Music and Protest in 1968

In fifteen case studies from around the world, contributors explore the relationship between music and socio-political protest in 1968.

Beate Kutschke (Edited by), Barley Norton (Edited by)

9781107504318, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 16 October 2014

342 pages, 5 b/w illus. 5 music examples
24.4 x 17 x 1.8 cm, 0.54 kg

'… detailed and convincing.' The Times Literary Supplement

Music was integral to the profound cultural, social and political changes that swept the globe in 1968. This collection of essays offers new perspectives on the role that music played in the events of that year, which included protests against the ongoing Vietnam War, the May riots in France and the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. From underground folk music in Japan to antiauthoritarian music in Scandinavia and Germany, Music and Protest in 1968 explores music's key role as a means of socio-political dissent not just in the US and the UK but in Asia, North and South America, Europe and Africa. Contributors extend the understanding of musical protest far beyond a narrow view of the 'protest song' to explore how politics and social protest played out in many genres, including experimental and avant-garde music, free jazz, rock, popular song, and film and theatre music.

Introduction Beate Kutschke
1. Expressive revolutions: '1968' and music in The Netherlands Robert Adlington
2. Music as plea for political action: the presence of musicians in Italian protest movements around 1968 Gianmario Borio
3. 'This is my country': American popular music and political engagement in '1968' Sarah Hill
4. Spontaneity and Black consciousness: South Africans imagining musical and political freedom in 1960s Europe Carol Muller
5. Vietnamese popular song in '1968': war, protest and sentimentalism Barley Norton
6. Music and protest in Japan: the rise of underground folk song in '1968' Tôru Mitsui
7. 'There is no revolution without song': 'new song' in Latin America Jan Fairley
8. 'The power of music': antiauthoritarian music movements in Scandinavia in '1968' Alf Björnberg
9. British rock: the short '1968', and the long Allan Moore
10. '1968' and the experimental revolution in Britain Virginia Anderson
11. Antiauthoritarian revolt by musical means on both sides of the Berlin Wall Beate Kutschke
12. '1968' - the emergence of a protest culture in the popular music of the Eastern Bloc? Rüdiger Ritter
13. Gendering '1968': womanhood in model works of the People's Republic of China and movie musicals of Hong Kong Hon-Lun Yang
14. A revolution in sheep's wool stockings: early music and '1968' Kailan Rubinoff
15. Music and May 1968 in France: practices, roles, representations Eric Drott.

Subject Areas: Postwar 20th century history, from c 1945 to c 2000 [HBLW3], 20th century & contemporary classical music [AVGC6], Music [AV]