RIABOVA T.B. “May There Always Be Sunshine!”: A Symbol of Childhood in Soviet and American Cold War Songs
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu4.2024.1.2
Tatiana B. Riabova
Doctor of Sciences (Sociology), Professor,
Department of Political Science, Herzen University,
reki Moiki Emb., 48, 191186 Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation,
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ,
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5270-7911
Abstract. Introduction. The article is the first to study the use of the symbol of childhood by the USSR and the USA songs for the representation of Cold War issues.
Methods and materials. Based on the methodology of constructivism, the author analyzes the reasons for the politicization of the image of childhood and the role of popular music as an instrument of symbolic politics. Qualitative content analysis is used to examine more than 400 songs of the USSR and the USA related to Cold War issues; about 70 of them use the symbol of childhood. The symbol of childhood in the Soviet song. A study of USSR songs demonstrates that images of children were an important component of the “cultural Cold War” on the musical front.
The symbol of childhood in the American song. U.S. musical pieces contributed significantly to the legitimation of the Cold War and the construction of images of “us” and “them,” including with the help of images of children.
Results. The comparative analysis shows that in both the USSR and the USA, it was used to represent such issues as peace, war, security, nuclear weapons, freedom, justice, and the future of humanity. Not only did it create the image of the enemy, but it also deconstructed it by showing the similarity of the two nations in basic values, including attitudes toward children. In addition to the common features, songs in the USA and the USSR also reveal different characteristics. In the former, children are primarily the object of defense; in the latter, they are also subjects of politics and active fighters for peace. In the former, one can find negative images of childhood in the USSR; in the latter, young Americans are first and foremost children, just like everyone else. In the Soviet song, these images remain practically unchanged; in the American protest song, the symbol under study is used to delegitimize the policy of the authorities.
Key words: childhood, Cold War, political symbol, popular music, image of the enemy, international security.
Citation. Riabova T.B. “May There Always Be Sunshine!”: A Symbol of Childhood in Soviet and American Cold War Songs. Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya 4. Istoriya. Regionovedenie. Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya [Science Journal of Volgograd State University. History. Area Studies. International Relations], 2024, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 16-25. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu4.2024.1.2.
“May There Always Be Sunshine!”: A Symbol of Childhood in Soviet and American Cold War Songs by Riabova T.B. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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