Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences (PJSS) Vol. 38, No. 2 (2018), pp. 687-694 Socio-cognitive Approach: A study of Political Music Videos of Pakistan (2007-2017) Rabia Noor Research Scholar in University of the Punjab, Lahore Broadcast Journalist at ARY News Email Id: [email protected] Abstract: This study explores the socio-cognitive processes involved in the production of Pakistani music videos with political narratives. The time period of the research is for ten years starting from 2007 to 2017. This study suggests that music video is a newest and powerful tool to construct political narratives through integrative and disintegrative themes in Pakistan, and these narratives are used to stimulate the audience. The study rests upon qualitative analysis through in-depth interviews of the producers of music videos, lyricists and singers. Five respondents are selected for the interviews using purposive sampling technique. Then the themes are extracted from the answers of the respondents. The theoretical perspective integrated to interpret the results, is Rick Altman’s approach to film Genre (1987). The findings suggest an extension in Altman’s ideological approach. Findings also show that the positive themes are mostly portrayed in Pakistani sociopolitical music videos with the sponsorship of state institutions. Keywords: Music Videos, Political narratives, In-depth interviews, Pakistan, Nationalism, Socio-cognitive approach I. Introduction Every expression transpires from a cognitive process in response to some sort of social interaction and random imaginations. Rink says in a chapter ‘The Psychology of Music’ that not only composers are the people who create music, but the listeners also go through this process of creativity in their minds whenever they get exposed to it. Musical expression is not that simple, because the cognitive structures involved in the production of music are as intricate as the process of perception is. Singers, producers and composers give life to this imagination by creating music and making music videos, by singing, playing instruments and sometimes with the visuals and imagery. Thus, socio-cognitive processes developed with the experiences and interactions with the world, are involved in the musical creation (Rink, 2009, pp. 59-76). Music video is the medium for the artists through which they can express and interpret the desired meaning of their songs with the visual aid and create public identity. Paracha (2014) says that the Pakistani pop music industry thrived when Zia’s dictatorship ended, and democratic government of PPP led by Benazir Bhutto was re-formed. In 1988, the campaign songs were in fashion when the supporters of PPP and MQM used to stroll on the streets of Karachi in jeep convoys with blasting music on.That was the time when the political musical circus boomed in Pakistan (Paracha, 2014). The objectives of this 688 Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences, Vol. 38, No. 2 study are to find out the socio-cognitive processes involved in the making of Pakistani political music videos and to discover the context of their content. II. Literature Review Music plays a vital part in every culture. It can have a symbolic role, religious affiliation or national identity. Hence, everyone uses and practice it in a culture accordingly. Music is being symbolically used in the wars, hunting, festivity and grief; it is also used in religious rituals in some cultures and then there comes the genres, like rap music has African origin and folk music shapes identity of some cultures. It is the context in which music is being used. Some societies prohibit music, but it is a religious practice in some religions (Garfias, 2004. p. 7). Music videos are somehow purposive. As in West Sumatra, they are used for awareness purposes, to inform people about the human sufferings and hardships faced by the earthquake victims. So the music videos highlighted their pain, and helped in raising community service spirit and made people united for a public cause. Music video producers andartists not only sympathized with the victims through their work but also tried to project their emotional and physical state during earthquake to lift their determination and courage (Fraser, 2013, pp. 153-154). Naficy (1998) also concludes in his article that Iranian refugees gained strength in the new land through music videos because music was a dominant culture there. Iranians have used music videos to motivate themselves in hostile circumstances and to show their real self to the world. So they used music videos in twofold inferences, by self-exploration and provocation; and through changing the perspectives of the world about them (p. 59). Music videos are also shaping up the national identity and national pride of an individual along with his or her personal identity by permeatingloyalty for the country and patriotism among people. After the dissolution of USSR in 1991, Kazakhistan emerged as an independent state.They tried to generate national solidarity by using music videos enriched with Kazakh culture to unite the nationagainst religious or political rifts in Kazakhstan (Johnson, 2006, pp. 12-13). III. Theoretical Framework Socio-cognitive approach is particularly used in discourse studies. It holds the philosophy that the ‘sociopolitical realm’ is created by the members of society and these constructions are the representations of cognition. Constructionists are of the view that these representations and their context should be investigated thoroughly to understand the socio-cognitive processes (Van Dijk, 2016). Altman (1987) extended his approach towards film genre, from semantics and syntactic approach to pragmatics. Pragmatic approach deals with the context of a message and how the meaning is interpreted by the audience. That’s how pragmatics divides into ideological approach and the ritual approach. Ideological approach explores the context by looking into the institution of films for example Hollywood makes war movies to develop a Pro-American phenomenon, whereas ritual approach is all about the audience interpretation and the impact of audience demand on the making of the films. This study explores the socio-cognitive processes involved in the making of music videos, using the lens of Altman’s ideological approach towards film genre. The research Rabia Noor 689 questions is: What are the socio-cognitive processes involved in the making of the political music videos in Pakistan? IV. Methodology Qualitative approach in research is more open-ended, purpose oriented and inclusive, and in-depth interviews are widespread and extensive question and answer session with the subjects, to obtain their detailed interpretations and experiences. It is a long and meticulous process to develop an interview guide in the light of research objectives and then trace the relevant respondents and collect all required data from them. This is why an informal method is adopted to conduct in-depth interviews, but sometimes they can be semi-structured as well, it depends on the requirement of the study (Rosenberry, Vicker, 2017). Researcher has categorized sociopolitical music videos in three genres; patriotic, satirical and non-satirical music videos (Noor, 2018, pp. 17-18). In-depth interviews of five participants including music video producer, vocalists and lyricists are conducted purposely. Using purposive sampling technique, two respondents who have produced music videos with sociopolitical narratives were interviewed, then using snowball sampling three more singers and producers were approached and interviewed. Sahir Ali Bagga is a 36 years old musician. He has produced songs for many patriotic music videos. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan is, 43 years old, famous Qawwal and vocalist in both Pakistan and India. He has sung for numerous patriotic music videos. Ali Gul Pir is a 32 years old comedian, who became a social media sensation in Pakistan with a satirical music video Waderay ka Beta (Son of a Feudal Lord). He is a rapper and produces satirical sociopolitical music videos in Pakistan. Ali Aftab Saeed is 32 years old producer, artist and video blogger at BBC. He has produced both satirical and non-satirical sociopolitical music videos. He created a band with the controversial name ‘Beyghairat Brigade’ (Shameless Brigade). Dr Taimur Rahman isa 42 years old musician and a professor in a renowned University of Lahore. He is leading a band named ‘Laal’ (Red) that produces non-satirical sociopolitical music videos. Interview guide was formulated in the light of literature reviewed. V. Findings and Discussions Findings are discussed under six themes derived from the questions regarding political narratives in Pakistani music videos and the answers of the respondents. The themes are ideology, sponsorship, political impetus, favored pillar of the state, political parties’ connections and viewers’ feedback. A. Ideology Ideology is a philosophical founding based on publically shared ideas also depending on their history, and it is meant for particular social groups grounded on conflict or cohesion (Van Dijk, 1998). Background history, which ultimately helps in developing certain ideology, can be arbitrated by the education and livelihood of the music video producers and singers. So ideology along with background helps in understanding the context and significance of the content produced in the music video industry. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, a graduate, has a strong musical family background, whereas Sahir Ali Bagga also belongs to a musician as his father was a renowned musician. Both singers agree that music itself is an ideology for them and they produce 690 Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences, Vol. 38, No. 2 patriotic songs because of their love for the country. Ali Gul Pir pursued for a degree in media studies and did theatre side by side, he says, “Prejudice and injustice in our society have made the ideological base of my songs and their videos. I write satire, then drolly sing it and produce music videos depicting the problems I notice around.” Taimur Rahman has completed done my PhD in political economy from UK and now he is teaching in a leading University in Lahore.