Pop and Poetry – Pleasure and Protest

The Author: Annette Blühdorn teaches in the Department of European Studies and Modern Languages at the University of Bath (UK). Prior to that she held teaching positions at De Montfort University, Leicester, and the University of the West of England, Bristol. She obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Wales Swansea. Her research focuses on German lyrics in the context of literary studies.

Contents: Lyrics Between Pop and Poetry - Perspectives of Popular Music Research and of Literary Studies - The Dichotomy Between E-Musik and U-Musik - The Split Between High and Low Literature - Lyrics Between Pleasure and Protest - Weimar Cabaret and Cabaret Chanson - The Concept of Gebrauchslyrik - The German Singer-Songwriter Movement - Early German Rock Music - The Lyrics of Udo Lindenberg and Konstantin Wecker.

«...Blühdorn's dual approach to content and methodology offers a thorough, accessible overview for literary and cultural historians; particulary the second half on the song lyrics will be of interest to students as well. As a model for taking performance lyrics seriously as literary material, this work opens the door to new vistas for German studies.» (Alan Lareau, Monatshefte)