This book uses the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC), as an analytical entry point to understand and illuminate post-War Europe and the drive to create an identity that can legitimise the European project in its broadest sense. The ESC presents an idealised vision of Europe, and this has long existed in a strained relationship with reality. While the trajectory of post-war European integration is a high-profile topic, we believe that the ESC offers a unique and innovative way to think about the role of culture in the history of post-War European integration and tensions between the ideal and reality of European unity. Through the series of case studies that make up the chapters in this book, analysis brings these interlinked tensions to light, exploring the roles of culture and identity, alongside and a productive conversation with the political and economic projects of post-war European integration.
Author(s): Julie Kalman, Ben Wellings, Keshia Jacotine
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 251
Tags: European Culture, Eurovision Song Contest
Front Matter ....Pages i-xiii
Entangled Histories: Identity, Eurovision and European Integration (Ben Wellings, Julie Kalman)....Pages 1-20
Germany as Good European: National Atonement and Performing Europeanness in the Eurovision Song Contest (Alison Lewis)....Pages 21-45
‘Making Your Mind Up’: Britain, Europe and Eurovision-Scepticism (Ben Wellings, Zoë Jay, Catherine Strong)....Pages 47-72
Which Belgium Won Eurovision? European Unity and Belgian Disunity (Julie Kalman)....Pages 73-90
Negotiating Post-war Nationhood: Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Eurovision Song Contest (Nina Markovic Khaze)....Pages 91-110
Recognising Kosovo in the World of Televised International Song Contests (Dean Vuletic)....Pages 111-128
Ruslana, Serduchka, Jamala: National Self-Imaging in Ukraine’s Eurovision Entries (Marko Pavlyshyn)....Pages 129-150
Nation Branding, Cultural Relations and Cultural Diplomacy at Eurovision: Between Australia and Europe (Jess Carniel)....Pages 151-173
‘If Love Was a Crime, We Would Be Criminals’: The Eurovision Song Contest and the Queer International Politics of Flags (Catherine Baker)....Pages 175-200
Europe: Start Voting Now! Democracy, Participation and Diversity in the Eurovision Song Contest (Anika Gauja)....Pages 201-219
Back Matter ....Pages 221-244
