Abstract
Inculcating the spirit of patriotism and breeding a positive sentiment for war through national songs is a commonplace practice after Second World War. These songs are helpful in developing patriotic morals and cultural values of any nation. Pakistan has fought many wars since its independence and still war is an omnipresent threat. In 1965 war, creative production of patriotic songs is labelled as ‘treasure trove of patriotism’ (Ahmed, 2005). This study analyzes the strategic importance of introducing remakes almost every year. For the said purpose, it applies multimodal discourse analysis to analyze the content of remakes from 2020-2022 of national songs. The choral music is a source to influence behavior and formation of a national identity. Moreover, the remake of songs with use of new cinematography embeds the memories of colonial injustice and Indian atrocities in youth. ‘Motivation’ and ‘willing to sacrifice’ are two of the most dominant messages conveyed through various signs used in the videos. Not only textual patterns but also visuals convey the sense of fearlessness and readiness to die. The study concludes that remaking national songs hold an important place in refreshing the collective memory of any nation.
Presenters
Lubna BatoolFaculty Member, Political Science, Rawalpindi Women University, Punjab, Pakistan
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2023 Special Focus—Images Do Not Represent Us, They Create Us: The Image and its Transforming Power
KEYWORDS
CULTURAL VALUES, MULTIMODAL APPROACH, WAR SONGS, PATRIOTISM, COLONIAL PAST
