111 Cultural Post 1

[Taylor Johnson]

This semester, I will focus on modern day Ukrainian political music. Originally, I thought about doing my project on folk music, but I realized (by accident) that the modern day politically charged music coming out of Ukraine is more relevant and interesting. The conflict with Russia, Russian backed separatists in the East and the widespread government corruption in Ukraine all shine through in the music that is popular. As far as I can tell, there was a large increase of political pop music during and after the Maidan Revolution. This element of Ukrainian culture is complicated and difficult to understand because there are so many moving parts, however, I believe that researching this topic can begin to show much about Ukraine's current culture in the wake of multiple political and social crises.