War and music: a discourse analysis of Ukrainian musicians' messages from a transcultural perspective

Abstract

Just as war changes many things in human life, does it affect music, the most important product of human cognition? If so, how is this impact reflected in the axis of transculturalism? This article was structured with research problems such as: Ukraine was taken as a war example. In this research, discourse analysis method, one of the qualitative research methods, was used. In the research, the discourses of Ukrainian musicians about the war reflected in the press were determined as the area of examination. Sviatoslav Vakarchuk, Andriy Khlyvniuk, Stepan Burban’s (Palindrom), Victoria Polevá, Alexey Botvinov are musicians whose discourses can be accessed and their discourses were accessed through internet sources within the scope of the research. By subjecting these discourses to content analysis, those containing the transcultural context were turned into meaningful codes and quotations were given to them. As a result of the research, it was seen that discourses were formed under seven themes: cultural solidarity, global connection, cultural heritage, humanitarian efforts, transcultural collaboration, artistic expression, humanitarian efforts. The statements of Ukrainian musicians emphasize that, in the face of war, music serves as a language that fosters international solidarity and communication from a transcultural perspective. They highlight that the music produced is a cultural heritage that requires the collective effort of all humanity to preserve, and that solidarity is needed to protect the music culture from harm. Additionally, they stress that art and music are the most extensive languages used as forms of expression. Future research could explore other phenomena that involve transculturalism.