Translation of Song Lyrics as Structure-related Expressive Device

AbstractThe paper explores the role of translation as a resource of meaning-making in popular songs. The study material includes three songs presented at the TV show “The Voice Russia”. Although the audience of the show is predominantly Russian, contestants choose to perform these songs in two or more different languages. We argue that in all these cases translation is akin to code switching: it increases the expressiveness of the song by creating various additional meanings (both verbal and musical). The alternation of the original and translated lyrics is usually linked to the general structure of the songs

Key Components of Musical Discourse Analysis

Musical discourse analysis is an interdisciplinary study which is incomplete without consideration of relevant social, linguistic, psychological, visual, gestural, ritual, technical, historical and musicological aspects. In the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis, musical discourse can be interpreted as social practice: it refers to specific means of representing specific aspects of the social (musical) sphere. The article introduces a general view of contemporary musical discourse, and analyses genres from the point of ‘semiosis’, ‘social agents’, ‘social relations’, ‘social context’, and ‘text’. These components of musical discourse analysis, in their various aspects and combinations, should help thoroughly examine the context of contemporary musical art, and determine linguistic features specific to different genres of musical discourse