On Authenticity and Popular Culture

In the review the author analyses Ewa Mazierska’s book Polish Popular Music on Screen (2020), which investigates the mutually entangled histories of Polish politics, cinema, TV, and music. Although it focuses on the Polish context, the general and theoretical observations that emerge from Mazierska’s analysis relate also to the broader former socialist Europe. Departing from Mazierska’s work, the author tackles the question of “(in)authenticity” in relation to popular culture. The word “authenticity” often appears in the text to express the critics’ opinions of cultural products, but it is not clearly defined. The review of Mazierska’s research starts with a preliminary analysis of the concept, which enables a transversal discussion of the data presented in the text. Then the author draws some conclusions about the current state of research on Eastern European culture by highlighting the limits and the potentials of the field.

Dear John

Are 'Dear John' letters lethal weapons in the hands of men at war? Many US officers, servicemen, veterans, and civilians would say yes. Drawing on personal letters, oral histories, and psychiatric reports, as well as popular music and movies, Susan L. Carruthers shows how the armed forces and civilian society have attempted to weaponize romantic love in pursuit of martial ends, from World War II to today. Yet efforts to discipline feeling have frequently failed. And women have often borne the blame. This sweeping history of emotional life in wartime explores the interplay between letter-writing and storytelling, breakups and breakdowns, and between imploded intimacy and boosted camaraderie. Incorporating vivid personal experiences in lively and engaging prose – variously tragic, comic, and everything in between – this compelling study will change the way we think about wartime relationships.

Idris Sardi’s Influence on Musical Development and Education in Indonesia

Idris Sardi is known as a music maestro in Indonesia. This study aims to reveal the influence of Idris Sardi on the development of music and its implications in music education. This study uses a qualitative method with a narrative approach. The data were collected through observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation. The research informants were carefully selected from the family, violin students, and colleagues of Idris Sardi in Jakarta and Bogor, West Java. The data were analyzed by organizing data and creating codes, describing codes in chronological categories and themes, developing interpretations, and visualizing data. The results showed that Idris Sardi was influential in developing (1) keroncong music by varying the tempo and expanding the repertoire; (2) the violin playing techniques included unique characters such as vibrato, glissando, and octave variations; (3) ethnic and popular music were made through orchestrations and collaboration with orchestral music. The implications in music vocational education were (1) problem-based learning by creating a new keroncong style to be accepted by society; (2) the improvement capability by exploring skills to play the violin; (3) life-based-learning by raising local and popular music to be qualified while enhancing the level of society’s music appreciation. In conclusion, Idris Sardi provided a strong influence on the music development in Indonesia, and the implication could be a new strategy to improve the quality of music education.