For my blog post this week, I wanted to reflect on the research I’ve done so far for my long essay to work through my ideas and hopefully receive constructive feedback. Currently, I am focusing it on uncovering how the interaction between Eastern Europe and the West in terms of consumerism and rock music specifically contributed (and to what extent) to the collapse of communism in the Eastern bloc, specifically looking at Eastern Europe in the 1980s. The goal is to prove that the iron curtain was actually somewhat broken down by transnational engagement with cultural practices. After the research I have done thus far, including key texts such as “Did Rock Smash the Wall? The Role of Rock in Political Transition” by Jolanta Pekacz and “The Times They Are A-changin’” by Peter Wicke, I am leaning towards exploring Poland and the GDR as case studies. There have also been references to the case of rock music’s role in the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia. As such, I am continuing to research about these countries to see if either can be used as an additional case study if relevant.
In noting down potential arguments and things to preface or explore further in my essay, I have made a list of questions to consider. These include: What did communism look like on an everyday basis and to what extent was this offset or shifted by the development of local rock music in the 1980s? What were all of the major factors that contributed to the collapse of communism in these countries and where did rock music and Western consumerism fit into this? Are there historiographical gaps regarding how these major factors were affected by rock music both domestically and internationally? Was most of the local rock music written in these socialist countries in English and if so, what does this say about the impact of Western culture on the Eastern bloc in general?
My research so far has been fascinating. I am especially interested in how the systems behind socialist governments ironically helped to establish a platform for rock music to prevail and for individualism and political opposition to grow. For instance, the linguistic codes behind communist-charged language, which was understood by citizens in countries such as the GDR and Poland, established an ability to ‘read between the lines.’ This meant that rock musicians could discreetly insert political messages into their music which they knew their audiences could decode. All in all, there is more to be done and I look forward to continuing to build the essay and engage with this topic further.