Songs about the Reality of ‘Globalization’ as Political Discourse: Irony and Critique of ‘Globalization’ and the Concept of ‘World’ in the Lyrical Tradition of the English Western Popular Music of the Late 20th and Early 21st Centuries

Abstract

Globalization has developed into one of the most interdisciplinary topics in the fields of culture, politics, and economics since the late 20 ^th century. This article is interested in its terminology and reflections in the arts in the case of the lyrics of contemporary U.S. American and British English popular music. Even though the term ‘globalization’ was coined in the late 20^th century and is associated with the idea of a universal economic, social, and cultural process in the world, conceptual elements of ‘globalization’ can be found in human history before the term was coined. The arts conceptualized the ‘world’ as an idea long before the emergence of the concept of ‘globalization’. The elements of ‘globalization’ and its history of associated ideas are found ironized and critically revised in the contemporary arts. At this point, social and cultural criticism arises and describes the contrast between ethical values and reality. Even an individualized form of poetry like the lyric poems of 20^th and 21^st century U.S. American popular music reflects critically as a contribution to contemporary political discourse on the concept of ‘globalization’.

Cuvinte-cheie: globalizare, versuri, muzică populară americană în limba engleză, muzică populară britanică, proces, element, valoare

REZUMAT

La sfârşitul secolului al XX-lea, globalizarea a devenit unul dintre subiectele cele mai abordate în culturologie, politică şi economie. În articol, ne preocupăm de globalizare şi de prezenţa ei în artă, mai cu seamă, în versurile muzicii populare americane şi britanice contemporane. Chiar dacă termenul „globalizare” a fost întrebuinţat pentru prima dată doar la sfârşitul secolului al XX-lea şi desemnează astăzi un proces economic, social sau cultural universal în lume, elementele conceptuale ale „globalizării” pot fi găsite în istoria omenirii înainte de inventarea termenului dat. Artele au conceptualizat „lumea” ca o idee cu mult înainte de apariţia conceptului de „globalizare”. Elementele „globalizării” şi istoria ideilor asociate acesteia se regăsesc ironizate şi revizuite critic în artele contemporane; în critica socială şi culturală, este descris contrastul dintre valorile etice şi realitate. Chiar şi formele individualizate de poezie, precum sunt cele lirice, puse la baza muzicii populare americane din secolele XX şi XXI, sunt subiectul unor discuţii politice contemporane cu referire la conceptul de „globalizare”.

LANGUAGES OF PUBLICATION

English (main text); Proto-Indo-European, Ancient Greek, Latin, (Old/Middle) English, Old Saxon, (Old/New High) German, West-Germanic Old Frisian, East-Germanic Gothic, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, and Lithuanian (corpus)

UDC: 821.111(73)-1.09”19/20”+78(73)”19/20”

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Received: February 10, 2015 | Reviewed: February 25, 2015 | Accepted for publication: February 27, 2015

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