The Culture of Soviet Song During the Great Patriotic War: From Propaganda Images to the Formation of Personal Narratives

Introduction. The article examines the main aspects of song writing as a special sphere of Russian culture during the Great Patriotic War. The author focuses on its evolution from the dominated propaganda models projected onto public consciousness in the 1930s of the 20th century to universal individualistic narratives that appealed to the inner world and value system of an individual who found himself in the maelstrom of social upheavals and war years of 1940s. Based on this, the purpose of the article is to examine the main aspects of song writing as a special sphere of Russian culture during the Great Patriotic War. In the course of the study, the author used the following methods: hermeneutic, comparative, system analysis, comparative, etc. The author used a set of military songs from the Great Patriotic War as sources. He also studied various aspects of the songwriting of Soviet performers and composers of those years, as well as genre features of the texts of poetic works, folklore, everyday elements of songwriting in the period under review. Various genre and stylistic features of the Soviet song brought into existence by wartime and the tasks that were set before the Soviet society in this difficult historical period are also analyzed article. Results. The author analyzed various aspects of the creative activity of the authors of Soviet songs, revealed the process of generational change in the Soviet musical culture that occurred during the Great Patriotic War. In addition, the article highlighted the general and specific in the creative approach of individual authors. The features of the state policy of those years aimed at the formation and development of musical culture in the period of history under review and are also considered in the article. Conclusions. The author substantiated the connection between the events that were fateful for the existence of Soviet society and the state with the cultural trends of that time, which found expression in the Soviet song, as the most vivid manifestation of the national spirit and popular consciousness in this difficult period in the history of the country.

1. Glushakov Ya.V. The Great Patriotic War. Song heritage. Scientific notes of the Russian Academy of Music named after The Gnessins. 2020;2(33):111-117. URL: https://elibrary.ru/mgftzo (In Russ.).

2. Golovanova E.I., Potapchuk M.A. “For myself and for that guy…”: mental projections of the Great Patriotic War in famous words and expressions. Bulletin of the Chelyabinsk State University. 2012;13(267):29-33. URL: https://elibrary.ru/pcwfeb (In Russ.).

3. Rush K. The time of officers: Letters to a Russian officer. Moscow: Rossijskij Fond Kul’tury; 2007. 728 p. (In Russ.).

4. Emer Yu.A. The concept of “war” in modern song folklore: Cognitive-discursive analysis. Bulletin of Tomsk State University. Series: Philology. 2012;4(20):58-67. URL: https://elibrary.ru/pjipij (In Russ.).

5. Pershina K.V. Songs of the Great Patriotic War: Lexical content. Do Russians want wars: Materials of the XVI International Forum. Lipetsk: Lipetsk State Pedagogical University named after P.P. Semenov-Tyan-Shan; 2021: 146-148. URL: https://elibrary.ru/tyhukm (In Russ.).

6. Kolesnikova A.V., Eskova A.V., Grishina A.V. Songs that won the Great Patriotic War: content analysis. SevastopolStalingrad: one War, one story: materials of the IV All-Russian scientific and practical conference dedicated to the 76th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Sevastopol: Sevastopol State University; 2021: 208-212. URL: https://elibrary.ru/frggwc (In Russ.).

7. Karapetyan E.A. Linguistic concepts of “courage”, “bravery”, “heroism” and their representation in the military song of 1941-1945. The Great Patriotic War: Lessons of history and modernity. Materials of the International Scientific Conference. Krasnodar: Krasnodar State University of Culture and Arts; 2015: 123-132. URL: https://elibrary.ru/txanld (In Russ.).

8. Bocharov A.G. Russian Soviet mass song of 1934-1952. Dis. Cand. Sci. (Philol.). Moscow: Moscow Order of Lenin State University named after M.V. Lomonosov; 1953. (In Russ.).

9. Nestiev I.V. Soviet mass song: A popular essay. Moscow: The State. music. publishing house;1946. (In Russ.).

10. Lyakh V.I. and Sigida D.A. Soviet mass song as a phenomenon of the 20th century musical art. Cultural life of the South of Russia. 2015;2(57):22-25. URL: https://elibrary.ru/tzwuad (In Russ.).

11. Sokhor A.N. Russian Soviet song. Leningrad: Soviet composer; 1959. 506 p. (In Russ.).

12. Sokhor A.N. The path of the Soviet song: A guide for students of People’s Universities of Culture. Moscow: Sovetsky Kompozitor; 1968. 108 p. (In Russ.).

13. Sokhor A.N. Mass song during the Great Patriotic War. Based on the Works of Russian Soviet composers: Diss. Cand. of Art History Degree. Leningrad: Leningrad State Conservatory named after N.A.Rimsky-Korsakov; 1954. (In Russ.).