Linguistic Adaptation of the Music Genre Pagan Metal in Russia

Abstract

The article discusses the musical genre Pagan metal and the subculture that has developed around it. Despite the fact that it falls into the field of view of Pagan Studies researchers (and the study of this phenomenon is underway both in the West and in Russia), the Pagan metal environment remains practically unexplored, both in Russia and in the West. Although this genre originated in the West, it soon infiltrated into Russia, where dozens of musical groups appeared performing this music, which is one of the many directions of heavy metal. Initially, Russian Pagan metal bands were completely oriented towards Western samples, which was manifested both in the English-language names of these bands and in English-language texts. However, the use of a foreign language to glorify the native (Slavic) culture looked strange and soon the process of adapting this Western genre to Russian realities began, which was expressed in the Russification of the names of metal bands and the lyrics of their songs. The article, based on numerous interviews with Russian Pagan metal musicians, traces this process. It is shown that although the creative work of Russian pagan metal performers over the past years has become mainly Russian-speaking, the main reason for this lies not in the patriotic intentions of the musicians, but in the conjuncture of the Western music market with its requests for 'authenticity'. At the same time, the initial desire of Russian musicians to conquer the Western audience has not disappeared. However, the aggravation of international relations between Russia and the West has become a new challenge and it is not yet clear how the Russian Pagan metal scene will react to it. If the demand from the Western audience for the creative work of Russian Pagan metal bands falls, this may lead to the collapse of the Russian segment of this genre, since the number of its fans in Russia is small and with such a narrow target audience, creativity cannot serve as a source of income for musicians.