Resistance and Conformity: Rock, Shanson, and the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

This panel examines the complex intersections between music and politics, focusing on how popular Russian musical genres have responded to the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine and the varying functions of music—from serving as a powerful avenue for political expression to functioning as a tool of manipulation. Rita Safariants’s paper explores the ideological rift caused by the invasion within Russophone rock, as performers either support or protest the war—an upheaval that has fractured alliances and divided audiences. Karen Evans-Romaine’s presentation highlights the role of female performers, including Alla Pugacheva, Zemfira, and Monetochka, in the anti-war movement, illustrating how women’s performances, music, and the depiction of women in songs have conveyed powerful messages from various perspectives against Russia’s war in Ukraine. The third paper, by Anastasia Gordienko, focuses primarily on the response of the shanson genre to the invasion, while also analyzing shanson lyrics related to the war and examining the themes that both this genre and Russian propaganda consistently exploited long before the invasion.

Sub Unit

• Arts II: Music, Theater, Performance Studies

Chair

• Anastasia Gordienko, U of Arizona

Papers

• 'Ia Ostaius’ Chtoby Zhit': The Pro-Putin Turn in Russian Rock Music - Rita Safariants, U of Rochester

• Women in Protest: Singing for Ukraine - Karen Joan Evans-Romaine, U of Wisconsin-Madison

• Singing for the State: Shanson as Propaganda in the Russian War Against Ukraine - Anastasia Gordienko, U of Arizona

Discussant

• Gabrielle Cornish, U of Wisconsin-Madison