I Kosmopolitismus V Praze and the Question of Czech Authenticity

Kosmopolitismus v Praze and The Question of Czech Authenticity Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Andrew Brinkman Graduate Program in Music The Ohio State University 2020 Thesis Committee Ryan Skinner, Advisor Daniel Shanahan Arved Ashby i Copyrighted by Andrew Brinkman 2020 ii Abstract Cosmopolitanism, in all its forms, shares a few common facets to its definition that can be applied to the modern day musical scene in the city of Prague in the Czech Republic. Since the Velvet Revolution of the 1990s, Prague has seen an explosive growth in cultural development and outreach, pulling in tourists and immigrants from all over the globe. The resultant mix of people in this city has resulted in a distinctly cosmopolitan place, where all kinds of cultures are able to flourish freely in a stable and welcoming environment. Amidst the flourishing cosmopolitan scene in Prague is also a deep desire to keep the Czech identity alive and growing. However, it is not clear exactly what that Czech identity is, and what kinds of music get to be a part of it. In this thesis, I examine the ways that cosmopolitanism manifests itself in Prague through a musical lens that focuses on the question of authenticity. Throughout the following chapters, I present three case studies of ethnographic fieldwork conducted during a summer visit to Prague in 2019. During that time, was exposed to several spaces where Czech and non-Czech musical elements swirled and combined with one another. I also met and spoke with close Czech and non-Czech interlocutors who willingly shared their ideas with me concerning what it means to be a Czech or non-Czech musician in Prague. Alongside a presentation of these events is a thorough analysis of the different kinds of cosmopolitanisms that are occurring in iii Prague’s musical scene. This all culminates in a broad analysis of what it means to make or create “authentically Czech” music and an in-depth look at how the category of “Czech music” is expanding considerably in the Czech Republic’s relatively new era of democracy iv Acknowledgments Without the help of my advisors and faculty support of the Ohio State University. Great thanks is given to all of these people for their dedication to making my thesis a reality and to God who has stood by me every step of the way. v Vita 2014 ..................................................B.A. Music Education, Midwestern State University 2016 ...................................................M.M, Music Theory, Louisiana State University 2016 to present...................................Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Music, The Ohio State University Publications Brinkman, A., & Huron, D. (2018). The leading sixth scale degree: A test of Day- O'Connell's theory. Journal of New Music Research, 47(2), 166-175. Fields of Study Major Field: Music vi Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... v Vita ..................................................................................................................................... vi Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1: Czech and Hindustani Influences .................................................................... 12 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 36 Chapter 2 – Buskers and the Street Aesthetic ................................................................... 41 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 54 Chapter 3 – Impromptu Cosmopolitanism ........................................................................ 59 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 70 Final Thoughts .................................................................................................................. 74 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 78 vii Introduction In today’s current socio-cultural environment, one in which Western ideologies and notions are giving way to a more globally diverse conversation, some European groups have gone relatively unnoticed. The Central Slavic region of Europe is one such group that has seen a long and turbulent history involving centuries of domination, war, and oppressive philosophies.1 However, in the post-communist era, many nations in Central Europe have slowly developed their own independent cultures, free from the limiting forces of outside influences. That is not to say that these independent cultures were not always there, hidden underneath the surface of the current hegemony. However, without the potential to govern themselves and burdened by the cultural pressure put on these local cultures by oppressive regimes, the Central Slavic cultures have long struggled with establishing strong cultural identities. This phenomenon can easily be seen in the Czech Republic, where the struggle to carefully grow nationalist sentiment without radicalizing through the late-19th through early-20th century found near constant hassle 1 Examples of this can be traced all the way back to 16th century politics and monarchal relationships. Before the year 1526, Bohemia (the western portion of what would later be known as the Czech Republic, an area of Europe including Prague as its capital) was largely an independent nation operating at times without foreign influence and at times as a member of the Holy Roman Empire. Due in large part to the nature of kingdom succession, in 1526 Bohemia came under the rule of Archduke Ferdinand I of Austria. Since that point until the end of World War I, Bohemia would continuously be under the rule of the Austro- Hungarian Empire. During the time period from the 16th-20th centuries, Bohemian peoples would experience a fair amount of oppression from the Austrian government. Examples of this can be seen in the shift away from the use of the Czech language in favor of German, a constant movement of educated peoples away from Prague to Vienna and other parts of the Austro-Hungarian empire, and constant pressure to limit independent cultural thought. 1 from forces involved in various German nationalist parties.2 Following the World Wars, Czech people then had to contend with various communist regimes lasting until the “Velvet Revolution” of 1993. Over the recent few decades, urban centers in the Czech Republic have seen rapid economic and cultural growth, quickly catching up to globalist trends in Western Europe and abroad. Outside of urban centers, rural Moravia and parts outside of Prague have experienced, and continue to experience explosions of cultural growth and development through a renewed emphasis of traditional customs and practices mixed with the experiences of living in the modern era.3 In this thesis, I am explicitly interested in how Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, has been shaped by both the sudden surge of independent cultural growth in the last two decades and the welcoming of the cultural influence of the “non-Czech”.4 Specifically, I am interested in how cosmopolitan ideas have both influenced and been influenced by the current musical environment in Prague. The rapid development of a uniquely cosmopolitan Czech culture brings with it some questions. How did this Czech cosmopolitanism develop? Where and when did it arise? And perhaps most pertinently, exactly what does this cosmopolitanism sound like? While I cannot expect to answer 2 Breuilly, Nationalism and the State; Pierre, Bedřich Smetana. 3 Examples of this can be seen the frequent folk festivals and rural festivities associated with regions like Moravia. Searches for traditional music festivals in various parts of the Czech Republic result in several annual festivals including Jízda králů in Vlčnov, held every May, the various International Folk Festivals held in different parts of the Czech Republic at various times, and the Slovácký rok, the oldest Moravian folklore festival. 4 I will be using the term “non-Czech” throughout this thesis as comparable synonym to the “Other”, a term favored by Levinas (Humanism of the Other; “The Trace of the Other.”). However, in recent years this term holds within it much academic baggage that I do not wish to carry over into this discussion. While there are a lot of implications in the term “non-Czech,” these are implications that I will attempt to address during the course of this thesis, while I defer to better academics than I to unpack the term “Other” in their own work outside of the confines of this current document. 2 these questions in this thesis, I hope to address them from the Praguean perspective, through the words, stories, experiences of Czech-natives and non-Czechs (in which I include myself as a non-Czech), to provide a snapshot of the current Czech cosmopolitan climate. I have chosen to frame the current discussion by focusing on the Praguean perspective to better draw attention to the specific cultural mixtures and relationships

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