Falco's Song "Ganz Wien". A Socio-Textual Analysis of Popular Music and Austria's National Identity

Seminar paper from the year 2018 in the subject Cultural Studies - European Studies, grade: 1,3, University of Groningen (Arts, Culture and Media), language: English, abstract: On the basis of a socio-textual analysis of Falco's song "Ganz Wien" this paper strives to give evidence that his artwork had a distinct effect on redeveloping Austrian ideology and identity in the 1980s.Falco, Austria's only international popstar, is prima facie considered to be a highly instrumentalized mainstream figure of the musical industry. Subversion or harsh political protest is at first glance not associated with his Oeuvre. In contrast to the general opinion, I am aiming to examine his art as hotbed of cultural introspection, as well as illuminating Falco's embracement of a certain subversive propensity in his early work. With recourse to the Marxist concepts of "Hegemony" and "Counter-hegemony" I am intending to analyze Falco's music as a site of political protest and social critique.