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- Convenors:
-
Ana Hofman
(Research Centre of Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts)
Rajko Mursic (University of Ljubljana)
- Stream:
- Socialist and post-socialist studies
- Location:
- A107
- Sessions:
- Monday 22 June, -, -
Time zone: Europe/Zagreb
Short Abstract:
With an focus on distinctive uses of popular music in processes of remembering, reinventing, and repurposing Yugoslav past, the panel highlights how musical actors use of a multiplicity of strategies in order to imbuing it with new meaning and to bring a utopic future to the here and now.
Long Abstract:
The general climate of a dismissal of political idealism and antiutopianism in both Eastern and Western Europe following the collapse of Berlin Wall resulted in the inability to provide any actual critical intervention in concrete societal challenges. In the post-Yugoslav context over the last ten years, many oppositional voices have argued for a utopian rethinking of art's relationship to the social. In a time where leftist projects seem to have been colonized by neo-liberal doctrine or have vanished from the political imagination in post-Yugoslav societies, popular music is used as one of the vehicles for construction a vision of a better day--a utopian and not-yet existing reality. For this panel, we take four case studies from former Yugoslavia where musicians draw on musical material either from the past or signifying the past, reimagining it in performance and imbuing it with new meaning relevant to the current moment and to bring a utopic future to the here and now. With an focus on distinctive uses of music in processes of remembering, reinventing, and repurposing the past, we highlight how musical actors make use of a multiplicity of strategies that reveal both the shared, general aspects of their Yugoslav heritages and the divergent particularities of their past and present circumstances.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Monday 22 June, 2015, -Paper short abstract:
This ethnographic paper explores sevdalinka as contested genre that since the break-up of Yugoslavia represents contradictory ideological positions and clashing visions of imagined future.
Paper long abstract:
With the break-up of Yugoslavia, the music-poetic form of sevdalinka has attracted attention not just among general public but also among scholars and intellectuals. Its Bosnian or Bosniac heritage has been emphasised, but also its proliferation in the context of Yugoslav radio broadcasting has not been overlooked. In the 1990s sevdalinka has started to function as contested genre that simultaneously represented two contradictory ideological positions and two clashing visions of imagined future. On the one hand, in Bosniac nationalistic discourses sevdalinka became celebrated as national heritage, and on the other it was used in antinationalistic claims to promote the idea of hybrid culture and multicultural Bosnian past and future. In addition, for some (young) performers it has been particularly important to emphasize sevdalinka's urban character. This could be interpreted as an expression of the (post-)Yugoslav urbo-centric discourse, which with an aim to contradict the ideas of national separation often refocused attention to urban-rural distinction. This ethnographic paper thus aims to explore what kinds of images of past, present and future sevdalinka helped construct in two different post-Yugoslav countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia).
Paper short abstract:
In this paper I explore how the supposedly private feelings of love are transformed into a ‘public matter’ through the pop music concerts in post-Yugoslav space. My case study will be the concerts of the group Bijelo dugme.
Paper long abstract:
After the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991 the musicians from the former country started giving concerts in the new post-Yugoslav spaces, provoking divergent reverberations in the public sphere, as well as intensive emotional reactions of the participants of the events. Drawing on Sara Ahmed's discussions of 'collective feelings' and the argument that emotions are not a private matter, I argue that the concerts' spaces are channels for 'emotions work' to reconnect collectives. My case study will be the concerts of the group Bijelo dugme. I will consider the ways this group has been one of the symbols of the former Yugoslavia, both in the Yugoslav and post-Yugoslav period. I will discuss political implications of enjoyment in the concerts, by showing how they engage in producing of multifarious emotional reactions concerning the sentimental remembrance of the past, such as a nostalgic narrative according to which the music has been a continuation of the 'perfect past' in Yugoslavia. Performing the songs form the Yugoslav era, these concerts appear to be platforms for recycling the old cultural products, giving them new meanings in the new post-Yugoslav context. This process arouses feelings purportedly on the level on the individual, but the concert audience forms as a material body in the public sphere, and their emotions are formed on the level of this body. In conclusion, I will also pose the question of the boundaries between the private body of the performer/concert-goer and the public body.
Paper short abstract:
The research is focused on the genre’s influence over the lives of Macedonia’s youths, born during or after the disintegration of Yugoslavia.
Paper long abstract:
A phenomenon called Turbo Folk originates and it is characteristic for Serbia, Its expansion to the other Balkan countries begins in the early nineties, while becoming popular and accepted by the masses. Aside from being associated with nationalism, this genre becomes a type of entertainment that is widely accepted during the fratricidal war that takes place in Ex Yugoslavia. In Macedonia, a country that is known for its traditional folklore, the genre called Turbo Folk gets accepted some time later. However Macedonia, being one of the developing republics from Ex Yugoslavia, is behind in all aspects and if Turbo Folk is a way to express nationalism, then it is no wonder that it arrives some time later in Macedonia alongside the belated nationalism of the Macedonians. At first it is a type of music played in peripheral barrooms, however nowadays it is played in clubs located in the centre of Macedonia's capital, Skopje.
It is truly interesting that more and more young people, who have been born during or after Yugoslavia's disintegration and who have absolutely no correlation with that country, listen to this genre and more importantly become its fans, even though the songs' lyrics are written in a language that is no longer close to this part of the population. For them, Turbo Folk is not only a genre of music but a lifestyle as well. Therefore, young girls identify themselves with Turbo Folk singers by imitating their appearance and style.
Paper short abstract:
The paper describes how a research of YouTube recordings dismantled the theory of autochthonous genesis of Dalmatian klapa singing, which was created primarily by Ljubo Stipišić, and linked klapa singing to Italian and Greek traditions.
Paper long abstract:
Deep interconnectedness of rich musical heritage and a utopian quest for a lost Mediterranean paradise is accomplished in various ways in discursive practices of Dalmatian klapa singing in Croatia. A mythical and nostalgic imagery of Dalmatia is expressed primarily through verses, tunes, and performances of klapa songs, but also through klapa participants’ rhetoric and their significant social status. Ljubo Stipišić Delmata (1938-2011), a "patriarch of klapa singing," played a major role in shaping and presenting of this klapa image. During the past decade, many klapa video clips were uploaded on Youtube. This material reveals the past, strengthens the present, and ensures the future of klapa social formation. The case of klapa recordings is not exceptional in this regard; however, as a researcher, I was truly astonished to find out that these recordings completely subvert and deconstruct Stipišić's utopist theory about autochthonous genesis of kl apa singing. Unexpectedly, examples of contemporary singing styles from Greece (Ionian Islands) and Italy (region of Quattro Province) in musical terms are deeply akin to klapa singing and, therefore, testify about same common roots, which could be traced to Italy. This could lead us to some general questions: How much does YouTube influence processes of opening of certain musical cultures towards a close or a distant Other? How will YouTube contribute to the survival of various traditional musics? Regarding legal regulations, until when will YouTube serve as the biggest audio-visual archive (repository) in the world's history? How and to what extent will it expand?