The Song Is Still a ‘Weapon’: The Portuguese Identity in Times of Crises

Abstract

This article examines a set of Portuguese songs that ‘sing’ the economic, financial and social crises in Portugal in the post-2008 period. This work underlies a heuristic principle: to demonstrate how artistic manifestations—in this case, the songs in several (sub-)genres of popular music—are themselves a means and an object of social intervention, demarcating a specific, defined space in the acknowledgment and revelation of social problems, and in the contestation, deconstruction and accusation of problems that deal with social reality. We demonstrate that these songs seek to denounce and sometimes incite social change with the aim of creating transformation. They are therefore signs of a specific space—identity producers—and not just an echo of social reality. Insurgent songs instigate readings, narratives and deconstructions of reality, and they are simultaneously significant elements of a collective identity.