Summary
This paper presents a summary and critique of the article, Intimidating Dissent . This particular article was written by Hemmasi and it is centered on the state censorship of the popular music because of its dissenting content. Normally, dissent against the state oppression and mistreatment of citizens is part of the common purposes of popular music. In Hemmasi’s article, the status of popular music as a nostalgic expression amidst changing political regimes entails the use of cryptic poetry as song lyrics. This repertoire is highly scrutinized by members of the Iranian state. However, this repertoire, with its charged lyrics actively constructs and invigorates members of the Iranian Diaspora in places as far as southern California. We see here an example of popular music and state censorship as well as popular music as an expression of national longing and nostalgia, as well as music as political critique.
Critique and Response
It is important to note this article done by Hemmasi paints a real picture of the challenges faced by popular music. Many state agencies are always against the development of popular music. The reason for this negative attitude towards popular music is that its content is commonly dissident to government adverse operations. There are many cases where state agencies have censored popular music videos and audios because of messages that appear to paint the government in bad light. In this specific article, there are examples of the songs that have been censored by the state because of dissident message to the audience who are mostly citizens.
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Considering the artists Eghbali and Zappa, it is clear that the examples of popular music censorship given in the article do show how it greatly impacts the citizenry of a country. This censorship normally makes the citizenry to long for more from the songs censored and in that spirit it becomes rebellious to the government or state.
