Eurovision Song Contest: A Platform for European Identity Contestations and Imaginary Membership Narratives

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Eurovision Song Contest: A Platform for European

Identity Contestations and Imaginary Membership

Narratives

MA Thesis in European Studies

Graduate School of Humanities Universiteit Van Amsterdam

Author: Claudia degli Alessandrini

Student Number: 10848185

Main Supervisor: Prof. Chiara De Cesari

Second Supervisor: Prof. Menno Spiering

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1 Abstract:

The Eurovision Song Contest is more than a kitsch performance of bad taste. Rather, this dissertation will study this pan-European televised contest as a platform for European identity formation and contestations. Through a methodological approach of semiology and discourse analysis, this study will analyse three Eurovision performances and their relevant media coverage: Azerbaijan 2012, Austria 2015, and Australia 2015. By doing so, it will aim to cast light on what vision of Europe is being portrayed by the ESC, and whether this matches reality. Furthermore, this study will defend the thesis that membership to the European Imagined Community as per Benedict Anderson relies on a similar interpretation of European identity values than Europe does. Explained by Gerard Delanty’s notion of Moral Universalism, Europe is imagined as the beamer of human rights, freedom of expression and democracy. ESC participants that seem to lack allegiance to these values are placed as Europe’s ‘other’, diminishing their chance of imaginatively belonging to Europe as demonstrated by Azerbaijan ESC 2012 and the Conchita Wurst controversy in 2014. Finally, the Australian case is particularly innovative in its efforts to test Delanty’s theory of cosmopolitanism to Australia’s participation in the ESC 2015, in an attempt to overcome the persistent flaws of European identity theories of alterity and those of ‘Unity in Diversity’.

Key Words: Popular Culture; - European Identity; - European Public Sphere; - ‘Unity in Diversity’; -

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2 Preface:

Writing a thesis on the Eurovision Song Contest is more than meets the eye, for it poses three main challenges: to take a pan-European televised contest in a serious fashion, to consider agency (who is doing what and for what purpose), and to set objectivity apart from subjectivity. Trashy and silly as it seems, the Eurovision Song Contest is a popular event that reaches a plethora of people (over one billion viewers), being more successful in creating an allegiance to European identity than efforts from European institutions deemed somewhat intangible by the ordinary people.

Eurovision is so successful because it combines two entertainment components: music, and television. Both form identity, and most importantly, transform identity through a display of diversity that is being acknowledged and accepted. Eurovision then serves as a sphere where European identity-values are being showcased in an effort to transform society (European and non-European alike) through forces of tolerance, democracy, non-discrimination, respect for human rights, and much more. Nevertheless, the understanding of the aforementioned identity values- or their interpretation- varies, creating open contestations on what it means to be European. This interpretation either favours or hampers opportunities for non-European members to join the European Imagined Community.

The greatest difficulty I experienced while writing this thesis was to consider that the labelling of ‘European’ or ‘non-European’, ‘East’ and ‘West’ according to identity values is not so distinct, and is often victim to an intense and often unintentional biasing process. One must therefore learn to research and explain impartially and in a referential manner. Combining this with the argumentative demands of thesis-writing is difficult. Nevertheless, I have to thank two people for this awareness: Benedict Anderson and his marvellous work on imagined communities which offers the idea that European identity is a social construct based on the belief of belonging. The second person is my thesis supervisor, Prof. Chiara de Cesari. Prof. De Cesari did not only offer academic supervision; she also taught me how to research by showing me that being both analytic and fair calls for impartiality. She is also to thank for her open-mindedness in seeing the academic in Eurovision; for her very approachable personality, and professionalism in the European cultural field and beyond.

I also would like to thank Prof. Menno Spiering for his careful coordination of thesis-writing and open availability to all sorts of enquiries. Furthermore, I would like to thank every professor who has taught me in my MA degree in European Studies: Identity and Integration at the University of

Amsterdam, for I learned plenty. In addition, thank you to my family for the endless support and for

taking Eurovision seriously. In particular, thank you to my sister Giulia degli Alessandrini who spent hours debating Eurovision performances with me over a coffee. Last but not least, thank you Eurovision artists for offering various visions of Europe and European identity. In particular, thank you Conchita Wurst for standing up to change, for being representative of the Eurovision philosophy of ‘united in diversity’, for transforming society through values of tolerance , non-discrimination and a respect for individual freedom.

Overall, this thesis contributed to both my academic and personal growth. It seems as though the Eurovision Song Contest made me feel a little more European through its imaginative force.

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3 Introduction:

3.1 Eurovision: European identity and Europe as an Imagined Community:

The Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) is a pan-European television contest where European and non-European members compete for the best artistic performance every year.1_{Initiated in 1956 in Lucarno,}

Switzerland( where its headquarters now lie) this major media event has become increasingly popular, being transmitted to 45 countries in Europe and beyond and viewed by over 1 billion people.2_Sponsored

by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the ESC performances are selected for the Grand-Finale show after having been nominated by each nation’s broadcasting association. Countries that can participate in the ESC rely on the preconditions that their national broadcasting association is an active member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), or the Council of Europe.3_{The EBU’s}

broadcasting associates therefore extend beyond the geographical boundaries of the EU, from the Mediterranean to Eastern Europe, all the way to the Middle East and former Soviet countries since 1993.4_{EBU’s enlargement therefore partially reflects the EU enlargement, as some ESC participating}

countries such as Ukraine are not part of the EU. This generated hypotheses that non-European members participate in Eurovision to enhance a possibility for EU accession.5_{They do so by ‘selling’ themselves}

through performance, in what constitutes another way of ‘doing politics’. Eurovision then serves a tool to familiarize with Europe, to foster mutual acquaintance and thereby increase membership opportunities to the European Imagined Community as per Benedict Anderson. For example, academics Shannon Jones and Jelena Subotic argue that the Eastern European countries use the Eurovision as a chance to prove that they imaginatively belong to a larger European community which had placed them on the periphery.6_{The Eurovision being a mass cultural event, the peripheral states earn their central}

place in European cultural consciousness by defeating this imagination, and shifting the balance of power in their favour.7_{On the other hand, Eurovision gets to ‘sponsor’ Europe as a very inclusive one,}

moderating accusatory claims of playing the cultural hegemon.

1_{Gad Yair and Daniel Maman, ‘‘the persistent structure of Hegemony in the Eurovision Song Contest’’, Acta}

Sociologica 39(1996): 39.

2_{Irving Wolther, ‘‘More than just music: the seven dimensions of the Eurovision Song Contest’’, Popular}

Music 31(2012): 165.

3_{Gad Yair and Daniel Maman, ‘‘the persistent structure of Hegemony in the Eurovision Song Contest’’, Acta}

Sociologica 39(1996): 39.

4_{Jerome Bourdon, ‘‘Unhappy Engineers of the European Soul, the International Communication Gazette,} 63(2007): 264.

5_{Shannon Jones and Jelena Subotic, ‘‘Fantasies of Power: Performing Europeanization on the European} periphery’’, European Journal of Cultural Studies 14(2011): 548.

6_{Shannon Jones and Jelena Subotic, ‘‘Fantasies of Power: Performing Europeanization on the European} periphery’’, European Journal of Cultural Studies 14(2011): 551.

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5 This last statement materializes particularly well when we consider Eurovision’s attempt at ‘going global’ by including Australia as a new member in February 20158_{. The disregarding of European}

geographical borders to this extent is indicative that Eurovision portrays a vision of Europe that is extremely inclusionary. Furthermore, on the basis that Eurovision disregards geographical confinements, the Europe portrayed is then being defined through other means. This dissertation will argue that these other means are European values, and will specifically delve into proving that a) Eurovision shows European identity-elements and b) the contestations surrounding European identity are based on different interpretations on what it means to be European.

As a contribution to the study of European identity in Eurovision, this dissertation aims to answer the following question: How does the Eurovision Song Contest as an example of popular culture showcase and debate a socially constructed European identity in ESC performances 2012- 2015 and their related media coverage? Through an analysis of three selected ESC performances, the aims of this dissertation are twofold: to prove the existence of European identity values in Eurovision, and to discuss the emerging contestations amongst ESC participants (European and not) on what it means to be European. This implies that the previously explored national dimension is still taken into consideration as a platform for European identity contestations. The identity-values explored in this dissertation rely on a categorization of European identity known as ‘‘Moral Universalism.9_{’’ Gerard Delanty explains}

that this model of European identity is based on an allegiance to universal human values such as justice, human rights and humanitarianism, whereby Europe is based on moral values that rest on democratic principles.10_{These principles also feature in the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, and include}

respect for human dignity, freedoms, equality, citizen rights (including those rights belonging to minorities), pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity.11_{These values also feature in}

the statutes of the organizing force of the Eurovision (the EBU) as it has to comply with EU democratic foundational values in order to operate. For example, the EBU has to safeguard and sponsor freedom of expression and information, cultural diversity, European cultural heritage, reinforcing the identity of peoples, social cohesion and integration. Nevertheless, Delanty’s model of European identity is criticized on the basis that these values are deemed universal, rather than strictly European.12

8_{Stuart Kemp and John Plunkett, ‘‘Eurovision Song Contest invites Australia to Join world’s biggest party’’,}

the Guardian, February 10, 2015.

9_{Gerard Delanty, ‘‘Models of European Identity: Reconciling Universalism and Particularism’’, Perspectives}

on European Politics and Society’’, 3(2008): 347.

10_Ibid.

11_{European Parliament, Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, C 346/1( official Journal of the}

European Community , EN 18.12.2000), accessed April 6, 2015,

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/charter/pdf/text_en.pdf

12_{Gerard Delanty, ‘‘Models of European Identity: Reconciling Universalism and Particularism’’, Perspectives}

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6 Furthermore, this model is ‘Eurocentric’ because it portrays Europe as the beamer of these universal values.13_{To overcome these shortcomings, this dissertation will sustain that this identity model is both}

European and universal. Furthermore, this dissertation will inscribe European identity in a constructivist framework. In other words, Eurovision serves as a platform where the labelling of European identity is socially constructed rather than a European identity which exists a priori. The fact that European identity is a cultural artefact is a precondition for Benedict Anderson’s concept of Imagined Communities when he reflects on the origins of nationalism as something that is not embedded in our genes but socially constructed. How European identity is constructed then has an effect on membership opportunities to a particular Imagined Community. In this case, the Imagined Community in question is Europe, thereby the way European identity is interpreted/ understood informs us on who is- or is not- a member.14_{Therefore, the underlying argument of this dissertation is that European identity is a}

constructed social imaginary, and that membership to this European Imaginary Community as per Benedict Anderson relies on the equal interpretation of identity-values as precondition. The ESC, due its celebratory stance on diversity, serves as a virtual platform where identity-contestations on the meaning of being European emerge. This different interpretation implies that identity discourses in Eurovision must embrace theories of ‘unity in diversity’ and those based on alterity between ‘Europe’ and its ‘others’ to accept these different interpretations in a non-conflictual manner.

3.2 Methodology:

This dissertation on how European identity features and is contested in the Eurovision Song Contest will include a qualitative rather than quantitative analysis of three selected performances (one for each chapter) participating in Eurovision form the period 2012-2015. This analysis will include a presentation of the debates emerging from international media coverage. The aims of this study are twofold: to prove the argument that Eurovision is both a showcase of collective identity-values and a platform for the contestation on what it means to be European. Demonstrating this will lean on performance analyses and their relevant media coverage to explore the circulating discourse associated with a particular performance, where a struggle to interpret a European identity emerges. This dissertation will open with an acknowledgment of previous studies of identity in Eurovision, followed by a theoretical background where all pertinent identity debates will be untangled. These include the identity discourses of ‘unity in diversity’, identity theories of alterity, the media’s role in the making of identity, and the ESC as a public sphere. This theoretical background will formulate and re-adapt arguments constructed by primary and secondary scholars in the realms of cultural policy, sociology,

13_Ibid.

14_{Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (London:} Verso,1983), 13-16.

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7 and media studies. Some include Monica Sassatelli, Thomas Risse, Jürgen Habermas, Jerome Bourdon, Stuart Hall, Cris Shore, Kimunguyi, Tuuli Lähdesmäki, and Joestein Gripsrud.

This study will then proceed to analyse three Eurovision performances: Azerbaijan 2011/2012, Austria 2014, and Australia 2015. The performance analysis will be based on the Eurovision Grand Final performances which can be accessed online at the Eurovision website under the category News Archive.15_{The analysis will look into several elements of performance. These include an analysis of}

song lyrics, of stage props, of costumes, of stage-set design, and artist. Any identity debates resulting as a reaction to these performances will be sought in international media coverage accessible to everybody today via the web. These include online international newspaper sections such as Der Spiegel

International, BBC, the Huffington Post, CNN, Celebrity News, Amnesty International, the Telegraph, the Guardian several blogs, and more. An analysis of this textual material will then be conducted in the

hopes to reveal how identity is being contested on political and social grounds, and consequently its effects on membership to the European Imagined Community. The dissertation analysis will combine two methodological approaches borrowed from those applied to visual imagery. One includes semiology, or the study of signs in visual imagery.16_{Essentially, this approach takes an image apart to}

analyse its significance in a wider system of meaning. Furthermore, The Austrian ESC 2014 entry by drag queen Conchita Wurst will use semiotics as a tool for analysis of her persona and her song. Simultaneously, this dissertation will include the methodological approach of discourse analysis. The latter is an essential methodological approach because discourse refers to a form of communication from which meaning is derived. This offers a way of framing and narrating that adopts a specific socio-political perspective.17_{The Eurovision Song Contest then offers a platform where this}

‘conversation’ can unfold, ultimately casting light on what Michael Foucault terms ‘‘discourse formation.’’18_{In other words, any visual source has an agency of its own, and casts light on wider issues}

of power structure and of knowledge.19_{Foucault was very influential to this methodological approach}

because he sustained that knowledge and power are closely interconnected. That is because a powerful discourse implies the acceptance of a certain knowledge as true.20_{A similar process unfolds in the}

Eurovision Song Contest, where a particular performance offers a discourse about what Europe is and what it is not, about what is located in Europe and what is outside of it based on understandings of

15_{‘‘Eurovision Web TV Archive’’,}_{http://www.eurovision.tv/page/webtv.}

16_{Gillian Rose, Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to Researching with Visual Materials (London: SAGE,} 2012), 113.

19_{Gillian Rose, Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to Researching with Visual Materials (London: SAGE,} 2012), 191-193.

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8 identity. This discourse frames the entire controversy over European identity, uncovering the struggles behind its interpretation. Eurovision is then more than a meaningless kitsch performance, rather constituting a stage for identity building, for the definition of Europe, and its imaginary membership opportunities. Following the theoretical background, this dissertation will start a fist case study on Azerbaijan Eurovision 2011/2012 and the role of the contest in either overcoming -or entrenching - human rights violations. It will follow with another case-study on transgender artist Conchita Wurst’s winning entry in 2014, to explore how Russia’s reaction crystallizes an East/West divide into ‘ Europe’ and its ‘others’, and vice-versa( Russia and its European ‘other’). This chapter will also cast light on how this Eurovision entry echoes wider geopolitical issues; namely, the Ukraine crisis. Finally, the last chapter will investigate Australia’s 2015 participation in the song contest and will test a Cosmopolitan model of European identity coined by Gerard Delanty. Because of Eurovision ‘going global’ to this extent, this case-study will also argue that the vision of Europe portrayed is that of a ‘borderless Europe’. However, this vision does not reflect reality, and will be demonstrated. While seemingly overcoming criticisms pertaining to the theory of ‘unity in diversity’ and the European identity theories based on alterity, the Australian case is in reality poorly compatible with the theory of Delanty’s cosmopolitan European identity. This statement rests on the fact that Eurovision invited Australia because of the cultural proximity between the two.

4 Eurovision as an academic knowledge-source:

4.1 Eurovision as a Tool for Nation- Branding:

This section will explore why the Eurovision Song Contest has been worthy of academic attention. There are countless scholarly approaches to the Eurovision Song Contest. One is the work of Irving Wolther, who sustains that the ESC offers up to seven different dimensions: the media dimension, the musical-economic dimension, the political dimension, the cultural dimension, the national-economic dimension, and the competitive dimension.21_{Although most dimensions are beyond the scope}

of this dissertation, this study is suggestive that what superficially appears to constitute a product of entertainment is in reality a space where politics, common and diverse cultures thrive. There is therefore a general agreement amongst scholars that Eurovision is more than just music.

Scholarly attention to-date has been heavily focused on Eurovision as a tool for nation branding, covering the realms of Wolther’s musical dimension. A significant example of the latter approach is offered by Albert Meijer in his Masters dissertation. Through a performance analysis of eastern-nation states in Eurovision 2012, Meijer answers the main question on how the Eurovision Song Contest is used as a means for nation-branding. His question is answered by emphasizing that Eurovision artists

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9 display symbols commonly associated with their nation, as in the overly-quoted example of Russia’s 2012 Grand Finale entry. In this entry, Russian grandmas dressed as stereotypical Russian babushkas were dancing onstage, offering to the audience a mix of folkloric elements echoing the Russian nation through humour.22_{Galina Miazhevich in her study on Russian sexuality in Eurovision is another}

relevant example. In her paper, the author explores Russia’s Eurovision entries restricted to the years 2003-2009. Through a performance analysis of Russian sexuality in Eurovision, Miazhevich notes that, ‘‘The sexual excess in its Eurovision performances enabled it to delineate a national brand in relation to a paradigm of European/ western ‘others’ through a sequence of reverse mirroring.’’23_Russia’s

display of homosexuality by performer Bilan in his 2009 entry, for example, challenges national homophobic concerns that have been labelled characteristically Russian.24_{In other words, Eurovision}

serves as an opportunity to show Russia’s more tolerant face towards homosexuality than perceived by the West. Simultaneously, Russian Eurovision entries challenged the Russian perception of a worthy West, rather estimated a ‘trashy’ Russian sub-culture:

Russia’s process of communication with its imaginary others inevitably entails a defensive resistance to ‘‘foreign’’ cultural elements and a nostalgia for the ‘‘familiar’’ local phenomena such as the Soviet orientation towards high culture, literariness and canonical texts.25

Last but not least, several textbooks have been dedicated to Eurovision as a vehicle for nation-branding. One by Dafni Tragaki entitled Empire of Song: Europe and Nation in the Eurovision Song

Contest explores the nationalist functions of Eurovision songs amongst other features (gender,

sexuality).26_{Research related to Eurovision nation-branding is therefore saturated, deriving examples}

mainly from Mediterranean and eastern European countries willing to express their nationality through culture.27_{Granted, national symbolisms in Eurovision performances constitutes a legitimate study; yet,}

they do not remain indisputable. Although these symbols of national exaggeration constitute a sufficient condition for nation-branding, they are not a necessary and singular condition. It can be argued that these symbols are being displayed to lure the audience to tele-vote for a particular performance because they portray stereotypes instilled in individual consciousness of how the ‘other’ is perceived. Simply put, they serve as a strategy to attract votes because they match a common imaginary of the unfamiliar.

22_{Albert Meijer, ‘‘Be My Guest: Nation branding and national representation in the Eurovision Song Contest} (Master diss., University of Groningen, 2013):70-72, 91.

23_{Galina Miazhevich, ‘‘Sexual Excess in Russia’s Eurovision Performances as a Nation Branding Tool’’,}

Russian Journal of Communication 3(2010): 262.

Russian Journal of Communication 3(2010): 260-261.

Russian Journal of Communication 3(2010): 2622.

26_{Katherine Meizel, ‘‘Empire of Song: Europe and Nation in the Eurovision Song Contest’’, review of Empire}

of Song: Europe and the Nation in the Eurovision Song Contest, by Dafni Tragaki. Ethnomusicology Forum,

January 21, 2015. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1080/17411912.2014.996991.

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10 Furthermore, these national symbols do not accurately and completely reflect the social reality of a particular nation, as are deeply exaggerated. Because of this, they may be considered ridiculous, unrepresentative, and somewhat unreliable. Rather than focussing on Eurovision as a tool for nation-branding, this dissertation aims to bring the European dimension of Eurovision truly to the fore.

4.2 Eurovision and European Identity Construction:

Other academics have investigated European identity construction in Eurovision before, such as Cornel Sandvoss. Sandvoss analyses European identity through affective bonds built between the audiences and Eurovision. 28_{He also argues that EU citizens have a sense of primary or secondary psychological}

attachment to European culture and identity in Eurovision where, ‘‘…we learn to position ourselves in a wider cultural field.’’29_{He then perceives European identity as an attachment to European culture on}

display, questioning what kind of Europe the contest promotes for this attachment to materialize. 30_He

answers these questions by paralleling the Eurovision Song Contest to a ‘Heimat’, a familiar place characterized by geographical inclusivity.31_{It is precisely this ESC geographical inclusivity that}

contributes to European identification. This way, the European cultural space is, ‘‘A recreation of conditions of the national community at a higher geographical scale.’’32_{Overall, Sandvoss’ work}

intends the European dimension as a larger extension of the national.

Another relevant study of European identity in Eurovision is offered by Karen Fricker and Milija Gluhovic in a textbook performing the New Europe: Identities, feelings, and Politics in the Eurovision

Song Contest. More similar to this study, Karen Fricker essentially argues that Eurovision is an

opportunity to showcase transnational European identity and solidarity.33_{The author investigates how}

the notion of Europeanness has changed since Eurovision’s inception in the 1950s, bringing into light different interpretations of European understandings from different perspectives.34

28_{Cornel Sandvoss, ‘‘On the Couch with Europe: The Eurovision Song Contest, the European Broadcast Union} and Belonging on the Old Continent’’, Popular Communication: The International Journal of Media and

Culture 6(2008): 190.

Culture 6(2008): 195.

Culture 6(2008): 196.

31_Ibid.

Culture 6(2008): 198.

33_{Steve Wilmer, ‘‘Performing the ‘New’ Europe: Identities, feelings, and politics in the Eurovision Song} Contest. Edited by Karen Fricker and Milija Gluhovic’’. Review of Performing the New Europe: Identities,

feelings and politics in the Eurovision Song Contest by Karen Fricker and Milija Gluhovic. Performance Research: A Journal of the Performing Arts, August 13, 2014.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13528165.2014.935200. 34_Ibid.

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11 The book explores Eurovision’s identification at different levels: the regional, the national, the European as well as with subaltern groupings such as the immigrants, the gay, and ethnic minorities.35

The most complete and accurate documentation on European identity in Eurovision, this book constitutes a major inspiration to this study.

5 Theoretical Framework: On European Identity and the

European Public Sphere:

5.1 Unity in diversity and the ‘Europeanization of Culture’:

Throughout this dissertation, the Eurovision Song Contest will be inscribed in the theory of ‘unity in diversity’, as it will argue and demonstrate that the competition showcases different cultural particularities within a feeling of common belonging. For this reason, ‘unity in diversity’ does not merely describe the official European slogan adopted in the European realm of cultural policy, but offers a lens through which European identity can be studied. The underlying idea of the slogan is to, ‘‘Celebrate [cultural] differences without homogenising them.36_{’’ This rests on the idea that being}

European presumes a plurality of different cultural units that, nevertheless, have common unifying elements.37_{Before underscoring the relevance of the discourse of ‘unity in diversity’ to the Eurovision}

Song Contest, a general background on its emergence by the architects of the European Union is appropriate. That is because this discourse is the product of cultural Europeanization.

Prior to the 1992 Treaty of Maastricht, culture had been marginalized compared to economic and political efforts for European integration, its legal basis not having yet been formulated. Addressing culture was only achieved partially, when the 1957 Treaty of Rome responsible for the constitutional foundations of the EU referenced culture on non-discriminatory principles and on the free movements of goods across the union.38_{This then meant that culture was being intended through economic terms,}

by both the European Commission and the European Parliament.39_{Jacques Delors, -president of the}

European Commission in the 1980s- described the commercialization of culture as follows: ‘‘Under the terms of the treaty, we do not have the resource to implement a cultural policy; but we are going to try to tackle it along economic lines.’’40_{Building Europe then was conceived purely as a dismantling of}

borders to ensure the free movements of capital, goods and services, with culture being a part of this

35_Ibid.

36_{Tuuli Lähdesmäki, ‘‘Rhetoric of unity and cultural diversity in the making of European cultural identity’’,}

International Journal of Cultural Policy 18(2012): 63.

37_Ibid.

38_{Cris Shore, ‘‘in uno Plures (?) EU Cultural Policy and the Governance of Europe’’, Cultural Analysis} 5(2006): 12.

40_{Jacques Delors in Cris Shore, ‘‘in uno Plures (?) EU Cultural Policy and the Governance of Europe’’,}

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12 economic plan.41_{Around the 1970s-1980s; however, culture began to serve the interests of the European}

elites in their attempts at unification and integration, for it would enhance the then Community’s low popularity.42_{The European Commission’s first efforts to place culture on the agenda was through the}

intention to preserve European common cultural heritage, a significant portion of the budget dedicated to this cause.43_{As a noteworthy step to the consideration of culture, a committee for the ‘peoples of}

Europe’ was constructed in 1985, the so-called Adonnino Committee.44_{This committee aimed to}

promote European identity within and outside the borders of Europe.45_{Other, ‘‘populist measures’’}46

were undertaken by the institutions to forge a feeling of allegiance to Europe through cultural symbolism such as the European anthem, the European passport, the European driving license, and the European flag.47_{Progressively, culture began to gain more importance, an unprecedented attention}

granted by the Maastricht Treaty.48

The Maastricht Treaty is important because it deepened the competence of the European Union in sectors that were previously confined to the Member States. Amongst its innovations is the basis for a European constitution where the category of European citizenship was created, so a sense of European identity was correlated to territory. This was accompanied by the European Union’s intervention into sectors such as healthcare, education, youth, culture, and consumer protection.49_{The discourse features}

for the first time in Article 151, heavily cited by cultural policy academics. The article stresses the principle of ‘unity in diversity’ as it stipulates that, ‘‘The Community shall contribute to the flowering of cultures of the Member States while respecting their national and regional diversity and at the same time bringing the common cultural heritage to the fore.’’50_{The discourse of ‘unity in diversity’ is}

thereby not only confined to the Maastricht Treaty, featuring also in the 2008 Lisbon Treaty.

41_{Cris Shore, Building Europe: The Cultural Politics of European Integration (London and New York:} Routledge, 2000), 42.

42_{Cris Shore, ‘‘in uno Plures (?) EU Cultural Policy and the Governance of Europe’’, Cultural Analysis} 5(2006): 11-14.

45_Ibid. 46_Ibid. 47_{Ibid: 15.}

50_{Treaty establishing the European Community (Amsterdam consolidated version) - Part Three: Community} policies - Title XII: Culture - Article 151 - Article 128 - EC Treaty (Maastricht consolidated version) - Article 128 - EEC Treaty, accessed 6 April, 2015,

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13 Article 2 clearly states that the union, ‘‘shall respect its rich cultural and linguistic diversity and shall ensure that Europe’s cultural heritage is safeguarded and enhanced.’’51_{The discourse of ‘unity in}

diversity’ was then adopted by scholars to investigate identity mechanisms in cultural products. Monica Sassatelli in the book Becoming Europeans opens up the introductory chapter with a tripartite theoretical debate on European identity construction in the context of European integration. The author chronologically relates European identity to ‘unity’, to ‘diversity’ and finally, to ‘unity in diversity’. The unpacking of the three components reveals that ‘unity’ on its own refers to the theory of Federalism, relying on European integration for the construction of a supranational structure that is overarching.52

The correlation between unity and Federalist theory is appropriate to a Europe defined by its common cultural heritage from antiquity onwards. Europe is therefore, ‘‘based on the legacy of Hellenic rationality and beauty, Roman law and institutions, and Judaeo-Christian ethics.’’53_{Christianity, the}

Renaissance, the Enlightenment were all unifying factors to express an idea of Europe deemed superior to the other continents of Asia and Africa for centuries.54_{Nevertheless, these certainly valid unifying}

elements constitute a strictly European legacy, and for this reason tend to underscore exclusionary and Eurocentric tones:

…European tradition results in an arbitrary, ideological selection towards the inside and an imperialist, Eurocentric vision of the world towards the outside, possibly with a subtext of racial and cultural chauvinism, and essentialism.55

For the aforementioned reasons, the discourse of unity on its own is a flawed theory of identity, as essentially anachronistic and hierarchical. Monica Sassatelli then explores the component of diversity independently. To the opposite theoretical extreme, the discourse of diversity overtly focused on European pluralism.56_{The proponents of this theory sustain that there are too many different identities}

for there to be a European identity at all. If one would hypothesize on its existence, it would be formulated with universal rather than European values.57_{Furthermore, collective identity is elitist, so}

beyond the accessibility of the popular level.58

52_{Monica Sassatelli, Becoming Europeans: Cultural Identity and Cultural Policies (London: Palgrave} Macmillan, 2009), 25.

55_{Gerard Delanty in Monica Sassatelli, Becoming Europeans: Cultural Identity and Cultural Policies (London:} Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), 28.

57_Ibid.

58_{Monica Sassatelli, Becoming Europeans: Cultural Identity and Cultural Policies (London: Palgrave} Macmillan, 2009), 30-31.

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14 Showing resemblance to the theory of Neofunctionalism- characterized by the famous spill-over effect from the economic realms to other realms-, European identity framed within the ‘unity’ discourse is merely an aspiration for the future and contrasts the interventionist role of the European Union into the cultural sector. This also translates in the nation being the main beholder of identity that cannot be substituted by a common, collective one:

In practical terms, these ideas correspond to a sceptical attitude to the possible role of European institutions for culture: these should be a kind of institutional shelter to protect, valorize and diffuse knowledge about the plurality of European cultures, as well as for democratic principles of human rights.59

Having identified the two theories of ‘unity’ and ‘diversity’ separately, a balance is then being sought with a combination of the two- the discourse of ‘unity in diversity’. Fitting the model of European multi-level governance, this last theory is the most adequate for two specific reasons. First, it is the best theory embracing the fundamental nature of identity, which is multiple.60_{This means that}

the tendency of any type of identity intrinsically shows allegiance to multiple levels and factors. Pertaining to European identity, an individual may hold both national and collective allegiance, much in the same way that an individual can be show allegiance to gender and religious assimilation simultaneously.61_{This implies that a national and European identity form two identity-layers that are}

perceived in a non-conflictual manner, which is what happens throughout the Eurovision Song Contest. Secondly, ‘unity in diversity’ conceives diversity as an ‘‘asset’’62_{that is respected in its particularity.}

Diversity as an asset also features in Eurovision because diversity is generally enriching rather than debilitating. Similarly, Thomas Risse moves away from the mutually exclusive idea that identity is explained by a zero-sum approach.63_{He therefore elaborates on the concept of ‘‘nested identities’’}64

composed of multiple layers within one another. This implies the respect of all layers of identification: ‘‘in this case, everyone in a smaller community is also part of a larger community and identifies with it.’’65_{This explains why most people living in Europe agree that they are both European and German,}

Austrian, Italian, etc.

60_{Thomas Risse, A Community of Europeans? Transnational Identities and Public Spheres (New York: Cornell} University, 2010), 40.

63_{Thomas Risse, A Community of Europeans? Transnational Identities and Public Spheres (New York: Cornell} University, 2010), 23

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15 Despite the numerous application of the discourse in official and academic debates, it does not remain immune to criticism. Although offering a mediation between a single European identity and the preservation of cultural pluralism, Cris Shore argues that the discourse of ‘unity in diversity’ is flawed for two main reasons. As previously mentioned, it maintains a Eurocentric, elitist, and exclusionary view of European cultural identity. Elements of superiority and exclusion are not being dismantled because culture is perceived as a political tool for advancing the construction of Europe by the elites, and is top-down. Secondly, this motto seems to favour the diversity principle more than the unity, by focusing on the EU using culture as a political means to percolate deeper into the social.66_Shore’s

former point was taken up by several others. For instance, Meyerscough acknowledges that the diversity principle seems to shine through to a greater extent than the unity principle, causing culture to become a ‘Trojan horse’ to achieve national non-cultural objectives.67_{Other denunciations rest on the difficult}

conceptualization of the term culture:

‘Unity in diversity’ is a bureaucratic formula fraught with ambiguities and problematic assumptions about the nature of culture, central to which is the question of how far, if at all, cultural diversity can be reconciled with the quest for unity.68

The discourse is also attacked on the grounds that the discourse is, ‘‘void of any significance’’69

and that a multiple concept of identity does not overcome the general agreement that Europe behaves as a cultural hegemon.70_{Generally, the discourse has been so extensively criticized to the point where}

there were suggestions to re-formulate the discourse from ‘unity in diversity’ to ‘unity and diversity’.71

With what concerns its relevance to Eurovision, the discourse of ‘unity in diversity’ is appropriate because the entire competition preserves national (and non-European) particularities that are accepted in a common framework. Specifically, this dissertation will seek to prove the adequacy of the discourse based on how the element of diversity is being accepted as unitary. Performance analyses and relevant media coverage will shed light on the struggle to interpret a European identity, differing because of the cultural diversity on display. Nevertheless, the discourse applied to Eurovision is important, because it may challenge Cris Shore’s criticism that it implies an exclusionary form of European identity. On the contrary, this dissertation will sustain that the Eurovision Song Contest is a case of popular culture where elements of diversity are being accepted in an inclusionary manner. Once again, diversity serves

66_{Cris Shore, ‘‘in uno Plures (?) EU Cultural Policy and the Governance of Europe’’, Cultural Analysis} 5(2006): 12-22.

67_{Meyerscough in Monica Sassatelli, Becoming Europeans: Cultural Identity and Cultural Policies (London:} Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), 92.

71_{Gerard Delanty in Cris Shore, ‘‘in uno Plures (?) EU Cultural Policy and the Governance of Europe’’,}

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16 as an asset towards a more inclusionary Europe where feelings of tolerance, familiarity and acceptance thrive despite divergences, and by doing so potentially undermines the main criticisms of the discourse.

5.2 ‘Europe’ and its ‘Others’: A European Identity Based on Alterity:

What constitutes a ‘European’ identity is very complex to nail down. Nevertheless, its lack of cohesiveness may be overcome by grounding the existence of a European identity on alterity. Paul Gifford and Tessa Hauswedell in Europe and its ‘Others’ – amongst others( Luisa Passerini; Derrida) inscribe European identity in a binary model between the ‘self’ and the ‘other’72_{. In other words, a}

European identity is based on what it is not. European history started this ‘othering’ process, as marked by exploration to new and very unfamiliar worlds, encounters with foreign continents, and changing boundaries73_{. For this very reason, Europe engaged in this ‘othering’ process for self-affirmation and}

territorial legitimization. This process was applied to determine opposition to varying identity-elements, ranging from religion, language and culture.74

Since antiquity, an idea of Europe owed its conceptualization to a geographical expression.75

Noteworthy philosophers such as Herodotus and Aristotle conceived a tripartite division of the globe into Asia, Africa and Europe.76_{Dividing the world into three continents served to the Greeks as a way}

of settling themselves above and apart from what they considered inferior cultures of Africa and Asia. The role of the term ‘‘Barbarian’’ served to designate whomsoever was unable to speak Greek, and was therefore deemed inhuman and uncivilized.77_{For the ancient Greeks, the Barbarians were their ‘others’.}

Thus, the awareness of a European consciousness began in the Classical period, and was defined contraposition to other geographical units (Asia, Africa, and America).78_{From antiquity onwards,}

European consciousness by way of its geographical awareness also began to encompass European moral and political associations as distinguishing elements.79_{Some stepping-stones to this end include the}

vision that Europe was morally characterized by principles of liberty in contrast to the servile nature of the Asians. Overarched only by the unifying element of Roman law -compared to the ‘inferior Asians’ dominated by authoritative people-figures, - Europe and Asia were marked by two very different moral and political models.80

72_{Paul Gifford and Tessa Hauswedell, Europe and its Others: Essays on Interperception and Identity (Bern:} CIS, 2010), 1.

73_Ibid.

75_{Heikki Mikkeli, Europe as an Idea and an Identity (London: Macmillan, 1998), 3.} 76_{Heikki Mikkeli, Europe as an Idea and an Identity (London: Macmillan, 1998), 6-9.} 77_{Heikki Mikkeli, Europe as an Idea and an Identity (London: Macmillan, 1998), 7.} 78_{Federico Chabod, Storia dell’ Idea dell’Europa ( Roma-Bari: Laterza, 1974),23.} 79_{Federico Chabod, Storia dell’ Idea dell’Europa ( Roma-Bari: Laterza, 1974),25.} 80_{Federico Chabod, Storia dell’ Idea dell’Europa ( Roma-Bari: Laterza, 1974),27.}

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17 The dichotomy of the ancient Greeks (Europeans) versus the barbarian ‘others’ was re-conceptualized in the Middle Ages when Christian religion defined Europe vis-à-vis the pagan non-Europeans.81_{Religion initially served as a unifying element of solidarity against the backdrop of foreign}

invasions (namely from Islamic Turks) and internal splits between the Christian West and Byzantine East beginning in 395.82_{Moreover, the advent of the Christian crusades marked a competition between}

Christianity and Islam over Constantinople, granting Europe a self-understanding based on moral contradistinction.83_{The Islamic ‘threat’ therefore implied that Europe was equated with Christianity as}

a unifying element, a Respublica Christiana around which all moral and spiritual values revolved.84

Nevertheless, even the notion of Respublica Christiana forged in the Middle Ages too prominently favoured Europe as a geographical more than a moral and cultural unit85_{Due to this, there is a general}

consensus amongst historians (Michael Wintle; Peter Burke) that the Renaissance marks an upgrade of the conceptualization of Europe to include not only religious values but also significant moral and cultural ones.86_{Through the advent of Humanism, the Renaissance marks a starting point where the}

individual experience was defined not merely by religious connotations of divine providence but also by artistic, scientific and cultural products.87_{Overall, it is by way of intense exploration to new worlds}

that European cultural values of superiority and civilization were testimonied.88_{Since allegiance to}

these moral, political and cultural values constitutes elements of identity, the Renaissance marks the starting point of the emergence of a European identity. The work of Edward Said remarked this differentiation process, offering a conceptualization of Orientalism in opposition to Occidentalism.89

Today, we still tend to classify the different as the ‘other’, although the reason to do this rests on cultural interconnectedness rather than on the now anachronistic historical exploration. Furthermore, it is not a given that the ‘other’ is always the ‘subordinate’ of the more civilized Europe, suggesting that ‘other’ labelling depends on perspective. In the case of Russia, for example, it is since the 17th_{century empire}

building attempts from Peter the Great that Russia has conflictual feelings over their European ‘other’.90

81_{Federico Chabod, Storia dell’ Idea dell’Europa ( Roma-Bari: Laterza, 1974),29.} 82_{Heikki Mikkeli, Europe as an Idea and an Identity (London: Macmillan, 1998), 13.} 83_{Heikki Mikkeli, Europe as an Idea and an Identity (London: Macmillan, 1998), 34-35.} 84_{Federico Chabod, Storia dell’ Idea dell’Europa ( Roma-Bari: Laterza, 1974),29.} 85_Ibid.

86_{Michael Wintle, the Image of Europe: Visualizing Europe in Cartography and Iconography (Cambridge:} Cambridge University Press, 2009), 8.

87_{Norman Davies, Europe: A History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), 471-473.}

88_{Michael Wintle, the Image of Europe: Visualizing Europe in Cartography and Iconography (Cambridge:} Cambridge University Press, 2009), 8

89_{Edward Said in Paul Gifford and Tessa Hauswedell, Europe and its Others: Essays on Interperception and}

Identity (Bern: CIS, 2010), 2.

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18 For some, Europe and the West by extension is an aspirational model of governance and social organization.91_{For others, Europe erodes and threatens Russian distinctiveness.}92

Theories of identity based on alterity find relevance in the Eurovision Song Contest because it seems as though the ESC on the one hand can function to entrench this distinction between ‘Europe’ and its ‘Others’, hampering membership opportunities to the European Imagined Community. Conversely, Paul Allatson argues that the Eurovision implies compliance to what he defines as a, ‘‘Kitsch-consciousness.’’93_{This means that in Eurovision, the main goal is for every participating}

member (whether European or not) to adhere to an aesthetically familiar kitsch-drive. This ultimately effaces the ‘other’ through a sort of homogenising artistic process. In the words of Allatson:

…Cast this way, kitsch may be best understood as an aesthetic-mechanism for domesticating radical difference and avoiding trans-cultural and ethno-national conflict, or worse: I’d rather be kitsch than ethically cleanse. 94

Overall, the binary opposition between ‘self’ and ‘others’ can be applied to European self-understanding based on alterity. Since antiquity, this binary opposition evolved into an inclusion of moral and political values, granting less significance to geography and religion in identity construction. Depending on the Eurovision performance in consideration, the ESC offers two possible effects on this identity principle: it either crystallizes already pre-existing distinctions between ‘Europe’ and its ‘others’, or contributes to overcoming them. Both have an effect on membership opportunities, even imaginary.

5.3 The Work of the Media in the Making of Identities:

Eurovision is a showcase of politics, of culture, of nationality and of collectivity. Nevertheless, its musical aspect must not be ignored as it also serves as a platform for identity construction. Simon Frith in his chapter on Music and Identity essentially argues that music is an experience that constructs identity.95_{What is relevant in his study pertains to what kinds of identities music can create}

simultaneously. This claim rests on the assumption that identity is not a given, but is rather produced through music in the context of popular culture.96

91_Ibid.

92_Ibid.

93_{Paul Allatson, ‘‘Antes Cursi que Sencilla: Eurovision Song Contest and the Kitsch-Drive to Euro-Unity’’,}

Culture, Theory and Critique 48(2007): 90.

94_{Paul Allatson, ‘‘Antes Cursi que Sencilla: Eurovision Song Contest and the Kitsch-Drive to Euro-Unity’’,}

Culture, Theory and Critique 48(2007): 91.

95_{Simon Firth, ‘‘Music and Identity’’. In Questions of Cultural Identity, ed. Stuart Hall and Paul du Gay, 109.} London: SAGE, 1996.

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19 Similarly to the way Sassatelli and Thomas Risse study identity, Firth adds that identity is mobile; it is a concept continuously in-the-making.97_{This identity’s particular characteristic is salient to his study}

on music and identity.

Firth opens his chapter with a certain perplexity with the general assumption that specific social identities- whether defined by race, age, or sexuality- only aesthetically enjoy music because they a

priori identify with a particular social group and consequently with a performance representing it.98_For

example, Firth takes issue with the assumption that, ‘‘Only Americans can appreciate African-American music.’’99_{This is because Firth notices that this assumption cannot explain why other social}

identities- let’s say Europeans- also enjoy African-American music.100_{This implies that it is not the}

feeling of communitarian belonging that allows for an enjoyment of its corresponding musical taste; rather, it is through musical experience that our identity is being transformed.101_{This notion is replicated}

in the Eurovision Song Contest as a musical experience works to form identities that are both singular and collective (therefore; European). This would also justify why the contest represents ‘unity in diversity’, because of the ability of identification to be national as well as collective. If the collective aspect would be ignored, then Eurovision would be all about banal nationalism. As Firth puts it:

The issue is not how a particular piece of music or performance reflects the people, but how it produces them, how it creates and constructs an experience- a musical experience, an aesthetic experience- that we can only make sense of by taking on both a subjective and a collective identity…music like identity is both performance and story, describes the social in the individual and the individual in the social.102

This insight on music and identity formulated by Firth is an interesting theoretical explanation to why the Eurovision Song Contest is so open to diversity, to why European and non-European members are allowed to participate and vote for very different musical experiences than what they are familiar with. This is because identity is constructed and transformed through music.

5.4 Television and a European Public Sphere for Identity Construction:

Wolther’s so-called media dimension will also be considered throughout this dissertation as television serves as a platform for European identity formation. This is because television constitutes a national public sphere that had been Europeanized, much in the same way as national identities had been

97_Ibid.

99_Ibid.

101_{Simon Firth, ‘‘Music and Identity’’. In Questions of Cultural Identity, ed. Stuart Hall and Paul du Gay,} 109-111. London: SAGE, 1996.

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20 Europeanized into collective ones.103_{Given that the Eurovision Song Contest is essentially a television}

show sponsored by the most successful pan-European broadcast- the EBU- it is necessary to outline current studies on how television as an example of mass media contributes to identity construction. This will support the argument that the organizing force behind the Eurovision Song Contest constitutes a European public sphere where European identity is being showcased, implemented, and contested.

Existing since the 1950s, some sustain that the European Broadcasting Union was composed of television professionals who rediscovered an interest in cultural policy to foster a unity and a collective consciousness that would overcome the ‘ultra-nationalism’ that had led to two world wars.104

Much like other political and economic unifying acts of the then Economic Community, the EBU was an effort to bring Europe to solidarity.105_{As the organizing force behind Euro-news, satellite television,}

highbrow drama and, of course, the Eurovision Song Contest, the European Broadcasting Union proposes a mediatic way of uniting Europe through live broadcasting.106_{After having failed in the first}

attempt to attract enough viewers to interconnect diverse member states through elite drama (in the 1950s the EBU broadcasted dramaturgical plays by noteworthy figures such as Victor Hugo and Shakespeare), the EBU only really gained its aspired popularity with the Eurovision Song Contest.107

The emergence of a transnational television has also been explored by Joestein Gripsrud. The author argues that the mass media had always been central to the formation of a public sphere, ‘‘in the form of books, journals and newspapers.’’108_{Her study- amongst others- relies on Habermas’ idea of a public}

sphere, born out of 18th_{and 19}th_{century Bourgeoisie habits of meeting in European salons, coffee}

houses and other semi-public spaces to challenge public authorities.109_{In Gripsrud’s paper, public}

sphere is being defined more simplistically as, ‘‘the social space in which that conversation [between the state and its subjects] takes place.’’110_{Much in the same way that television served the emergence}

of a national public sphere and national identity, the author sustains the argument that television contributed to the emergence of a European public sphere, and consequently to a European identity.111

103_{Thomas Risse, A Community of Europeans? Transnational Identities and Public Spheres (New York:} Cornell University, 2010), 113-114.

104_{Jerome Bourdon, ‘‘Unhappy Engineers of the European Soul, the International Communication Gazette,} 63(2007): 264,265.

105_{Eva Polonska-Kimunguyi and Patrick Kimunguyi, ‘‘The Making of the Europeans: Media in the} Construction of pan-national identity’’, the International Communication Gazette 73(2011): 510.

107_Ibid.

108_{Joestein Gripsrud, ‘‘Television and the European Public Sphere’’, European Journal of Communication} 22(2007): 481.

109_{Jürgen Habermas in Thomas Risse, A Community of Europeans? Transnational Identities and Public Spheres} (New York: Cornell University, 2010), 115.

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21 The author nevertheless outlines that the existence of a European public sphere is much more contested and difficult to prove compared to its national counterpart. This is because of the difficulty in European broadcasting programs to echo the cultural and linguistic heterogeneity of Europe.112_{However, what}

truly constitutes a public sphere according to the author is not related to geographical vicinity but rather to a sharing of common symbols and interactions that this medium provides.113_{Contrarily to Jerome}

Bourdon’s assumptions on the failure of the EBU to foster a collective identity, Joestein Gripsrud sustains that this is not the case. Against Bourdon’s claims that the EBU -like national mass media- merely maintained rather than constructed an already pre-existent nation (or European) -building process by the elites114_{, television gave rise to a, ‘‘communicative discourse of common concern leading}

to collective identification.’’115_{In other words, it serves as space for conversation, which creates}

feelings of identity. In Gripsrud’s words:

There is no good reason for saying that television here ‘only’ serves as a maintenance of what politicians and bureaucrats have built. It seems more adequate to speak of interaction or even dialectics: the interplay between powerful media and all (other) sorts of economic social, and cultural arrangements takes the whole thing to a sort of Aufhebung- a higher level than there mere sums of the two.116

This idea is also sustained by Thomas Risse in his section on Transnational Communities of

Communication and Europeanized identities. Risse – like Gripsrud- sustains that the public sphere is

linked to collective identity. Inscribed in the theory of social constructivism, Risse argues that the public sphere and identity are ongoing constructive processes.117_{The public sphere represented by the media}

is a communicative space where debates and issues are being engaged, and where identity is continuously changing because it is affected by these debates.118

Efforts to create a transnational or pan-European television were successful also because they were complemented by European Commission legal developments throughout the 1980s.119_Already

before the 1992 Treaty of Maastricht, the EU institutions embarked on efforts for further European integration by focussing on the development of information and the media.120_{One of the most}

noteworthy acts pushing this forward features in the 1972 Paris Summit leading to the signing of the

113_Ibid.

115_{Thomas Risse, A Community of Europeans? Transnational Identities and Public Spheres (New York:} Cornell University, 2010), 121.

117_{Thomas Risse, A Community of Europeans? Transnational Identities and Public Spheres (New York:} Cornell University, 2010), 120.

118_Ibid.

119_{Eva Polonska-Kimunguyi and Patrick Kimunguyi, ‘‘The Making of the Europeans: Media in the} Construction of pan-national identity’’, the International Communication Gazette 73(2011): 511. 120_{Cris Shore, Building Europe: The Cultural Politics of European Integration (London and New York:} Routledge, 2000), 44.

Eurovision Song Contest: A Platform for European Identity Contestations and Imaginary Membership Narratives