Soundscapes of Populism
Soundscapes of Populism extends current research on populist aesthetics by foregrounding the sonic dimension of populist discourse. While existing approaches focus primarily on textual, visual, and ideological aspects of political communication, we shift attention from the eye to the ear. This approach allows us to ask different questions:
How does sound shape political affect and collective belonging?How do sonic cues contribute to identification, persuasion, and antagonism?How does sound capture and sustain attention in contemporary media environments?
Beyond music, we examine media soundscapes such as spoken cadences, sound bites, political jingles, and audio memes as forms of affective and political communication. Drawing on perspectives from music education and cultural studies, we analyse how sonic strategies shape emotional response, identity, and belonging within contemporary economies of attention.Through multilingual analysis of media discourse from Western, Central, and South-Eastern Europe, we trace how sound amplifies political narratives and creates affective communities across diverse populist movements.
Funded by VolkswagenStiftung
© 2026 Soundscapes of Populism
Researchers
The project is led by Lenka Filipova and Eva-Maria Tralle, who bring together complementary perspectives from cultural studies and music education.
Lenka Filipova
Freie Universität BerlinEva-Maria Tralle
Universität Osnabrück
Funded by VolkswagenStiftung
© 2026 Soundscapes of Populism
Contact
Funded by VolkswagenStiftung
© 2026 Soundscapes of Populism