Politics of Feeling in Songs of the Dutch Revolutionary Period

9789463727396

268 pages

Amsterdam University Press

Hardback $131.00

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Overview

This book sheds new light on the intertwined history of music and politics through an exploration of Dutch political songs. In the emotionally charged climate of the Dutch revolutionary period at the close of the eighteenth century, songs became a powerful voice, speaking directly to people’s bodies to engage them in political action. Emphasizing the performative nature of the songs and the interplay between imagination and embodied expression in singing practices, this book shows how beyond merely creating communities, the songs were also instrumental in mobilising, imagining, and affirming these collectives. It uncovers the diverse roles of these songs, showing how they were used to polarize and unite, to mourn and celebrate, and how they were employed to imagine and to embody togetherness throughout the Dutch revolutionary period, thereby creating a fixed repertoire of feelings on which various political regimes of that time relied.

Author Bio

Renée Vulto is Assistant Professor in Cultural History at Utrecht University. She has a background in Musicology and holds a Ph.D. in Literary Studies from Ghent University (2021). In her research she is interested in the political roles of song and sound, especially in situations of conflict and violence.