scholarly journals GOTTSCHEER FOLK SONG – FROM A MEANS OF FOSTERING NATIONAL DIFFERENTIATION TO A MEMORY KEEPER IN THE DIASPORA

Traditiones ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anja Moric

The article focuses on changes in the roles and uses of Gottscheer folk song from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. The first part addresses how nationalist activists used folk songs from the end of the nineteenth century to 1941/42 in order to instill the idea of a national identity in the Kočevje region. The second part offers insight into the role of folk song in preserving the identity of present-day Gottscheers in the diaspora. The paper also touches on the concept of “German linguistic islands” and points to the role of scholarship in the (mis)understanding of the multicultural reality of linguistically mixed regions.

Author(s):  
Philip V. Bohlman

Published in six folios during 1778 and 1779, Herder’s Volkslieder (Folk songs) has been one of the most influential works in modern intellectual history, even though it has never before appeared in English translation. The Volkslieder not only became the first collection of world music—songs came not only from many regions of Europe, but also from Africa, the Mediterranean, and South America—but also served as the source for European composers throughout the nineteenth century. Aesthetics, ethnography, and literary and cultural history converge to transform modern musical thought. Part one of the chapter contains translations from Herder’s own introductions to the songs, and part two contains twenty-four songs that represent the paradigm shift inspired by this monumental work on folk song.


Author(s):  
Christopher Mudaliar

This chapter focuses on the role that constitutions play in national identity, particularly in states that are recently independent and constrained by a colonial legacy. It uses Fiji as a case study, exploring how British colonialism influenced conceptions of Fijian national identity in the constitutional texts of 1970, 1990 and 1997. The chapter explores the indigenous ethno-nationalist ideals that underpinned these constitutions, which led to the privileging of indigenous Fijian identity within the wider national identity. However, in 2013, Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama introduced a new constitution which shifted away from previous ethno-nationalist underpinnings towards a more inclusive national identity through the promotion of a civic nationalist agenda. In doing so, Bainimarama’s goal of reducing ethnic conflict has seen a constitutional re-imagining of Fijian identity, which includes the introduction of new national symbols, and a new electoral system, alongside equal citizenry clauses within the Constitution. This study offers a unique insight into power and identity within post-colonial island states.


Author(s):  
Sinja Graf

This chapter assesses the role of universal crime in nineteenth-century European arguments on the legitimacy of imperial rule. British abolitionist arguments redeployed the concept by overlaying “humanity” with the discourse of civilizationalism. Abolitionist uses of universal crime hence targeted imperial Britain rather than colonized societies. Refracting “humanity” through the lens of civilizational distinction indicates nineteenth-century changes in European international thought that lessened the popularity of the concept of universal crime. Overall, the chapter argues that a turn from an “inclusionary Eurocentrism” to an “exclusionary Eurocentrism” subtends these changes. Analyzing John Stuart Mill’s and Tocqueville’s evaluations of European imperialism shows that they discussed the legitimate conduct of colonial rule not in terms of humanity’s laws, but in terms of national identity and reputation. The chapter further assesses in detail those features of nineteenth-century international theory that engendered a normatively fractured vision of humanity that was inimical to its imagination as universally injured.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-171
Author(s):  
Katherine Bowers

Ann Radcliffe’s novels were extremely popular in early nineteenth-century Russia. Publication of her work in Russian translation propelled the so-called gothic wave of 1800-10. Yet, many of the works Radcliffe was known for in Russia were not written by her; rather, they were works by others that were attributed to Radcliffe. This article traces the publication and translation histories of Radcliffiana on the Russian book market of 1800-20. Building on JoEllen DeLucia’s concept of a “corporate Radcliffe” in the anglophone world, this article proposes a Russian corporate Radcliffe. Identifying, classifying, and analysing the provenance of Russian corporate Radcliffe works reveals insight into the transnational circulation of texts and the role of copyright law within it, the nature of the early nineteenth-century Russian book market, the rise of popular reading and advertising in Russia, and the gendered nature of critical discourse at this time. The Russian corporate Radcliffe assures the legacy and influence of Radcliffe in later Russian literature and culture, although a Radcliffe that represents much more than just the English author. Exploring the Russian corporate Radcliffe expands our understanding of early nineteenth-century Russian literary history through specific case studies that demonstrate the significant role played by both women writers and translation, an aspect of this history that is often overlooked.


Author(s):  
Adalyat Issiyeva

This book examines the musical ramifications of Russia’s nineteenth-century expansion to the east and south and explores the formation and development of Russian musical discourse on Russia’s own Orient. It traces the transition from music ethnography to art songs and discusses how various aspects of (music) ethnographies, folk song collections, music theories, and visual representations of Russia’s ethnic minorities, or inorodtsy, shaped Russian composers’ perception and musical representation of Russia’s oriental “others.” Situated on the periphery, minority peoples not only defined the geographical boundaries of the empire, its culture, and its music but also defined the boundaries of Russianness itself. Extensively illustrated with music examples, archival material, and images from long-forgotten Russian sources, this book investigates the historical, cultural, and musical elements that contributed to the formation and creation of Russia’s imperial identity. It delineates musical elements that have been adopted to characterize Russians’ own national hybridity. Three case studies—well-known leader of the Mighty Five Milii Balakirev, lesser known Alexander Aliab’ev, and the late-nineteenth-century composers affiliated with the Music-Ethnography Committee—demonstrate how and why, despite the overwhelming number of pejorative images and descriptions of inorodtsy, these composers decided to disregard their social and political differences and sometimes confused and combined diverse minorities’ identities with that of the Russian “self.” The analysis of the arrangements of folk songs of Russia’s eastern and southern minorities reveals the trajectory of the ways their music was treated, from denigration and “othering” to embracing peoples from all the provinces of the empire.


1970 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-209
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Kabacińska-Łuczak

The aim of the article is to attempt and show the “enlightenment” of the peasants of Greater Poland in the middle of the nineteenth century in the magazines addressed to them, especially in relation to matters of education and upbringing. The subject of the research is the information on educational issues raised in one of the magazines for the people – “Wielkopolanin,” which was published in the years 1848-1850. Among the educational issues raised, the most important was the promotion of national identity both at school and at home. Further, it covered such topics as the influence of teachers on patriotic activity (their attitudes, values, importance in the local community), the role of village nursery schools, and support for orphans.


Author(s):  
Y. Radkevych

Background. Turning to the original sources of Ukrainian musical culture, we should point out the greatest achievements that appear to be the folk-song tradition. The problem of authorship of musical folklore was not considered for well-known reasons: its decisive features are oral, anonymous, collective way of creation. If the phenomenon of authorship is present in various manifestations of musical creativity (composing, performing, directing, etc.) and works in various forms of musical art of the past and present, today the study of the role of the singer as a co-author in the contemporary representation of Ukrainian folk song has not yet become a subject of a special scientific interest. The stated problem opens the prospect of developing the interpretation science as a science of the phenomenology of the artist’s creative personality in various artistic discourses. The urgency of the topic is to study the peculiarities of the representation of Ukrainian folk songs in the contemporary concert repertoire on the example of the activities of the iconic representatives of the national culture: Kvitka (Kacey) Cisyk, Nina Matvienko, and Taras Kompanichenko. Objectives. The purpose of the research is to substantiate the role of the singer as the co-author in representing the Ukrainian folk song in the contemporary concert and artistic space on examples of multi-genre patterns (folk song, song-romance, spiritual chants). Methods. The methodology of the research is based on the genre, structurally functional and interpretive scientific approaches. Results. In order to highlight the peculiarities of the representation of Ukrainian folk songs in the concert and artistic space of today, within the framework of the scientific article, let us dwell on the consideration of the following genres of folk song: folk song, song-romance, and chant. In the unique performance by Kvitka Cisyk (1953–1998) of the chosen folk song “Verse, my verse” the singer appears as the co-author of the song. As one knows, this folk song has no authorship (being an example of the collective folk-song tradition). The level of co-authorship of the singer can be defined as the one corresponding to the traditional performance (the performer as the author). Another example considered is G. Skovoroda’s “Every City Should Have Its Character and Rights” in two versions (N. Matvienko and T. Kompanichenko) and two genre dimensions. Thus, in the detailed analysis of the sample, it can be argued that in the performance of N. Matvienko it sounds like a song-romance, and T. Kompanichenko’s interpretation makes clearer its genre attribution as a spiritual chant (the ethical basis). The song-romance performed by N. Matvienko appears as a bright theatrical performance. The singer represents the song in an elegant manner, appealing to the style basics of the musical baroque. In the instrumental accompaniment of the Ensemble of Ancient Music of K. Chechenia (Konstantin Chechenia), the baroque sound-ideal of the court secular culture was embodied. N. Matvienko, as the co-author of this composition, refined the baroque sounding (the deep understanding of the verbal text by G. Skovoroda, organic in the embodiment of the aesthetic and musically-immanent principles of the baroque style). “Every City Should Have Its Character and Rights” performed by T. Kompanichenko is characterized by such features as: 1) the introvert nature of the expression as a notable feature of the kobza-lyre tradition; 2) the interpretation by the performer of the “Skovoroda” song as an example of the spiritual chant (the correspondence of the repertoire of the traditional singing); 3) the organic and indissoluble nature of the vocal and instrumental components (singing performance (spivogra) as an attributive quality of the kobza-lyre tradition). Conclusions. The role of K. Cisyk as the co-author of the folk song “Verse, my verse” is evidenced in the fact that the singer managed to reach the level of the standard of interpretation of Lemko folk song, as much as possible tending to perform the song without any change. The subtle feeling of Ukrainian melody with the introduction of the contemporary sound (the high artistic orchestral arrangements by J. Cortner) is stated as a manifestation of the national sound ideal (according to O. Bench). In N. Matvienko’s performing interpretation of the song-romance “Every City Should Have Its Character and Rights” in the framework of the modern concert stage (with the sound of timbres of unique Ukrainian baroque musical instruments), the national baroque style constants (the concept of “the world as a theatre”) became more visible. The performing interpretation by T. Kompanichenko is aimed at the completeness of the disclosure of the concept of the composition as an ideological and aesthetic orientation of the kobza-lyre tradition. Without violating its style basics, the singer, as the co-author of the composition performed, appears to be the driving force behind the enrichment and development of the established stylistic principles of the kobza-lyre tradition. The provided multi-genre samples performed by the iconic representatives of the national culture are based on the established tradition of folk song and express the integrity of the creative personality of the performers as bearers of the spiritual tradition of ethnic culture. The prospects for further research in this direction may be related to the study of the iconic phenomena of the performing music culture of Ukraine, which find an appeal in the socio-cultural and research space of today


Linguistics ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 77-87
Author(s):  
Oksana Klieshchova ◽  

Purpose: to investigate the Ukrainian song as means of consolidation of nation and find out, what the phenomenon of the song «Noise» performed by the band «Go_A» consists in. Research is carried out by means of descriptive method, it is made theoretical analysis of literature, critical analysis of researches, it is applied the method of selection and systematization of material, the method of supervision, synthesis. Folklorists have already been studying the song «Noise» over one hundred and fifty years: 1) it was investigated by М. Maksymovych, B. Hrinchenko, М. Hrushevskyi and others; 2) the «Noise» is a very old Ukrainian vesnianka (spring folk song) that originates from pre-christian times and rituals related to nature, with its spring awakening; 3) the «Noise» is personification: well-organized energy, green forest, character of noise of the first spring greenery, God of the forest. Haivka (spring song) is the ancient name of round dances that was saved yet from the time, when our ancestors carried out ceremonial songs and dances in the protected groves round sacred trees. Aboriginal vesnianky (spring folk songs)-haivky are syncretic – singing and motion, words and action, song and dance are combined in them. Phenomenon of the song «Noise» that was presented on a song competition Eurovision by the Ukrainian electro-folk band «Go_A», consists in that on a background of «sleek and inexpressive pop songs» that sounded mainly in English, Ukrainian performers, leaning against old Ukrainian folklore traditions, offered to Europe Ukrainian powerful and catching «spring hymn» in a style of techno, that was perceived with gladness and fascination by European listener audience. Thus, firstly, Ukrainian haivka (spring song) became a world hit in 2021; secondly, the band «Go_A», keeping national identity, popularizes Ukraine, Ukrainian language and Ukrainian song; thirdly, it consolidates Ukrainian society; fourthly, it engages young people in patriotic education. Summarizing, it is possible to establish with confidence: 1) Ukrainian language and Ukrainian song are indivisible as they are organically interdependent and are the basic criteria of originality of nation; 2) the Ukrainian song as well as language unites nation; 3) we found out, firstly, that the old Ukrainian vesnianka (spring folk song) «Noise» became the basis of the song «Noise» of the Ukrainian band «Go_A»; secondly, we made sure that vesnianky (spring folk songs) and haivky (spring songs) were not identical concepts, as varieties of vesnianky (spring folk songs) are haivky – songs that were performed only in time of the Easter holidays; vesnianky (spring folk songs) are a cycle of spring songs that are sung from the Annunciation.


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