Songs of War

The Russian war on Ukraine, popular music and social media

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5429/2079-3871(2024)v14i2.4en

Keywords:

music and war, Ukraine, Russia, social media, memes

Abstract

Russia's war on Ukraine has highlighted how Russia and Ukraine conceptualize differing narratives of the region's history, and how this is reflected in current popular music. This article looks at how popular music is used by both conflict partners by analyzing songs published on social media during the full-scale invasion's first phase. Here, a pattern emerges: songs being reworked, memetic songs drawing on specific occurrences or weapons emerging, and previously existing songs being used as anthems. While these strategies have been heard in past wars, a new dynamic is at work: The output from the current war is interesting due to the use of footage from the battlefield, the speed of reaction and the distribution of the songs aided by social media, and the continuity of musical material as well as support from outsiders. These processes have made social media platforms an important part of the ongoing war.

Author Biography

David-Emil Wickström, Popakademie Baden-Württemberg

David-Emil Wickström studied Scandinavian studies, musicology and ethnomusicology at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, University of Bergen and University of Copenhagen. His areas of research include the revival of Norwegian traditional vocal music, post-Soviet popular music as well as higher music education.

Currently employed as a Professor of popular music history at the Popakademie Baden-Württemberg he is also the program director for the artistic Bachelor degree programs “Pop Music Design” and "World Music”. He is also a member of the research group "Pax Slavica in Flux (PSIF)” at UiT Noregs arktiske universitet.

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Published

06-11-2024