From Pussy Riot to Maria Peszek: The Re-Articulation of National and Gender Identities in 21st-Century Eastern European Protest Song

Joanna Zienkiewicz

doi:10.21428/66f840a4.dc1de879

Abstract

From Pussy Riot to Maria Peszek: the Re-Articulation of National and Gender Identities in 21st-Century Eastern European Protest Song Joanna Zienkiewicz <#biography> , University of Groningen, Netherlands

Highlights

In 2013, at the nineteenth Woodstock Station, the largest free music festival in Poland, hundreds of thousands of young people chanted along with controversial Polish singer-songwriter and actress Maria Peszek’s protest songs against nationalism, hate speech, and an essentialist approach to identity
Karabin (2016) achieved a similar level of popularity and her song lyrics began to be used and repeated during radical, antifascist, anti-war, and feminist protest marches.[2]. Her protest music has been widely criticised by nationalists, right-wing politicians, the Polish Catholic Church, and conservative media
It was not long before Peszek became known as the “artist you can love or hate, but cannot remain neutral towards.”[3]. Regardless of the controversies she has stirred, she remains one of the most recognised modern-day protest song artists in Poland, contributing to the public discussion, and negotiating the political views and identity perceptions of many Poles

Summary

Introduction

In 2013, at the nineteenth Woodstock Station, the largest free music festival in Poland, hundreds of thousands of young people chanted along with controversial Polish singer-songwriter and actress Maria Peszek’s protest songs against nationalism, hate speech, and an essentialist approach to identity.

Results

Conclusion