The Soundtrack of Revolution Memory, Affect, and the Power of Protest Songs

All cultural representations in the form of songs, pictures, literature, theater, film, television shows, and other media are deeply emotional and ideological, often difficult to define or analyze. Emotions are embedded as a cultural and social soundtrack of memories and minds, whether we like it or...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Tiina Rosenberg
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Linköping University Electronic Press 2013-06-01
Series:Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.3384/cu.2000.1525.135175
_version_ 1818172140838453248
author Tiina Rosenberg
author_facet Tiina Rosenberg
author_sort Tiina Rosenberg
collection DOAJ
description All cultural representations in the form of songs, pictures, literature, theater, film, television shows, and other media are deeply emotional and ideological, often difficult to define or analyze. Emotions are embedded as a cultural and social soundtrack of memories and minds, whether we like it or not. Feminist scholarship has emphasized over the past decade that affects and emotions are a foundation of human interaction. The cognitive understanding of the world has been replaced by a critical analysis in which questions about emotions and how we relate to the world as human beings is central (Ahmed 2004: 5-12).It is in this memory-related instance that this article discusses the unexpected reappearance of a long forgotten song, Hasta siempre, as a part of my personal musical memory. It is a personal reflection on the complex interaction between memory, affect and the genre of protest songs as experiences in life and music. What does it mean when a melody intrudes in the middle of unrelated thoughts, when one’s mind is occupied with rational and purposive considerations? These memories are no coincidences, I argue, they are our forgotten selves singing to us.
first_indexed 2024-12-11T19:07:53Z
format Article
id doaj.art-9927c5760c8f4585aa3dc3650a96321f
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2000-1525
language English
last_indexed 2024-12-11T19:07:53Z
publishDate 2013-06-01
publisher Linköping University Electronic Press
record_format Article
series Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research
spelling doaj.art-9927c5760c8f4585aa3dc3650a96321f2022-12-22T00:53:51ZengLinköping University Electronic PressCulture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research2000-15252013-06-01517518810.3384/cu.2000.1525.135175The Soundtrack of Revolution Memory, Affect, and the Power of Protest SongsTiina RosenbergAll cultural representations in the form of songs, pictures, literature, theater, film, television shows, and other media are deeply emotional and ideological, often difficult to define or analyze. Emotions are embedded as a cultural and social soundtrack of memories and minds, whether we like it or not. Feminist scholarship has emphasized over the past decade that affects and emotions are a foundation of human interaction. The cognitive understanding of the world has been replaced by a critical analysis in which questions about emotions and how we relate to the world as human beings is central (Ahmed 2004: 5-12).It is in this memory-related instance that this article discusses the unexpected reappearance of a long forgotten song, Hasta siempre, as a part of my personal musical memory. It is a personal reflection on the complex interaction between memory, affect and the genre of protest songs as experiences in life and music. What does it mean when a melody intrudes in the middle of unrelated thoughts, when one’s mind is occupied with rational and purposive considerations? These memories are no coincidences, I argue, they are our forgotten selves singing to us.http://dx.doi.org/10.3384/cu.2000.1525.135175Musicmemoryaffectemotionfeminismgenderkitschsolidarity
spellingShingle Tiina Rosenberg
The Soundtrack of Revolution Memory, Affect, and the Power of Protest Songs
Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research
Music
memory
affect
emotion
feminism
gender
kitsch
solidarity
title The Soundtrack of Revolution Memory, Affect, and the Power of Protest Songs
title_full The Soundtrack of Revolution Memory, Affect, and the Power of Protest Songs
title_fullStr The Soundtrack of Revolution Memory, Affect, and the Power of Protest Songs
title_full_unstemmed The Soundtrack of Revolution Memory, Affect, and the Power of Protest Songs
title_short The Soundtrack of Revolution Memory, Affect, and the Power of Protest Songs
title_sort soundtrack of revolution memory affect and the power of protest songs
topic Music
memory
affect
emotion
feminism
gender
kitsch
solidarity
url http://dx.doi.org/10.3384/cu.2000.1525.135175
work_keys_str_mv AT tiinarosenberg thesoundtrackofrevolutionmemoryaffectandthepowerofprotestsongs
AT tiinarosenberg soundtrackofrevolutionmemoryaffectandthepowerofprotestsongs