Project "To Sing Portugal: National Identity at the RTP Song Festival (1964-1998)"
Reference: 2025.01364.BD
Scientific area: History
Supervisor: Sílvia Correia (IS-UP)
Cronograma: November 2025 - October 2029
Abstract: This project aims to explore how national identity was mediated by the RTP Song Festival between 1964 and 1998, seeking to understand how discourses associated with popular music are historically determined. If cultural memory is expressed in the form of narratives, songs and symbols, recalling the national historical past, this project will attempt to understand the scope of the intersection between media, culture, memory and identity. The RTP Song Festival will be examined to verify whether the event reflected and, eventually, contributed to the political and social transformations that took place, seeking to understand whether the national identity conveyed reflects a realignment of the country after the loss of the Empire and European integration. Emphasis will thus be placed on the presence and reception of these narratives, without neglecting the role of the contest as an ideological stage that enabled the contestation of hegemonic narratives about national identity.
