Another Folk Expression:Royalist Political Ballads during the English Civil War
The royalist political ballads during the English Civil War represent another folk expression beyond the mainstream discourse of the parliamentarians,and are also a political discourse that has been neglected for a long time.In contrast to the mainstream discourse of liberty,democracy and popular sovereignty proposed by the parliamentarians,a large number of royalist political ballads systematically deconstruct the above propositions of the parliamentarians through rhetorical means,such as satire and mockery.These ballads not only reveal the economic interests behind the parliamentary discourse,but also condemn the parliamentary practice of depriving people of their property and liberty by using voting,expressing their criticism and disgust towards those disrupting the existing social order.The narrative framework of such ballads generally follows the familiar"monarch-subject model,"in which parliamentarians and their leaders failed to innovate new institutions that benefited the people,but simply became new monarchs.At the same time,the negative perspectives on parliamentarism in these political ballads also shed light on a crucial facet of English institutional culture in this period.The existence of a large number of royalist political ballads indicates that the parliamentarians were under great pressure from popular opinion beyond the battlefield,and these anti-parliamentary ballads were an important part of the evanescent public sphere that emerged at that time.
English Civil Warpolitical balladsroyalistparliamentary sovereigntymonarchy
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