The Image of the Social Reality of Women’s Lives in Love Songs

Abstract

Love songs in Slovakia have always been among the most popular and remain part of the live vocal repertoire even today. In love songs, we can distinguish several themes that accentuate the various phases of love from first love, to dating, to fulfilled or disappointed love. In this type of song, where the central theme is love, other motifs are also expressed that testify to the patriarchal society and its system of values, preferences, and the power of the authorities that influenced the life of the partner and the choice of the spouse. Songs of this type do not avoid the negative elements either — they include themes such as the struggle of marriage or alcoholism for men, whereas for women the most common themes are infidelity or the loss of virginity. Folk songs not only describe these situations in emotional, characteristic ways, but also take an attitude towards them that is consistent with the attitudes and laws of the society from which they originate. Therefore, we feel in them not only happiness and unhappiness, but also resignation and reconciliation with the situation, which is set up and supported by the system. The traditional patriarchal society in Slovakia, in which the songs originated and survived, has left its mark on love songs in an unmistakable way. Although indirect naming, euphemism, and aestheticization of negative phenomena are often used in accordance with the poetics of a love song, the informative value of the songs is obvious. While the understanding of the content of the lyrics of existing songs cannot be left unnoticed, the fact that songs about conjugal love in the Slovak environment are only recorded to a minimal extent is also significant. The content analysis of the songs, taking into account the wider social and historical context, provides insight not only about the reality of life, but also about the emotional attitude of the people who lived in the system that determined their fundamental life decisions.