Dear Dr. Rahimi,

As to music, one example I came across is how samba was used to create Brazilian national identity. Here's an excerpt from the link attached:

"As the rhetoric of racial democracy became more entrenched in Brazilian popular thought, percussion became more and more heavily emphasized in recorded samba music. Brazil sought to further establish the concept that it was a society based upon racial equality by distinguishing itself from the racial discord that was present in the United States in the 1940s. This attempt to distinguish Brazil from the United States was reflected in the massive increase of Afro-Brazilian percussion in the recordings of the era, particularly in those that were included on records and films intended for consumption abroad."

http://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1497&context=etd_hon_theses

Hope this is relevant.

Sincerely,

Cameen

Poets are public voices, many people can hear their thoughs that's why they can be strong influence in some crisis moments in a country, however some poets reflect the reality around, so can be influent for further generations; both cases promote massive reflexion. Music is every where, and help people to fell free when they take the music from composers to put in their own interior and build a peaceful reality inside into their own body and mind.

All excellent contributions. 

sure enough, thank you all for your insightful ideas .

Many variables contribute to a nation's identity. There seems to be a cyclical process among a myriad of variables in a nation's identity. 

Arts such as music and poetry not only reflect a nation's identity, but also contribute to it. 

Here is a Greek poet who contributed to Hellenism. Greece has produced a number of famous poets who contributed to its identity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgos_Seferis

This is a very complicated question, so bear with me while I lay out an answer.

Identity is always both constructed and strategic. As individuals, we create identity from the building blocks of our interactions with others, our own self-image(s), and the conceptual frameworks given us by our families and society. Individual identity is always, therefore, multifaceted and at times contradictory. And it is always imbued with subtle but potent relations of power that we take for granted as "natural" parts of ourselves. We deploy these various facets situationally, strategically, and (ideally, at least) try to work out these contradictions thorough our social interactions. 

Looking then at the macro-level, how do communities of people construct identity? I would argue that the processes and themes are similar, if not identical. We must remember that, like personal identity, the "nation" is not a natural phenomenon: it is  a construction, just as "race" is. Nations — if they exist (and there is a lot of discussion about this) — are "about" the construction of a common history and recognition of cultural "belonging" beyond one's immediate community. Like personal identity, these conceptions require external frameworks that are taken as givens; and like personal identity, they always involve contradictions and diversity. There is no "pure nation", any more than there is a "pure race". The formation of national identity, as such, thus never happens without leadership and relations of power that serve to smooth out (or erase) these contradictions and "naturalize" diversity. Examples abound; I'll offer one: the "French nation" did not exist before the imposition of a common (Parisian) idiom as the "national language" (and thus a common literature!), a common authority structure (in this case, the French monarchy), and a common history ("We are all French because 'we' expelled the English, 'our' hero Roland sacrificed himself to save 'France', 'we' adopted the monarchy as our own..." and so on.). The French national narrative serves in part to finesse the obvious linguistic, historical and cultural diversity of France in order to preserve "the nation". Just as important, it tends to obscure the relations of power that created the nation in the first place.

In this process of nation creation, the arts — music and poetry, for example — play a crucial role in reinforcing the hegemony of the dominant conception of the national identity. Folk poetries and musics (and later, more erudite forms) help people feel shared social identity, but they don't get adopted by the nascent national group as "authentic" emblems of shared culture and language beyond their immediate audience until someone comes along and holds them up as such. Moreover, as with personal identity, the external Other plays a crucial role in helping the group self-identify. Examples of all this abound; here's one: Even the Greeks of the classical period did not conceive themselves as having a common identity...except in opposition to outsiders like the Persians. The Homeric epics were regarded as shared history by the classical Athenians and Spartans and so on, but his works did not become national history until after the modern ideal of a nation-state emerged in the 17th and 18th centuries. That was both a political and a cultural-historical process.

Sorry for the long preamble, but the question was about the formation of national identity. My point is this: to say that music and poetry "reflect" the "spiritual common denominator" of the people rather begs the question of how and why this is understood to be so. It is not an innocent, natural process, but one fostered through relations of power and prestige. To begin with this idea is to overlook the constructed nature of the nation and to reproduce the national narrative, rather than to interrogate its formation. People come to hear themselves in "national" music and poetry, believing them to be "natural" expressions of a common history and culture, and the nation itself to somehow be a natural extension of that. Neither is objectively true.

Difficult and intelligent question. In the case of Argentina, our poetic and in general literary tradition is European and our musical tradition is mainly Spanish and in a minor proportion quechua (one of the Inca Empire nations). However, we produced two original creations in literature, the gauchesca narrative poetry in the nineteenth century (high class writers mimicking the gaucho version of Spanish) and the conceptual fiction story (the one created by Borges) in the 20th century. The Spanish tradition created our folk music and the tango arose from the urbanization of the country at the end of the nineteenth century and beginnings of the twentieth century. Until the globalization, tango and gauchos defined Argentina to the eyes of the world. Our national identity in the areas of music and literature has weakened since then.

The genesis of music and poetry (especially folk)  together with other spheres of national culture (e.g. dance) shows, that   they  are the more evident and expressive products of nations' identity, really "national" massages to the rest of the world. Georgian folk music, poetry and dance often present one performance and till today play a decisive role in forming of identity of our nation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kALbD1j3GQ4

Thanks Justyna, Jasna, Rahele, Rafael, Ekaterine for your profound ideas and insightful opinions.

Diachronic studies into national histories would reveal a close link between the two... Countries like India, for example, had folk music forms as well as bollywood music that helped in creating national identity.. 

Folk music and poetry show evidence of national identities. In the case of Spain, we have different regions with their own traditional music and poetry, written in their vernacular languages. They are recreated and continue alive. One of those popular artistic expressions is Flamenco, with a long-standing tradition and included in the UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Although it comes originally from Andalusia, it has played an important role in the formation of the national identity in Spain.

Hello Ali

For Bedouin culture, check Bailey on Bedouins in the Sinai (see url below)

about formation of collective identity in a pre-state society of semi-nomadic desert peoples

Bailey shows how important poetry (poems were sung; these two categories for us were one category for the Bedouin) was sung to spread the laws and customs of the society; the songs were memorized by some and passed on from generation to generation

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/bedouin-poetry-from-sinai-and-the-negev-9780198265474?cc=ca&lang=en&

Take a look on:

 Music, National Identity and the Politics of Location. Between the Global and the Local  by Vanessa Knights, Ian Biddle (eds.) New York: Routledge, 2016

Music and German National Identity by Cecilia Applegata and Pamela Potter. Chicago: U. of Chicago Press, 2002

Book Review: "Flamenco Music and National Identity in Spain" by William Washabaugh. Submitted by Joshua Brown on November 20, 2012 - 9:08am

http://ethnomusicologyreview.ucla.edu/content/book-review-flamenco-music-and-national-identity-spain-william-washabaugh-0

Thanks Concha, Jerry, Swapna and Jorge ,  inspirational indeed.

Interesting question! One point I haven't seen addressed glancing at the answers is how music helps create and is created by marginalized groups within a nation (like jazz by African Americans especially in the twenties and thirties), and how their music goes on to affect national identity both directly and by influencing more mainstream music. George Gershwin, for example, was hugely influenced by jazz.

This book might be helpful:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/0312427719/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2A0UMX6K28QUV&coliid=IXUIERBO0C63G   

You need to consult the writings of Cecil Sharp, Maud Karpeles and Frank Kidson on this (for starters)

Two volumes  which may be of use are;

D.Arnold (Ed) Cultural Identities and the aesthetics of Britishness, Manchester, 2004

J. Richards, Imperialism and Music; Britain 1876-1953, Manchester, 2001

Both have extensive references and bibliographies

Try also H.K. Bhabha (Ed) Nation and Narration, London, 1990.

You are entering a vast field of literature and argument

Good Luck

The impact is really strong. 

Up to the moment, you can see every tribe has it own distinctive music and dance.

Even nationalism made use of it. Hitler used Vagner music to raise Nazism and the USSR used music widely.

Music are an important tool in orienting the common people

To build an identity you really need to have shared conscience among those who believe they belong to the same people. There are solid and soft sets of commonalities one needs to be aware of; the solid things include a common history and memory and or common territory to which they could identify themselves with, more importantly the soft requirement include socio-cultural foundations they feel proud of. Socio-cultural foundations include among other things beliefs, legends, music, poetry, tales and jokes. All these requirements compliment each other.

Hello ALi

this article about national hymn and national identity is interesting, does the hymne reflects the story or identity of a nation, should it be changed or be updated? 

...

this congress in 2011 could also  have interested you...

http://www.lexpressiondz.com/culture/132228-le-chant-et-l%E2%80%99identit%C3%A9-nationale.html

http://lepcd.fr/identite-nationale-christine-boutin-lance-un-grand-debat-sur-lhymne-national/

I am moved when I listen to the melody and words of the Greek national anthem which encapsulate the struggle by Greeks to rid themselves of the Ottoman yoke for independence.

I find the French and American anthems very moving they were born out of struggle against tyranny and oppression.

Interesting - it goes both ways, doesn't it? Poets and songwriters respond to and articulate feelings of national identity, and then the consumers of their creations respond to the sentiments that the songs embody, so it's a cycle, or could you say, a spiral, with each response fuelling further responses.  (Simon McKerrell and Gary West have a book coming out shortly, Understanding Scotland Musically, which addresses many of these questions in the context of this particular nation.)

There are modern songs which have become the banner for a cause. For e.g Helen Reddy " I am woman" was used by the feminist movement during the 1970s; "San Francisco wear flowers in your hair" -Scott Mckenzie was the hippies anthem and John Lennon's brilliant song "Imagine " whose lyrics contain an important message which the world should heed.

The question fails to address its' own basic premise, which is based on Plato's remarks in Republic about poets.

This piece discusses Plato's views on poetry (and poets)

http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/philo/faculty/moss/WhatisImitativePoetry.pdf

Start from there and you might find an answer

All best

http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/philo/faculty/moss/WhatisImitativePoetry.pdf

I exposed some ideas in my Music and Poetry; it's available on Academia.edu.

Hello Roberto,

could you please send it to my email ?

[email protected]

or put the link here please.

Roberto is here: https://uniroma1.academia.edu/rgigliucci

Thank you very much Karen. 

When words die, music will born!!

Dear Tina,

Thank you so much for your valued upvoting my answer.

Regards

The culture of a nation comprises many aspects. It is shaped and molded by the background of its people, their languages and beliefs. It includes the many ways that people express themselves in words, movement, music ,poetry and images.Music and poetry were "building bricks" of the national identity.

Thank you very much for  your inspirational views and opinions.

من المؤكد أخي الكريم أن تعبر الموسيقى والشعر عن هويات الأمم ،فلكل أمة خصوصيّة في عاداتها وتقاليدها وطرائق تفكيرها وهذا بدوره ينعكس على التعبير الجمالي الذي بدوره انعكاس لمشاعر وأحاسيس تلك الأمم ففنون القول جميعها مع الموسيقى تحفل بهواجس وعواطف وخيالات الأمة فهي هويتها التي تحيا بحياتها وتموت بموتها.

Poetry and music have a great impact on the formation of a nation's identities, especially at the beginning of a nation. During the Literation war of Bangladesh in 1971, music and poems written on the love of our motherland inspired the freedom fighters greatly and thus contributed in forming the Bangladeshi nation.

It could and should provide a meta-verbal and non-dogmatic dimension to the symbolism of national unity.