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Downes, Julia
(2014).
URL: http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781472410979
Abstract
In spring 2007, I was writing a chapter on riot grrrl histories for Riot Grrrl Revolution Girl Style Now, volunteering at Ladyfest Leeds and the DIY feminist collective Manifesta, and playing drums in the all-girl band, Fake Tan. At that time there was little information about riot grrrl, especially in the UK, and I made it my doctoral mission to find its protagonists and see if they would be willing to share their stories with me. Riot grrrl seemed like a moment from which I could make sense of what my friends and I were trying to create in the UK: a DIY queer feminist community of fanzines, music, art and culture. Discovering artefacts and experiences of riot grrrl across the UK was addictive. Simultaneously, making and researching contemporary DIY feminist culture enabled me to see the interconnections of the written word and music in riot grrrl and contemporary queer feminist culture. The written word, in many guises, as manifestos, lyrics, band names, fliers, posters, notebooks and fanzines, is an integral part of the musical moments of riot grrrl. Riot grrrl critiqued and used language in provocative ways to encourage viewers, readers and listeners to shift their subjectivity and take action. Music performances - fused with sound, affect, bodies, words - helped construct radical subjectivities and cultural acts. This connection between the written word and music in riot grrrl is the focus of this chapter, which addresses the following questions: What work did words do? What did music add to the written word? What decisions were made in the creation, circulation and performance of riot grrrl music and writing?
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
