Protest Music in France

Download or read book Protest Music in France written by Barbara Lebrun and published by Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. This book was released on 2009 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Barbara Lebrun traces the evolution of 'protest' music in France since 1981, exploring the contradictions that emerge when artists who take their musical production and political commitment 'seriously', cross over to the mainstream, becoming profitable and consensual. Contestation is understood as a discourse shaped by the assumptions and practices of artists, producers, the media and audiences, for whom it makes sense to reject politically reactionary ideas and the dominant taste for commercial pop. Placing music in its economic, historical and ideological context, however, reveals the fragility and instability of these oppositions. The book focuses on music production in France, the representations of a 'protest' identity in relation to discourses of national identity and examines the audiences of French 'protest' music and considers festivals as places of 'non-mainstream' identity negotiation.