The development of computational linguistic analysis tools, particularly in the last two decades, has accelerated research on the emotional, social, and psychological aspects of song lyrics. Previous studies indicate a decrease in positive emotions and an increase in negative emotions and antisocial themes in popular song lyrics. However, little is known about the Italian context. This study aims to address this gap by investigating the evolution of emotional expression and antisocial themes in Italian popular song lyrics. In addition, it examines the relationship between commercial success (i.e., high placement in song sales) and emotional expression and antisocial themes. For this purpose, top three songs (N = 225) from the Sanremo Music Festival between 1951 and 2025 using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count 2022 (LIWC-22) were analyzed. The main findings indicate a significant decrease in positive emotion words and an increase in negative emotion words and antisocial themes. Furthermore, the results showed that better-selling songs tend to contain more negative emotion and antisocial words. Although the observed trends were not statistically significant in the second analysis, they are notable in the sense of demonstrating systematic changes in emotional expression and antisocial themes over 75 years. By combining computational methods with cultural interpretation, this thesis contributes to the interdisciplinary study of music, psychology, language, and society. keywords: Italian song lyrics, LIWC, Sanremo Music Festival, emotional expression, antisocial themes, culture
Lo sviluppo degli strumenti di analisi linguistica computazionale, in particolare negli ultimi due decenni, ha accelerato la ricerca sugli aspetti emotivi, sociali e psicologici dei testi delle canzoni. Studi precedenti indicano una diminuzione delle emozioni positive e un aumento delle emozioni negative e dei temi antisociali nei testi delle canzoni popolari. Tuttavia, poco si sa sul contesto italiano. Questo studio mira a colmare tale lacuna indagando l’evoluzione dell’espressione emotiva e dei temi antisociali nei testi delle canzoni popolari italiane. Inoltre, esamina la relazione tra successo commerciale (cioè l’alta posizione nelle classifiche di vendita) ed espressione emotiva e temi antisociali. A tal fine, sono state analizzate le prime tre canzoni (N = 225) del Festival di Sanremo tra il 1951 e il 2025 utilizzando il Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count 2022 (LIWC-22). I principali risultati indicano una significativa diminuzione delle parole legate alle emozioni positive e un aumento delle parole legate alle emozioni negative e ai temi antisociali. Inoltre, i risultati hanno mostrato che le canzoni con maggior successo commerciale tendono a contenere più parole relative a emozioni negative e a temi antisociali. Sebbene le tendenze osservate non siano risultate statisticamente significative nella seconda analisi, esse sono comunque rilevanti in quanto dimostrano cambiamenti sistematici nell’espressione emotiva e nei temi antisociali nell’arco di 75 anni. Combinando metodi computazionali con l’interpretazione culturale, questa tesi contribuisce allo studio interdisciplinare della musica, della psicologia, del linguaggio e della società. Parole chiave: testi delle canzoni italiane, LIWC, Festival di Sanremo, espressione emotiva, temi antisociali, cultura
L’evoluzione dell’espressione emotiva e dei temi antisociali nei testi delle canzoni del Festival di Sanremo: un’analisi psicolinguistica computazionale (1951–2025)
SEN, ILAYDA
2024/2025
Abstract
The development of computational linguistic analysis tools, particularly in the last two decades, has accelerated research on the emotional, social, and psychological aspects of song lyrics. Previous studies indicate a decrease in positive emotions and an increase in negative emotions and antisocial themes in popular song lyrics. However, little is known about the Italian context. This study aims to address this gap by investigating the evolution of emotional expression and antisocial themes in Italian popular song lyrics. In addition, it examines the relationship between commercial success (i.e., high placement in song sales) and emotional expression and antisocial themes. For this purpose, top three songs (N = 225) from the Sanremo Music Festival between 1951 and 2025 using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count 2022 (LIWC-22) were analyzed. The main findings indicate a significant decrease in positive emotion words and an increase in negative emotion words and antisocial themes. Furthermore, the results showed that better-selling songs tend to contain more negative emotion and antisocial words. Although the observed trends were not statistically significant in the second analysis, they are notable in the sense of demonstrating systematic changes in emotional expression and antisocial themes over 75 years. By combining computational methods with cultural interpretation, this thesis contributes to the interdisciplinary study of music, psychology, language, and society. keywords: Italian song lyrics, LIWC, Sanremo Music Festival, emotional expression, antisocial themes, culture| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
thesis_2024-2025_senilayda_pdfA.pdf
non disponibili
Descrizione: This thesis uses a computational psycholinguistic model to examine how emotional expression and antisocial themes have changed in Italian popular song lyrics from 1951 to 2025, focusing on the top three Sanremo Festival songs each year.
Dimensione
1.47 MB
Formato
Adobe PDF
|
1.47 MB | Adobe PDF | Richiedi una copia |
È consentito all'utente scaricare e condividere i documenti disponibili a testo pieno in UNITESI UNIPV nel rispetto della licenza Creative Commons del tipo CC BY NC ND.
Per maggiori informazioni e per verifiche sull'eventuale disponibilità del file scrivere a: unitesi@unipv.it.
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14239/32401