Politics in Popular Song from the French Revolution to Punk

Overview

This module will look at how music and song have functioned as vehicles for promoting political ideas or as reflectors of cultural philosophies or developments. Themes include: The expression of democracy in the Enlightenment; “Utility songs” in 19th-century revolutionary movements; Berlin Cabaret communication techniques; Eisler’s political song theory; song in Opera of our Time and Epic Theatre; American Civil Rights protest song; politics of folk; the 1960s, youth and counter culture; postmodernism, gender-crossing and pop as artifice; late-1970s punk rock; protest pop in the Thatcher years; techno from Kraftwerk to the Love Parade; 1990s hedonism and rejection of ideology.

Learning Objectives

On successful completion of this module students will acquire:
• knowledge and understanding of musical and performance techniques used by popular song in the communication of ideas to an audience;
• knowledge and understanding of theories regarding the relationship between politics and music
• knowledge and understanding of the political and historical background to trends and developments in popular music.

Skills

On successful completion of this module, students
will have acquired the skills to investigate and understand issues to do with the relationship between politics and popular music;
will have increased their skills in reading secondary literature and applying knowledge of it in their research for the assigned work;
will have acquired skills in developing ideas, applying theoretical concepts, constructing arguments and showing the capacity to present them in appropriate ways.
Will have developed communication skills in a variety of oral, written and visual media.

Assessment

None