Construction and Representation of Ethnic Identity in Football Songs: A Case Study of the Chants of Tabriz Tractor Team Fans

Music and football are both identity-enhancing phenomena that come together in a third phenomenon called fan chanting. Fan chants are considered a musical behavior from the perspective of ethnomusicology. Ethnomusicology does not have an object-oriented approach and emphasizes more on performance. In the duality of music/work-performance, ethnomusicology gives more importance to performance. Music is a social activity through which people create their identity. In relation to the issue of identity, ethnomusicology specifically deals with the contribution of music in the formation of social identity. In this connection, four aspects are examined: 1. music as a symbol of identity, 2. music as an opportunity to share identity, 3. music as a factor in creating an emotional quality for identity, and 4. music as a factor in creating a positive capacity for identity. The formation of fan chants is based on participatory performance, where the emphasis is on the maximum participation of people and there is no mention of the duality of artist-audience. With this perspective, performance does not exist for the sake of presenting musical works, but musical works exist so that they can provide artists (fans) with something to perform. One of the common functions of music among different cultures is the issue of expressing identity. One of the aspects of identity is ethnic identity, and fan chanting becomes a vehicle for the manifestation of this type of identity in multi-ethnic countries. Based on field research conducted in Tabriz and using the netnographic method, the main musical sources used by Tractor fans to make chants are as follows: Iranian, Turkish and Azerbaijani popular music, religious music, political slogans related to the Islamic Revolution, chants by fans of Turkish football teams and folk music. Melodies are used from mentioned musical sources, with changes in the original texts. After changing the text, two modes are possible; either the original melody is used in a simpler way, or basically "de-melody" happens and the slogan is sung on the platforms with an emphasis on keeping the rhythm of the original source and with new words. Of course, we should not consider "simplification of melody" and "de-melody" as an absolute binary, but in fan slogans, the use of melody is dynamically changing between "simplification of melody" and "de-melody".
These chants, especially since 1388 (2009), with the re-ascension of Tractor to the Premier League of Iran, are widely associated with identity themes. From 1388 (2009) to the beginning of the 1390s (2010s), under the influence of ethnic movements in the 1380s (2000s) in Azerbaijan, these chants took on a political aspect and emphasized issues such as autonomy. After that and with the security measures, the political aspects become less prominent and the cultural aspects become more prominent in the chants. Emphasizing Azerbaijan as a motherland is one of the most important concepts raised in the repertoire of fans' chants in recent years. Emphasis on Azerbaijani identity often occurs in the text, and in terms of musical genre, there is no limit to the use of non-Azerbaijani music.