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Suryoyo Music: Between Aramean and Assyrian Identity

Suryoyo music. Globalization strategy for the survival of minority Recent history of the Suryoyo people has been an unhappy one, similar to the other ancient Christian communities in the Middle East which have suffered great persecutions from the beginning of the twentieth century. From 1970s the majority of the Suryoyo people came to Western Europe, leaving their homeland almost vacant. Suryoyo identity is deeply rooted in ancient Semitic and Christian heritage. Church affiliation determines their ethnicity. Suryoyo mostly speak western Aramaic dialect called Turoyo and overwhelmingly belong to Syriac Orthodox Church, which nurtures ''monophysite'' doctrine. However, in their homeland, which is a true ethnic and religious mosaic, Suryoyo represent just one of many Christian groups. Their akin Aramaic-speaking Christian neighbors, Chaldeans, Assyrians and Syriac Catholics, form separate religion-based ethnicities. The biggest Chaldean and Assyrian diaspora lives in the USA today. Apart from their deep historical ethno-religious interdivisions, in last few decades intellectual elites of these communities have been trying, with more or less success, to strengthen a unifying movement which aims to create a common Assyrian-Chaldean-Syriac nation. The reason for this is the struggle for cultural and political survival in their homeland and widespread diaspora. However, an ancient tradition of cold, almost hostile, relationships among Aramaic religious groups is stil alive, often burdening and sometimes even destroying modern unifying trends. Music plays very important role in these processes. Sometimes it serves as the symbol of all-Aramaic unity breaking the linguistic and ethnic borders and sometimes again it emphasizes separate ethno-religious identities. Contemporary Suryoyo communities (often called Syriacs in English) in western Europe have been developing a rich media life in the last few years. From 2004 they have had their own satellite channel programme called Suroyo TV. By broadcasting three hours of programme every evening, Suroyo TV probably became the most important Suryoyo institution since their Syriac Orthodox Church. On the other hand, similar to almost every ethnic and religious minority in the modern world, Suryoyo found the Internet as an excellent place for strengthening internal ties among dispersed communities, and for promoting their identity and heritage to the cyber public. In a way, Suroyo TV and Internet became new ''virtual homeland'' of the Suryoyo. Popular (neo-traditional) and religious music represent a very important part of Suryoyo Internet and TV content. Consequently, it can serve as a good source of ethnomusicological investigation.

Suryoyo people ; Assyrians ; music ; identity ; politics

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