engleski

Ethnomusicological Nationalism and its Innocence in Times of Crisis

The recognition of responsibility of ethnomusicology for participating in national mythologies stays today largely in the historiographic domain, as a common knowledge about the 19th century link between ethnomusicology and the creation of nation states, when even the seemingly most benign ventures of folk music collection had political undertones. At the same time, contemporary support of discourses of nationalism in ethnomusicology remains unrecognized as problematic, often justified through the fact of its occurrence “in the field”. The question, however, remains, does (and to what extent) ethnomusicological fieldwork describe or inscribe nationalism into the music practices it explores? In particular, we should question the benignity of ethnomusicological nationalism in countries with a very recent history of inter-ethnic conflicts, such as Croatia. Several contemporary Croatian examples illustrate the facility with which subtle nationalistic packaging of traditional music can be swiftly transformed into weapon of discrimination.

ethnomusicology, nationalism, Croatia

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