Beyond Populism

The Case of "Song for Lena"

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to use the widely discussed “Song for Lena” as a case-study to explore the complex relationship between politics and (pop) culture. Insofar as these relationships often give rise to populist discourses, our main research task is to understand whether and how “Song for Lena” fits into the populist discourse of the political party ”There is Such a People” and its leader Slavi Trifonov. To this end, we take a multidisciplinary approach, using methods and concepts from the fields of cultural studies and political science, alongside research in music, literature, and communications. On the basis of several levels of analysis, we conclude that “Song for Lena” holds a lot of potential for constructing a populist discourse, which, however, remains untapped as it fails to construct an “elite” and “a people” in an antagonistic relationship.

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