A new context in folk song performances : music videos

Abstract

Initially composed by specific people but becoming anonymous in time, the folk song is based on the performance of folk poetry with a particular melody. The concept of performance, used in the very definition of folk song, requires a direct contact between the performer and the audience. Yet, today this context of performance in respect to the folk song genre seems to have veritably changed both in terms of musicality and performer-audience relationship. The main facets of this transformation are: the use of variant musical backgrounds, different singing styles and the new performance medium, namely television. The last aspect of this change, that is the new medium, makes the folk song reach a much wider audience, yet in a more indirect manner than before. Hence, this article discusses the new cultural context of the folk song through music videos, and points out to the fact that the traditional elements of the genre in question are today reproduced, in accordance with the expectation of the masses, in urban communication codes and in visual representations mainly based on stories.