Tonally charged: Nostalgic songs as sites of memory in KOM-teatteri’s Baikalin lapset performance
Abstract
My article discusses the significance of nostalgic songs in a performance with the past as a central theme. I analyse Baikalin lapset (The Baikal Children), a performance which premiered in the Helsinki-based KOM-teatteri in 2002. The piece used two intertwining timelines to explore taistoism, a Finnish communist movement of the 1970s, and its remembrance. The performance featured several songs reminiscent of the 1970s, which served to illustrate the past and advance the plot. I interpret the songs as sites of memory where the past is stored. When the songs are heard again later, the emotional experiences contained in them are also reactivated. I examine the use of these songs as reflective nostalgia that emphasises the longing for times past, while acknowledging the irrevocability of history. My article proves that the songs have the capacity to convey both collective and existential yearning. In addition, I demonstrate how the songs were utilised to comment on the ongoing cultural debate about the legacy of taistoism, heightened by the historical context of KOM-teatteri as a cornerstone of the taistoist cultural movement.
Keywords: theatre; performance; KOM-teatteri; site of memory; reflective nostalgia; taistoism
