 1970s that had overtaken the general public” (Savage, 2018). Characterized by their anti-establishment views and the promotion of individual freedom, Punk became a symbol of teen rebellion and alienation (Savage, 2018). Punk in the United Kingdom was popularized in British society largely due to its mass media shock tactics and the proliferation of independent record labels, becoming well known for its “pro working-class, egalitarianism, humanitarianism, anti-nationalism, anti-authoritarianism, anti-corporatism, anti-war, anti-racism,
However, while these three movements are united in their efforts to reject the past as a precondition to radically reinvent art, they differ in many ways. Well known for its anti-art movement which rejects any social, political, and cultural values of capitalists societies, Dadaism’s disapproval of violence, war, and nationalism contrasts greatly with Futurism support of those same ideologies. While Dada chooses to mock the established values and traditions of art and literature, Futurism’s anti-female and anti-humanism ideals instead reject groups of people, not just art. Futurism’s rejection of women and humanism also conflicts with Punk’s “pro working-class, egalitarianism, humanitarianism, anti-nationalism, anti-authoritarianism, anti-corporatism, anti-war, anti-racism, anti-sexism, free-thought and non-conformity” ideologies (). Dada and Punk however, have more in common with each other than with Futurism as they both hold anti-establishment views and promote individual freedom and expression. Although the two movements use different tactics in order to shock mass media, Dada and Punk’s rejection of past traditions both adopt an anti-establishment, anti-status quo, anti-institutional, and anti-bourgeois style in their