‘Born in Moldova’: Music and Soft Decolonization in Post-Soviet Republic of Moldova

• In Event: Global Dialogues in Music and Food: Nation-Building and the International in Romania and Moldova

Abstract

Our paper explores how music acts as a soft power element in the process of the post-Soviet decolonization in the Republic of Moldova after its 1991 declaration of independence. While the (post)colonial status of Moldova and other former Soviet republics is still under debate, we found more appropriate the concept of inter-imperiality (Laura Doyle), which reframes post-coloniality in the wake of only one empire to account for the multi-laterality, combined and uneven, of imperial geopolitics. For Moldova, this multi-laterality includes Romania, USSR/The Russian Federation, and the EU. In the process of navigating the post-Soviet transition and constructing a new national identity in the context of ethnic dissensions, economical and political turmoil, and massive migration, pop music proved to be one of the most efficient channels to negotiate collective identity. Methodologically, our approach combines quantitative and qualitative analysis, relying on a set of interviews with local musicians, managers, and public, as well as on the discussion of successful songs. We examine how music and music makers are perceived in relation to political and social issues, cultural activism, and ‘Moldovan’ identity. The songs most popular in Moldova and abroad deal with and simultaneously perform a hybrid, inter-imperial identity, by combining Romanian, Russian, and European-American influences with local folklore, mixing Romanian language with Russian and Moldovan slang, while tackling issues such as dispossession, migration, and reconnecting to one’s roots. We conclude that pop music operates a soft decolonisation and nation building in post-Soviet Moldova.

Authors

• Andreea Mironescu, Alexandru Ioan Cuza U of Iasi (Romania)

• Cristina Dicusar, State U of Moldova (Moldova)