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Article published In:
The Politics of Sound: Intersections of Music, Discourse and Political Communication
Edited by Lyndon C.S. Way
[Journal of Language and Politics 18:4] 2019
► pp. 579–597

Music video as party political communication

Opportunities and limits

 | University of Liverpool
Relations between political parties and music are fraught with issues over effectiveness, limitations and opportunities. On the one hand, political parties and movements use the appeal of popular music to attract audiences who otherwise may not be attentive to their views. On the other hand, mixing the two has seen music and politics “reduced to their lowest common denominator” (Street 1988, 50). Here, I examine how political parties employ popular music to articulate party specific discourses. Leaning on Multimodal Critical Discourse Studies and musicology, I analyse the lyrics, visuals and musical sounds of musical advertisements prepared for two Turkish political events: A parliamentary election campaign and a presidential referendum campaign. Through a detailed analysis I reveal the discourses articulated, how these are articulated and the strengths and shortcomings of musical advertisements as a means of communicating party political discourses.
Keywords: Turkey, AKP, referendum, music videos, political communication, Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Political context
  • 3.Sample and approach
  • 4.Analysis
    • 4.12011 election campaign video
      • i.National unity in lyrics
      • ii.Exclusive Turkish nationalism articulated multimodally
      • iii.Positivity around the economy and AKP in musical choices
      • iv.Erdoğan as leader in visuals
    • 4.22017 referendum campaign video
      • i.A united nation in lyrics and visuals
      • ii.A conservative, male-dominant nation in visuals and musical sounds
      • iii.Support for the referendum and one man rule articulated multimodally
      • iv.Positivity for AKP and Erdoğan in visuals
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 29 May 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.18063.way
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