Popular Music and Identity in Quebec

Popular Music and Canadian National Identity

“…In defense of the position that music can be a receptacle for the national heritage-and thus a conduit of national identity-Tim Edensor (2002) emphasizes the importance of audio/visual media in permitting citizenry to create and share an imagined community, while Scott Piroth ( 2008) asserts that collectivity is created more through music than through prose. Thus, music plays an important role in the creation and maintenance of a national identity (Connell & Gibson, 2003;Diamond & Witmer, 1994;Folkestad, 2002;Frith, 2004;O'Flynn, 2007;Stokes, 1994), and in many ways, it can also influence national identity by furthering the development of a sense of place, especially landscapes and regions (Biddle & Knights, 2007;Bohlman, 2002;O'Flynn, 2007; see also Piroth, 2008;Stratton, 2006). Hans Weisethaunet (2007) expands this even further, describing a tendency to associate music with a place, and how the physical and social experiences of a certain place might be reflected in the music.…”

“…Music can also create and maintain national identity by signifying a reflection of socioeconomic and political elements that stand in for a collective (Stokes, 1994), or by representing the comprehension of and relation to events (Biddle et al, 2007;Stokes, 1994) or experiences (Frith, 1996;O'Flynn, 2007) through the embodiment of so-called "national" values (O'Flynn, 2007). Jon Stratton (2006) specifically cites the lyrics of Bruce Springsteen as evocative of national values, while Piroth (2008) goes so far as to suggest that pop music has the power to formulate the values, specifically the political and social values, of the young, which would likely be especially effective under postmodernist attitudes. Piroth (2008) and Weisethaunet (2007) both describe pop music as recording national histories, narratives, and experiences, which would be expressly effective in modernist stances.…”

“…Jon Stratton (2006) specifically cites the lyrics of Bruce Springsteen as evocative of national values, while Piroth (2008) goes so far as to suggest that pop music has the power to formulate the values, specifically the political and social values, of the young, which would likely be especially effective under postmodernist attitudes. Piroth (2008) and Weisethaunet (2007) both describe pop music as recording national histories, narratives, and experiences, which would be expressly effective in modernist stances. Weisethaunet (2007) believes that "elements of a culture which have commonly been considered 'trivial' aspects of everyday life are central to understanding people's (and a nation's) experiences in a historical perspective" (p. 185).…”

“…Weisethaunet (2007) believes that "elements of a culture which have commonly been considered 'trivial' aspects of everyday life are central to understanding people's (and a nation's) experiences in a historical perspective" (p. 185). Pop music can also mirror national worldviews and ideologies (see Piroth 2008;Weisethaunet, 2007), and it can allow the listeners to perceive themselves as citizens of the nation (Bohlman, 2004) and also formulate and express their identity (Starr & Waterman, 2003). The ways in which the music of Wagner was ap-propriated and manipulated by the Nazi Party in virtually all the manners described above are indicative of music's influence in the creation and/or maintenance of national identity (Applegate & Potter, 2002).…”

Musique populaire, métissage et identités culturelles : vers les recherches comparées

“…Elles aident les individus à trouver leur place dans le monde et à développer une identité politique, créant ainsi un imaginaire collectif. Dans son article sur la musique populaire au Québec, Piroth (2008) fait remarquer que les chansons populaires en français ont contribué à renforcer une identité québécoise distincte vis-à-vis de la culture majoritaire des Anglo-Canadiens. D'après lui, bien que le style pop américain reste le genre musical le plus écouté au Québec, la présence de la musique populaire francophone dans les médias et dans les performances publiques atteste toujours de son importance dans le patrimoine culturel commun aux Québécois.…”