Firebrand Folklore: Musical Memory and the Making of Transnational Networks

What is the place of music and specifically of collective singing in political mobilization? This article builds on Joep Leerssen’s work on the role of choral societies in romantic nationalism to examine the role of singing in radical, internationalist circles in the late nineteenth century. Focusing on two songs in the socialist-anarchist repertoire – the traditional Scottish love song Annie Laurie and the Marseillaise – it examines the role of

musical performance in mobilization around a common cause. It argues that music helped in creating embodied communities at particular locations while also connecting people transnationally across time and space. It will appear in the collection   

M. Brolsma, et al. eds. Networks, Narratives and Nations: Transcultural Approaches to Cultural Nationalism in Modern Europe and Beyond. Amsterdam University Press, 2022. Pp.75-83. ISBN 9789463720755