Nätverket – etnologiskAtt forska om tidskrift, ting 2020 Nr 22 Katarina Ek-Nilsson The Social and Political Dimensions of Sound and Music Oscar Pripp and Maria Westvall (Editors) FÖREMÅLEN I MUSEISAMLINGARNA För en utomstående kan detta tyckas märkligt, och ibland väcks frågan, vilket har hänt från politikerhåll, I museernas magasin trängs föremålen. Rader av om inte museernas samlingar kunde/borde avyttras, spinnrockar, vagnar, möbler, mangelbräden etc. är när nu alla föremål ändå inte visas, för att skapa större prydligt sorterade på hyllor i jättelika utrymmen. resurser till verksamheten. Textilier ligger prydligt inpackade i syrafria silkespapperTABLE OF CONTENTS och specialgjorda syrafria kartonger. Dyrbarheter som Frågan kan tyckas både befogad och enkel men är silver, smycken, konstföremål, men också mer triviala i själva verket komplicerad, av bland andra följande vardagsföremål,Introduction. skyddas The av social allehanda and säkerhetsåtgärder. political dimensions1 skäl: of Museet sound harand enmusic gång tagit emot föremålen som Oscar Pripp & Maria Westvall...... 3donationer eller som inköp från, i de flesta fall, När ett föremål – det må vara ett ordinärt vardagsföremål privatpersoner. Man får utgå från att de som skänkt som tidigare har hanterats dagligen i egenskap av eller sålt föremålen, liksom museets representanter, har bruksföremålDensities. – A blir key ett to museiföremål(late) modern så cultural genomgår production åsatt dem ett kulturhistoriskt värde. Museet har påtagit det Owesamtidigt Ronström...... 5 en metamorfos. Det blir inte längre sig ett ansvar att på bästa sätt bevara föremålen för möjligt att vidröra utan att man tar på sig särskilda framtiden, så långt det är möjligt, och det vore därför bomullsvantar och det får inte längre användas för oetiskt att avyttra dem. sitt Culturalursprungliga immersion ändamål. andVispen production. får inte mera The vispa, meaning of musicking for mobiltelefonensocial trust inteand längre inclusion sms:as med. En gräns har Om museerna skulle börja avyttra sina föremål så skulle passeratsOscar i Prippföremålets & Maria livslopp, Westvall...... 15 en ny status och en allmänhetens förtroende för museerna sannolikt skadas. särskild magi har laddat föremålet. För en utomstående Museer gör inga ekonomiska värderingar av föremål, kan det förefalla både egendomligt och komiskt att för att inte bidra till marknadsmässiga bedömningar det Swedishsom nyss folkhörde music till exempelvis and dance en – familjsvibrant högst but contestedoch spekulationer, och kan därför inte gå in i en vanligaLinnea köksutrustning Helmersson...... 25 plötsligt måste behandlas med försäljningsverksamhet. Museiföremåls värde är helt och största varsamhet för att den förvärvats av ett museum. hållet kulturhistoriska, inte ekonomiska. Ekonomiskt Skillnaden“The beginningmellan en ofporslinsurna a new society”. från 1700-taletForms of politicsär alltså in ettlate museiföremål 1960s i princip inte värt något alls, och Swedishen plastbunke alternative från 2000-taletsmusic IKEA är i det eftersom det aldrig kommer ut på en marknad. museologiska sammanhanget upphävt. Sverker Hyltén-Cavallius...... 43Museiföremål utgör källmaterial för forskning. Vilka Cirka 1% av museernas föremålssamlingar brukar vara föremål som skulle kunna avvaras kan inte avgöras, eftersom vi inte vet vilka frågor som kommer att utställda.“It’s aboutProcenten togetherness”. ändrar visserligen The innehåll creation vartefter of culturally diverse music basutställningar byggs om, föremål ställs ut i tillfälliga bli relevanta för framtida kulturhistorisk forskning. utställningarvenues ineller Sweden lånas ut till andra museers utställningar, Visserligen kan idag endast ett urval ur dagens menJonas faktum Ålander...... 51 kvarstår att vid varje givet ögonblick är föremålshav göras – allt kan inte sparas – men de det en mycket liten del av den totala föremålsskatten tidigare urval som föregångarna på museerna har gjort somUnhearing är tillgänglig as ai culturalutställningsform. practice Digitaltin urban ökar sound en spaces gång måste respekteras, eftersom de gjordes med tillgängligheten successivt genom att föremålsfoton utgångspunkt i den tidens vetenskapliga intressen. Karin Eriksson-Aras...... 632 publiceras på många museers hemsidor, men närheten Befintliga museisamlingar måste hållas intakta för att kunna och tillgången till museernas samlingar är ändå begränsad bilda utgångspunkt för museivetenskaplig forskning, det för allmänheten,“Love for the trots rich, att ”tillgängliggörande” porn for the people”? har högsta Popular vill music säga forskning in the Balkans om museer (inte bara på museer). prioritetas a locusi museernas for negotiation verksamhet. of belonging and social distinction 1 Jag Vladislavaavser här professionella Vladimirova...... 69 museer som finansieras med offentliga medel och har utbildad personal, och bortser helt från allehanda FÖREMÅL SOM KULTURPRODUKTER privata eller kommersiella samlingar som kallar sin verksamhet Föremålen har i etnologisk mening sin betydelse som ”museum” men som i själva verket inte uppfyller de krav på professionell museiverksamhet som ställts upp av den internationella produkter av kultur. Detta innebär alltså att föremål eller museiorganisationen ICOM (International Council of Museums). andra fysiska företeelser inte i sig själva utgör ”kultur”. 2 Se till exempel www.digitaltmuseum.se, där flera svenska museer För att förstå vad som menas med detta påstående måste visar delar av sina föremåls- och fotosamlingar. vi först försöka förklara kulturbegreppet.

Nätverket 2016: 20: 2–7 ISSN: 1651-0593 2 http://natverket.etnologi.uu.se

Introduction. The Social and Political DimensionsAtt forska of Sound om tingand Music

Oscar KatarinaPripp, Uppsala Ek-Nilsson University & Maria Westvall, Rhythmic Music Conservatory, Copenhagen

FÖREMÅLEN I MUSEISAMLINGARNA För en utomstående kan detta tyckas märkligt, och ibland väcks frågan, vilket har hänt från politikerhåll, I museernas magasin trängs föremålen. Rader av om inte museernas samlingar kunde/borde avyttras, spinnrockar, vagnar, möbler, mangelbräden etc. är This issue is an outcome of the panel discussion “The närdensity nu alla can föremål be used ändå both inte to analyzevisas, för isolated att skapa individual större prydligt sorterade på hyllor i jättelika utrymmen. resurser till verksamheten. SocialTextilier and ligger Political prydligt Dimensions inpackade of i syrafriaSound andsilkespapper Music”, occasions in their actual contexts, as well as displaying heldoch atspecialgjorda the 34th Nordic syrafria Ethnology kartonger. and Dyrbarheter Folklore Con som- Fråganglobal connectionskan tyckas bådeand contextsbefogad foroch cultural enkel menproduc är - ferencesilver, smycken,in June konstföremål,2018 in Uppsala. men ocksåThe merpanel triviala was a ition. själva The verket concept komplicerad, of cultural avcomplexity bland andra highlighted följande by 1 multi-disciplinaryvardagsföremål, skyddas session av with allehanda participants säkerhetsåtgärder. representing skäl:Ronström, Museet underpins har en gångthe theme tagit ofemot this föremålen issue. som donationer eller som inköp från, i de flesta fall, subjects such as ethnology, anthropology, sociology, mu- In Cultural immersion and production. The När ett föremål – det må vara ett ordinärt vardagsföremål privatpersoner. Man får utgå från att de som skänkt sicologysom tidigare and cultural har hanterats studies. Thedagligen aim iwas egenskap to establish av ellermeaning sålt föremålen,of musicking liksom for museets social representanter,trust and inclusion har anbruksföremål overview of current– blir ettqualitative museiföremål research så on genomgår relations åsattOscar dem Pripp ett kulturhistorisktand Maria Westvall värde. Museetinvestigate har påtagitpartici - betweendet samtidigt social anden metamorfos.political circumstances Det blir inteand längreforms sigpants’ ett engagementansvar att på in bästa music sätt activities bevara införemålen ethnic-based för andmöjligt meanings att vidröra of music utan and att sound. man Fourteentar på sig researchers särskilda framtiden,associations så in långt Sweden, det ärin möjligt,the light och of the det Swedish vore därför sup - bomullsvantar och det får inte längre användas för took part in the panel of which seven accepted to con- oetisktportive attintegration avyttra dem.and cultural policies from the 1970s sitt ursprungliga ändamål. Vispen får inte mera vispa, tributemobiltelefonen to a peer reviewedinte längre issue sms:as of Nätverket med. En, angräns ethno har- Omand generalmuseerna conditions skulle börja for avyttra social andsina politicalföremål såinclusion. skulle logicalpasserats journal i föremålets published bylivslopp, The Departmenten ny status of ochCultural en allmänhetensThe politics förtroendeon integration för museerna have changed sannolikt during skadas. the Anthropologysärskild magi andhar laddatEthnology föremålet. at Uppsala För en University. utomstående Museerrecent decades, gör inga which ekonomiska has not värderingaralways been av in föremål,favour of kanAs det a förefallaresult of bådethe broad egendomligt theme ofoch the komiskt panel dis att- förthe attimmigrants’ inte bidra cultural till marknadsmässiga activities. However, bedömningar the authors’ cussion,det som the nyss contributions hörde till exempelvisfrom the authors en familjs represent högst a ochempirical spekulationer, research of och the kanrole därförof music inte in ethnic-basedgå in i en widevanliga range köksutrustning of aspects on plötsligtmusic and måste sound behandlas in social med and försäljningsverksamhet.associations, shows a wide Museiföremåls range of meanings värde är and helt effects och hållet kulturhistoriska, inte ekonomiska. Ekonomiskt politicalstörsta varsamhetcontexts. As för editors, att den we förvärvats let every av author ett museum. choose on the individuals, the groups and on a societal level. Skillnaden mellan en porslinsurna från 1700-talet är alltså ett museiföremål i princip inte värt något alls, between three different forms of text genres, between In her contribution, Swedish folk music and dance och en plastbunke från 2000-talets IKEA är i det eftersom det aldrig kommer ut på en marknad. a conference paper, a journal article or an anthology – vibrant but contested, Linnea Helmersson writes about museologiska sammanhanget upphävt. Museiföremål utgör källmaterial för forskning. Vilka chapter. Therefore, there is variation in the contributions’ how a changing political discourse in Sweden has placed Cirka 1% av museernas föremålssamlingar brukar vara föremål som skulle kunna avvaras kan inte avgöras, styles, length and outlines. This issue of the journal has the cultural heritage of folk music and folk dance on utställda. Procenten ändrar visserligen innehåll vartefter eftersom vi inte vet vilka frågor som kommer att undergonebasutställningar a double-blind byggs om, peer föremål review ställs process, ut i tillfälliga except blithe relevantacurrent political för framtida agenda, kulturhistorisk especially due toforskning. the right- theutställningar editors’ article, eller lånas which ut till has andra been museers reviewed utställningar, by two Visserligenwing party Sverigedemokraterna’s kan idag endast ett (Sweden urval Democrats’)ur dagens knownmen faktum reviewers, kvarstår independent att vid ofvarje each givet other. ögonblick är föremålshavefforts to use göras these –kinds allt kanof cultural inte sparas expressions – men for de xe - det enThere mycket are litentwo delrecurrent av den aspects totala föremålsskattenthat are evident tidigarenophobic urval and som populist föregångarna reasons. Thispå museerna changing har politicalgjort insom all sevenär tillgänglig articles in i thisutställningsform. issue. The first Digitalt aspect isökar how endiscourse gång måste has in respekteras, turn affected eftersom folk musiciansde gjordes and med folk changingtillgängligheten social and successivt political genomcontexts att affect föremålsfoton forms and utgångspunktdancers into a i newden tidenskind of vetenskapliga political mobilization intressen. and 2 meaningspubliceras of på music många and museers sound. hemsidor, The other men general närheten trait Befintligaawareness, museisamlingar counteracting måste right hållas wing intakta populism, för att promot kunna - och tillgången till museernas samlingar är ändå begränsad is the authors’ ambitions to deconstruct and bring com- bildaing the utgångspunkt complexity, fördiversity, museivetenskaplig inclusiveness forskning, and openness det för allmänheten, trots att ”tillgängliggörande” har högsta vill säga forskning om museer (inte bara på museer). plexityprioritet into i museernasphenomena verksamhet. that are often permeated with of Swedish folk music and dance. simplified understandings and explanations. The new integration and cultural policies, the 1 Jag avser här professionella museer som finansieras med offentliga medelIn och the har first utbildad article, personal, Densities. och bortserA key tohelt (late) från allehandamodern FÖREMÅLfolk dance boom SOM and KULTURPRODUKTERthe political alternative musical culturalprivata ellerproduction kommersiella, Owe samlingar Ronström som openskallar sinup verksamhetthe issue Föremålenmovement harin Sweden,i etnologisk are mening all children sin betydelse of the somsame by”museum” developing men thesom concept i själva ofverket density inte asuppfyller an analytical de krav tool på time, that is the end of the 1960s and beginning of the professionell museiverksamhet som ställts upp av den internationella produkter av kultur. Detta innebär alltså att föremål eller tomuseiorganisationen reveal cultural complexity ICOM (International and new Council angles ofon Museums). cultural andra1970s. fysiska That företeelserwas a time inte shaped i sig självaby political utgör ”kultur”.radicaliza - events,2 Se till musicalexempel www.digitaltmuseum.se, festivals and other phenomenadär flera svenska that museer are Förtion, att demands förstå vad on som solidarity menas med and detta an påståendealternative måste green partvisar of delar late av modernsina föremåls- cultural och fotosamlingar. production. The notion of vilifestyle först försökamovement. förklara In the kulturbegreppet. article “The beginning of a

NätverketNätverket 2016: 2020: 20: 22: 2–7 3–4 ISSN:ISSN: 1651-0593 1651-0593 23 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/http://natverket.etnologi.uu.se # Introduction. The social and political dimensions of sound and music new society”. Forms of politics in late 1960s Swedish about a dense and complex sound context which people alternative music, Sverker Hyltén-Cavallius analyses relate to socially and culturally, something that the the nature of “the political” in the alternative music urban dwellers have been socialized into, as something movement in 1960s’ and 1970s’ Sweden. The dominat- naturalized. In the article, Aras-Eriksson discusses the ing discourse about this movement has for a long time practice of unhearing, how people, who are enculturated stressed political dogmatism, orthodox Marxism and in a complex sound-packed milieu, develop the art of narrow-minded sectarianism. Hyltén-Cavallius scru- unhearing. tinizes how three inter-related bands from that time, The discussion about complexity and changing associated with flumprogg (“fuzzy/hazy progg”), formu- contexts and meanings reaches its peak in the final lated a critique of an anthropocentric worldview where article by Vladislava Vladimirova “Love for the rich, the human being is supposed to overexploit nature, far porn for the people?” Popular music in the Balkans as away from the simplified and stereotyped dominating a locus for negotiation of belonging and social distinc- pictures of the people involved in, and the expressions of tion. The article discusses two musical styles, turbofolk alternative music. in post-Yugoslavian spaces, and chalga in Bulgaria, and The next contribution is Jonas Ålander’s article“It’s how their forms and meanings have been affected by about togetherness”. The creation of culturally diverse political developments and social and cultural changes. music venues in Sweden. Ålander identifies general pre- Vladimirova reveals how these two styles are often conditions for the creation of culturally diverse music analyzed in simplistic and one-dimensional ways by venues within a Swedish contemporary context, which scholars, as they under-estimate the music’s complexi- he names: patrons, yields, valuations of diversity, ethical ty and its listeners and practitioners’ social and cultural ideals, and community cohesion. The organizers of these domiciles. She claims how we by “event analysis” can venues had to work within complex networks in which provide new analytical tools and help increase the un- negotiations continually arose about how central ideas derstanding of the popularity and social significance of and ethical principles could be developed by cohesion musical styles such as turbofolk and chalga. and the representation of music. We, the members of the editorial board, Ella Jo- In Unhearing as a cultural practice in urban sound hansson, Birgitta Meurling, Oscar Pripp (editor of this spaces Karin Eriksson-Aras takes us away from the issue) and Maria Westvall (guest editor of this issue) Swedish context to the sound-scapes of Istanbul. It is a warmly thank all authors.

Nätverket 2020: 22: 3–4 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 4 Densities. A key to (late) modern cultural production

OweAtt Ronström, forska Uppsala om Universityting Katarina Ek-Nilsson

abstract This paper proposes density/densities as a key to understanding, describing and measuring cultural FÖREMÅLENcomplexity and lateI MUSEISAMLINGARNA modern cultural production. Based onFör the en observation utomstående that kanincreased detta density tyckas is märkligt, a notable och tendency in much contemporary cultural production, andibland building väcks on frågan, the author’s vilket previous har hänt work från on politikerhåll, rituals, I museernasheritage politics, magasin revival, trängs festivalisation föremålen. and Radercultural avcomplexity, om inte the museernaspaper discusses samlingar aspects onkunde/borde increased density avyttras, spinnrockar,as an empirical vagnar, phenomenon, möbler, mangelbräden and as an analytical etc. toolär in närcultural nu alla studies, föremål especially ändå ininte relation visas, to för cultural att skapa com större- prydligtplexity. sorterade på hyllor i jättelika utrymmen. resurser till verksamheten. Textilier liggerAfter prydligtan introduction inpackade to the i syrafria meaning silkespapper and use of density in physics and in contemporary social and cultural och specialgjordastudies follows syrafria a discussion kartonger. of density Dyrbarheter as an analytical som toolFrågan in studies kan oftyckas cultural både complexity. befogad The och nextenkel section men är silver,looks smycken, at aspects konstföremål, of density inmen music också festivals. mer triviala The concluding i själva sectionverket proposeskomplicerad, a number av bland of ways andra in whichföljande vardagsföremål,density can skyddasbe approached av allehanda and used säkerhetsåtgärder. as a key to understand1 skäl: contemporary Museet har cultural en gång production. tagit emot föremålen som donationer eller som inköp från, i de flesta fall, När ett föremål – det må vara ett ordinärt vardagsföremål privatpersoner. Man får utgå från att de som skänkt som tidigare har hanterats dagligen i egenskap av eller sålt föremålen, liksom museets representanter, har bruksföremålFOUR OBSERVATIONS – blir ett museiföremål TO BEGIN så WITH genomgår åsatttion. demIs it ettperhaps kulturhistoriskt the essence värde. of what Museet makes har it påtagit signifi - det samtidigt en metamorfos. Det blir inte längre sigcant ett and ansvar meaningful? att på bästa sätt bevara föremålen för Bigmöjligt is big att andvidröra more utan is moreatt man in tarso påmany sig särskildadifferent contexts nowadays. “Now we have broken every record!” framtiden,The såHermitage långt det in är möjligt,St. Petersburg och det is vore one därför of the bomullsvantar och det får inte längre användas för oetiskt att avyttra dem. boastssitt ursprungliga Glassmagasinet ändamål. in Visby Vispen harbor. får inte319 meravarieties vispa, of world’s most important art museums. It accommodates icemobiltelefonen cream are available, inte längre the largestsms:as med.stock Enof icegräns cream har Omover museerna3 million exquisiteskulle börja art avyttra works exhibitedsina föremål in more så skulle than 3 varietiespasserats in iEurope föremålets according livslopp, to theen nycompany. status 1och Prices en allmänhetensa thousand marvelously förtroende fördecorated museerna halls. sannolikt Spend skadas. just 30 aresärskild high, magibut customers har laddat willingly föremålet. pay. För The en utomstående attraction of Museerseconds göron each inga pieceekonomiska of art, 24 värderingar hours a day, av 365 föremål, days a för att inte bidra till marknadsmässiga bedömningar icekan cream det förefalladuring hot både summers egendomligt is understandable. och komiskt But att year, and it will take you over three years to see them all. det som nyss hörde till exempelvis en familjs högst ochWhat spekulationer, is the logic behind och kansqueezing därför together inte gå so in much i en of what is the attraction behind offering so many varieties försäljningsverksamhet. Museiföremåls värde är helt och vanliga köksutrustning plötsligt måste behandlas med the world’s finest art in just one place? How is the re- instörsta such a varsamhet small shop? för Is att there den aförvärvats special attraction av ett museum. for the hållet kulturhistoriska, inte ekonomiska. Ekonomiskt ception and experience of the 4,2 million annual visitors customersSkillnaden to choosemellan fromen porslinsurna so many exotic från flavors? 1700-talet är alltså ett museiföremål i princip inte värt något alls, ochStockholm en plastbunke Marathon från is2000-talets Sweden’s largest IKEA marathon är i det eftersomaffected detby this aldrig extreme kommer density? ut på enAnd, marknad. more generally, how does it affect the meaning and importance of the race.museologiska Around 20,000 sammanhanget participants upphävt. run along crammed Museiföremål utgör källmaterial för forskning. Vilka exhibited art? Or art in general? streetsCirka in1% Stockholm’s av museernas inner föremålssamlingar city. What is it thatbrukar attracts vara föremål som skulle kunna avvaras kan inte avgöras, so many to throng during six hours or more in narrow In August the annual cultural night, Menning- utställda. Procenten ändrar visserligen innehåll vartefter eftersom vi inte vet vilka frågor som kommer4 att innerbasutställningar city streets? byggsThe organizers’ om, föremål answer: ställs ut i tillfälliga bliarnott relevanta, takes placeför framtida in central kulturhistorisk Reykjavik, Iceland. forskning. The utställningar eller lånas ut till andra museers utställningar, Visserligenofficial program kan idag lists endast several ett hundred urval ur entries dagens from Achievement. Tears. Laughter. Endorphins. The feelings men faktum kvarstår att vid varje givet ögonblick är föremålshavearly morning göras to midnight. – allt kan To intethat sparascome a –wide men range de are many when you conquer the streets of Stockholm to- tidigare urval som föregångarna på museerna har gjort det getheren mycket with runners liten delfrom av almost den totala100 different föremålsskatten countries, all of other activities, some of which end only early next en gång måste respekteras, eftersom de gjordes med somof ärthem tillgänglig as determined i utställningsform. as you. Stockholm DigitaltMarathon ökartakes morning. Somewhere around a hundred thousand Ice- tillgänglighetenplace right in the successivt heart of Sweden’s genom capital att föremålsfotonto the sounds of utgångspunkt i den tidens vetenskapliga intressen. 2 landers, near a third of the country’s population, partici- publicerasthousands på of många running museers feet, dazzling hemsidor, music men and närhetenthe cheers Befintligapate in this museisamlingar huge event. Themåste hållasCultural intakta Night för is att a kunnapopular och fromtillgången the audience. till museernas2 samlingar är ändå begränsad bildaevent, utgångspunkt praised by many, för museivetenskaplig but also criticized forskning, by some det for för allmänheten, trots att ”tillgängliggörande” har högsta vill säga forskning om museer (inte bara på museer). Strongprioritet feelings, i museernas caused verksamhet. not only by the event and the consuming within just one day and night a major part of Reykjavik’s, and indeed the whole of Iceland’s annual competition,1 but also by the sheer number of people in Jag avser här professionella museer som finansieras med offentliga FÖREMÅL SOM KULTURPRODUKTER a medellimited och area. har utbildad Density personal, appears och to bortser be an heltessential från allehanda part of cultural budget. What makes such a wide range of events privata eller kommersiella samlingar som kallar sin verksamhet Föremålenin such a limited har i etnologisktime and area mening so appealing sin betydelse to so many? som the”museum” race’s attractiveness,men som i själva and verket of itsinte visibility uppfyller andde kravatten på- professionell museiverksamhet som ställts upp av den internationella produkter av kultur. Detta innebär alltså att föremål eller museiorganisationen ICOM (International Council of Museums). andra fysiska företeelser inte i sig själva utgör ”kultur”. 1 3 https://www.facebook.com/glassmagasinet/2 Se till exempel www.digitaltmuseum.se, där flera svenska museer För https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermitage_Museum att förstå vad som menas med detta påstående måste 2 https://www.stockholmmarathon.se/lopare/visar delar av sina föremåls- och fotosamlingar. vi4 http://culturenight.is/, först försöka förklara Ronström kulturbegreppet. 2016.

NätverketNätverket 2016: 2020: 20: 22: 2–7 5–14 ISSN:ISSN: 1651-0593 1651-0593 25 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/http://natverket.etnologi.uu.se # Densities. A key to (late) modern cultural production

DENSITY? tions. Among synonyms to “dense” in English we find In the Guinness book of records examples like tight, impenetrable, opaque, solid, close, close-knit, these multiply, hundreds of pages of the largest, longest, compact, condensed, crammed, crowded, heaped, jam- most often, fastest and, of course, the densest. As easily packed, jammed, massed, packed, packed like sardines, guessed, the number of records of the last, least, shortest piled, substantial, and, perhaps more colloquially, stupid, or most outspread are significantly less. A core of most silly, dumb, foolish. Among antonyms we find words of the records, as in the examples above, is the bringing like loose, empty, unstable, weak, slack, unimportant, together of the largest possible amount of something in divided, fluid, gaseous, insubstantial, vaporous. a limited place, time or context. With such raised density Also in Swedish we find much of the same. seems to follow a certain agency that affects pleasure, Among synonymes to ”tät” (dense) are massiv, fast, hård, laughter and endorphins, economy, visibility and atten- kompakt, tjock, koncentrerad; tryckande, intensiv, oge- tion, and, more generally, social and cultural importance nomtränglig, utan mellanrum, tättslutande, sprickfri, and meaning. dragfri, hermetisk, svårgenomtränglig, lummig, buskig, In this article I will discuss density, or perhaps snårig. Among antonyms are gles, spridd, utspridd, otät, better, densities, as a key to understanding, describing tunn, tunnsådd, lucker, luftig, porös, sparsam, fåtalig, lös, and measuring cultural complexity and late modern mjuk. cultural production. Based on the observation that in- The words related to density in these (and I guess creased density is a notable tendency in much contem- also in many other) languages are plenty, a fact that could porary cultural production, and building on my previous perhaps in itself indicate a certain cultural “weight” 6 work on rituals, heritage politics, revival, festivalisation of the phenomenon. The words point in various di- and cultural complexity, my intention here is to discuss rections, but what many have in common is that they aspects on increased density as an empirical phenome- imply a relation to certain underlying values. When non, and as an analytical tool in cultural studies, espe- presented as here, as standalones, out of context, many cially in relation to cultural complexity. carry negative connotations. However, when words for After a short introduction to what density is and high and low density are paired together, the tendency how it is used in contemporary social and cultural is that words for high or raised density come with more studies, I will turn to density as an analytical tool in positive connotations than their antonyms. studies of cultural complexity. Thereafter I will bring In their much read study Metaphors we live by, up some aspects of density in music festivals, and in the Lakoff and Johnson (1980) discuss a class of metaphors last section propose ways in which density can be ap- that “organizes a whole system of concepts with respect proached and used as a key to understand contemporary to one another”. Lakoff and Johnson call these orienta- cultural production. tional metaphors, “since most of them have to do with spatial orientation: up-down, in-out, front-back, on-off, WHAT IS DENSITY? deep-shallow, central-peripheral” (Lakoff & Johnson 1980:14). They argue that such orientational metaphors In encyclopaedias a common definition of density is 5 give abstract concepts a concrete spatial orientation, as “mass per unit volume”. Logically, the density of an in “more is up – less is down”, “good is up – bad is down” object is thus closely related to its weight. As is implicit and “rational is up – emotional is down”.7 from the examples above this may be valid also for density as an aspect of culture: the mass per unit volume of cultural phenomena such as these seem to correlate 6 Cf. the reasoning in Royle 2007, Ronström 2009. 7 well with their cultural “weight”, in terms of impact, Lakoff and Johnson go on to suggest that “most of our fundamen- tal concepts are organized in terms of one or more spatialization status or meaning. metaphors”; that “spatialization metaphors are rooted in physical In more general terms density is about concentra- and cultural experience” and therefore not randomly assigned; tions, agglomerations and accumulations, and thereby that the concepts that occur in metaphorical definitions are those that correspond to natural kinds of experience (Lakoff & John- also about the opposites, absences, diffusions and dis- son, 1980:118); and that there is “an internal systematicity to each persals. There are many ways to describe such condi- spatialization metaphor” (ibid. 1980:17f). They also suggest that, in some cases “spatialization is so essential a part of a concept that it is difficult for us to imagine any alternative metaphor that might 5 See e.g. https://www.britannica.com/science/density; https:// structure the concept” (ibid. 1980:17f). Since their structure emerges en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Density from our constant interaction with the physical environment, they

Nätverket 2020: 22: 5–14 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 6 Ronström, O. #

I suggest that ‘density’ is one of those abstract mena, such as ideas, values and norms. In a study of concepts that are given a concrete spatial orientation how place and culture support and obstruct educational by being positioned in accordance with a whole system aims, Sue Waite, researcher of education in Plymouth, of spatial metaphors, to the effect that high or raised England, develops a concept of cultural density: density is more positively valued by being connected to as an explanatory tool to theorise how place and culture in- the “more is up, up is good”-type, while low or decreased tersect to support some educational aims and interfere with density becomes more negatively valued by being con- others (…). Cultural density refers to the nature, thickness nected to the “less is down, down is bad”-type. and dominance of habitus and norms of practice in places. (Waite 2013) DENSITY AS AN ANALYTICAL TOOL In his book “Cultural Complexity” (1992) social anthro- Not surprisingly, density as an analytical concept is pologist Ulf Hannerz discusses cultural diversity and firmly grounded in the natural sciences, especially complexity along a similar line of thinking.8 He argues physics. However, it is not hard to find examples also in that the analysis of modern complex societies has to take the social sciences and the humanities where density is into account the relationship between three dimensions used in relation to social structure or culture. A frequent- of culture: the ideas and ways of thinking; the forms ly applied measure in human geography is “population through which ideas can be externalized and made ac- density”, for the number of people per unit area, and cessible to others; and what is more important here, the similarly in other disciplines for the number of artefacts, social distribution, ie how and to what extent the ideas events, businesses, networks or other socio-cultural units and forms are distributed over a population. per unit area. In the works of Richard Florida (2002) “Complexity”, Hannerz notes, is itself a complex and his followers density is frequently used, explicitly or notion. It can refer to concepts: the more meanings a implicitly, as an analytical tool for measuring and com- concept has, the greater its complexity: the more concepts paring the creative class, the number of artists, “bohemi- in a culture, the greater its complexity. It can also refer to ans” and cultural workers in cities and regions in the US. the number of culturally meaningful units in the wider In a similar vein a Norwegian study uses density sense, “memes”, “wits” “chunks” and whatnot they have for the number of cultural forms identified as “cultural been called: the more such units, the greater the com- heritage” available for individuals in their neighbour- plexity. In addition, complexity can refer to the tools with hood: which such units are arranged, sorted and connected, We also show that there is a greater willingness to pay to live “themes”, “key symbols”, “deep structures”, etc. The more in neighbourhoods where there is a high density of cultural such tools, and the more complex they are, the greater heritage than in neighbourhoods with lower density of cul- the complexity. The intellectual appeal of such a complex tural heritage. The value of living in neighbourhoods with concept is hardly greater than “messy”, writes Hannerz, a high density of cultural heritage is higher than the value but what still makes it useful is “its sober insistence that of living in a house with cultural heritage characteristics. (Wang Gierløff et al. 2017) we should think twice before accepting any simple cha- racterization of the cultures in question in terms of some By in this way being explicitly connected to a spatial single essence” (Hannerz 1992:6). After all, it is hardly metaphor (high-low), density can be used not only to questionable that some cultures have larger inventories measure and compare, but also in effect to evaluate of differentiated meaning than others and more ways (good-bad). Implicit in this and many other discussions to handle meaning. The complexity of ideas, he finds, of density in relation to social and/or cultural phenome- is largely a consequence of the complexity of the forms na is an assumption that raised/high density is positive and their social distribution. and desirable. What Hannerz pleads for is a view of culture as the organization of meaning, because this links culture to DENSITY AND COMPLEXITY social structure. The social structure of a society is largely There are examples of uses of density as an analytical based on culturally meaningful differences and how such tool also in research of more abstract cultural pheno- differences are distributed across society: “in a complex culture (…) some common sense is for everybody, but are “concepts that we live by in the most fundamental way” (ibid. 1980:57). 8 The following section is based on Ronström 1994.

Nätverket 2020: 22: 5–14 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 7 # Densities. A key to (late) modern cultural production much is most definitely not that common” (Hannerz relationships in all dimensions and aspects of culture. 1992:128). By using variations of the formula “I know Thus, it will also be possible to describe subcultures, class that you know that I know” such differences can be cultures, ethnic groups, etc. as clusters of perspectives comprehensively summarized. The most massive form created by more or less temporarily emerging symme- of intersubjectivity can be written: “I know and I know tries in the cultural processes. And such clusters can be that everybody else knows, and I know everyone knows described, measured and compared in terms of density, that everyone else knows.” Other formulas express what which is precisely what the introductory examples above some but not all share, the doubtful, the questioned, the are intended to point at. controversial etc: “He knows more about this than me.” Hence, I propose density not only as a notion to “I know and I think you know, but I also think they do think with in culture research in general, but also and not know that we know.” “People should not know that more concretely, to describe, measure and compare they do not know, because if they know that they do not specific types of cultural production. As an example I know they may want to find out.” “I do not believe this, will make use of my earlier work on music and music but you do it and think I’ll do it”, Hannerz summarizes: festivals, and start by pointing at five levels or aspects of music or musical behaviour that can be measured in As a social organization of meaning, culture can be seen as made up of an extremely complex interlinkage of such for- terms of density: mulae; a network of perspectives, with continuous produc- tion of overt cultural forms between them. In this manner, 1. Density of the presented matter, in this case the the perspectivation of meaning is a powerful engine in cre- music, the sounding matter, the expressive forms: ating a diversity of culture within the complex society. Call tones, chords, parts, fill-ins, licks etc. the network a polyphony, as the perspectives are at the same time voices; term it a conversation, if it appears fairly low- 2. Density of the musical interaction and the perfor- keyed and consensual; refer to it as a debate, if you wish to mance: tightness, attack, movements, solos, orchest- emphasize contestation; or describe it as a cacophony, if you ration etc. find mostly disorder. (Hannerz 1992:68) 3. Density of the stage production; props, light effects, volume, use of time, space etc. Although density has been an important notion in 4. Density of the event: size, number and length of acts, Hannerz’ work on cultural complexity and the distri- performances, audiences, venues etc. bution of culture at least since the early 80’s (e.g.Han- 5. Density as a factor of culture at large. nerz 1983), it is not an explicit part of his analytical repertoire. Still, it is evident how his main point can FESTIVALS be re-formulated in terms of density: The denser in- ventories of differentiated meaning, the more complex It is evident that, especially since the 1990s, festivals or diverse society; in terms of concepts, of meaningful have become a major form for cultural production over 9 entities, memes, chunks, bits, etc., and in terms of con- the Western world. Today “festival” is used in various ceptual tools available to organize such entities, such as languages for a wide array of celebrations, that include structures, key symbols, themes and master narratives. a suspension of ordinary life and a focus on expressive Density can thus be seen as an aspect of complexity, or forms such as food, drink, special clothes, drama, music, the other way around. dance and also often with a distinct spiritual compo- nent. This development has been named “festivalisation”, MUSIC FESTIVALS AND FIVE a term pertaining not only to music but to society at LEVELS OF MUSICAL BEHAVIOUR large, including food, sports, tourism, city development, product marketing as well as all kinds of artistic and My ambition here is to take this cultural theoretical dis- identity expression. cussion a step further by applying density to a number of A first factor behind this current festivalisation is aspects of culture and cultural production. What seems the trend to rename as “festivals” all kinds of traditional fruitful is the possibility to describe, measure and compare forms of gatherings, celebrations and festivities, from cultural processes in terms of density, and in terms of the calendar to historical events, religious to secular rituals, asymmetries and symmetries that differences in density markets, fairs, commemorations and anniversaries. In produce. As Hannerz underlines, complex cultures are addition to that, due to a growing competition for media characterized by asymmetries of the cultural flow, asym- metries that establish a long series of center-peripheral 9 The following paragraphs is based on Ronström 2001, 2014a, 2016.

Nätverket 2020: 22: 5–14 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 8 Ronström, O. # and/or for audience, the buzzword “festival” is used for branch organisations and a set of routes, tangible and in- a growing number of public events typically dedicated tangible, from simple paths to elaborate highways. Along to display and promote a region, a village or a town, a these routes circulate artists, audiences, technicians, minority group, be it cultural, ethnic or defined by sexual goods and services, but also ideas, economic models, orientation, peculiar types of food, drink, costume, dance, forms of social behaviour (such as how to behave as music, cinema, literature, etc. Within about two decades, artists and audience), representations (artefacts, images, this general “festivalisation of events” (Jæger, Kvidal & props etc.), visibility, attention and recognition. Viken 2012:17) has turned “festival” into an all-inclu- sive, generic label that can be used at will. COST EFFICIENCY An obvious result of this “festivalisation of events” An explanation to the increase of music festivals is cost is an unprecedented increase of festivals over the world efficiency. No matter how expensive and resource de- 10 in the last decades. But not only are there more fes- manding, festivals are nevertheless often cost-efficient tivals in number, they also tend to become longer and for audiences, arrangers, and artists. There is a certain ra- bigger, attract more people and include a larger variety tionality in increased event density, to have it all at once of performances, all of which concern levels three and instead of spreading it out over time and space. For rela- four in the list above. Beside music, dance, street per- tively low investments of money, time and energy, audi- formances, food courts and bars, new activities such as ences gain access to many different artists, to foods and workshops, cooking lessons, film programs, exhibitions, goods from distant places, as well as to meeting old and sport competitions, seminars, and debates have become making new friends. For the arrangers, cultural events common and the palette seems always to increase. This are often risky, especially in northern Europe, where inflating trend has been termed “festivalisation of festi- so many large events are held outdoors during short vals” (Jæger, Kvidal & Viken 2012:17). and rainy summers. But by presenting several kinds of With such growth, music festivals have become artists, attractive to different types of audiences, it may increasingly important in cultural policies, as arenas be possible to manage risks more efficiently and at the for marketing, brand building and image enhancement. same time reduce the total costs per performance. As Music festivals have gone through a process of institu- PR, advertisement and media have become key factors tionalisation and professionalisation, supported by EU to success, the possibility to concentrate communication funding, new university programmes in festival man- efforts on a single and short event is also highly profit- agement and a common trend to invest in festivals as able. Such focused attention is in turn likely to attract vehicles for local and regional development in order to more easily sponsors and commercial partners. To the raise visibility and attention (Ludvigsson 2008). artists, festivals are a means to reach larger audiences This development has led to a strengthened in- with the same investment, to concentrate activities to a strumentalisation of expressive culture in many north limited period of time and thereby to avoid many of the European countries. As music has long turned into hazards and inconveniences encountered in long solo business, festivals have moved from leisure, art and tours. In this light, the increase in numbers of festivals social criticism to the domain of economy, serving most can be understood as an answer to the growing demands notably as marketplaces and as touristic destinations. of the market economy for maximisation of profit and Today festivals are an integral part of the growing tourist continuous rationalisation and increased effectivity in industry. Tourism is dependent on destinations, attrac- the field of expressive culture. tions, something to see and experience. While festivals provide the attractive experiences, the tourist industry FESTIVALISATION OF MUSICAL BEHAVIOUR: provides the audiences. FORMATTING MUSICAL BEHAVIOUR The result is an impressive transnational music An interesting aspect of festivalisation is “mediaisa- festival geography or ”festivalscape”, a dense, intricate tion”, the process of formatting musical repertoires and network spreading from large cities to small remote behaviours to the medium (Wallis & Malm 1984:278- villages, interconnected by national and international 281). While concerts are highly formalized and focused 10 Percy M. Young writes that in the last century “there has been an performances, festival audiences normally engage in unprecedented proliferation of music festivals of all kinds” (Young parallel activities such as chatting, eating, smoking, using 2001:508), but a fair guess is that rock/pop festivals had the lion’s smart phones etc. For that reason, festivals have difficul- share in this increase.

Nätverket 2020: 22: 5–14 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 9 # Densities. A key to (late) modern cultural production ties in maintaining the audience’s attention over a longer tention; and a short period of distribution, sale and con- period of time. This calls for more and stronger effects, sumption, with high intensity, visibility and attention, which typically means a striving towards raised density large resources and audiences (Lundberg & Malm & of the musical matter, expressive forms, performances, Ronström 2000:337). and stage productions, all of which concern level one to three in the list above, covering such aspects as raised PRODUCING THE LOCAL volume, flashier lights and raised focus on performers FOR GLOBAL CONSUMPTION attack and tightness, as also costumes, moves, props etc. Visibility at a distance, through representations, symbols, To raised levels of expression and effect, festival images and narratives, is a core issue. Raised visibility audiences typically answer by “zapping” passing on to can be profitable in terms of money, but it is more often another stage or another activity. “Festivals fit young attention and recognition that is the attractive resource people’s ways of zapping and searching for music” that the production is organised to maximise (Goldhaber comments ethnologist and festival specialist Jonas 1997a, 1997b) Since attention will always be in short Bjälesjö. “They are like a smorgasbord, if you get tired supply, access to attention has become an increasingly of a gig you pass on to the next” (Sydsvenskan 2012). important factor, which has led to a dramatic increase The result is a spiral of more effects and raised density at of the costs to attract people, flows of money, social and levels one to four to renew attention. This inflation raises cultural capital. A consequence of this development is production costs, which in turn calls for larger venues raised density of the messages, as in the infamous “15 and bigger audiences. With large scale performances minutes of fame” phenomenon. follow more security investments and pricey techniques Tourism is today one of the world’s largest indust- such as large PA systems and video displays to overcome ries. What makes it different from other globalized busi- the distance between performers and spectators. In a nesses is that its products, the destinations, cannot be social perspective, such fortification of the stages also moved: consumers have to be brought to the products gives way to new, ritualised repertoire of border crossing instead of the other way round. This makes visibility at activities, such as crowd surfing and stage diving. a distance, through images or narratives, a core issue. To obtain and to raise such visibility is thus one of the most FESTIVALISATION OF important driving forces behind the production and the CULTURE AND SOCIETY AT LARGE competition of tourist destinations. Yet another aspect of festivalisation is a tendency in Festivals fit into this economy by offering an effi- present-day, western societies to arrange cultural pro- cient means to process the local for global export (Kir- duction in a festival-like way, which at least partly may shenblatt-Gimblett 1998:153). They function as a “dis- be seen as a consequence of festivalisation on the way embedding mechanism” (Giddens 1990) that uncouple people understand and organise time and space (Roche chosen local elements from their original contexts, pack 2011:127f ). This highlights a contemporary trend in and wrap them up to make them fit the basic require- urban and economic development policies to emphasize ments of tourism. This makes them interesting as “a new experience, to the effect that the production and con- way of relating to space that focuses more on sites and sumption of products and places is transformed into networks than on a purely territorial approach” (Segal theatre, stages, performances, audiences (Jakob 2012:1). 2009:27). “Spectacle-culture”, “event-culture”, “eventification’”, Music festivals have to work their distinctiveness “disneyfication”, “cultural fireworks” are some of the ex- in order to stand a chance on the global market, where pressions for this trend. a large number of similar events already compete. This Such raised event density has a number of conse- drives them to become simultaneously “differently quences for performances and expressive culture at large similar” and “similarly different”, often by staging local (Ronström 2008; Kirshenblatt-Gimblett 1998). Con- acts tied to specific times, places and cultural identities, centration in time produces a ketchup-like effect: first but at the same time presenting them as freed from nothing, then nothing, and suddenly everything at once. precisely these ties. The local features, whether keyed as Musical life becomes split up between a long production traditions, roots or heritage, appear as a mere resource period, with big investments but small revenues, limited for producing a globalised, uniform genre (Taylor 2014; resources and audiences, low intensity, visibility and at- Lundberg & Malm & Ronström 2000:392). One step

Nätverket 2020: 22: 5–14 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 10 Ronström, O. # beyond, Greg Richards and Julie Wilson point out, the kinds of contents and used in many ways. This turns strategy by many cities to use certain kinds of festivals in festivals into tools for both social control and cultural order to develop a distinctively different image of them- change, which in turn helps to explain the festivalisa- selves also “tend[s] to end up striving for similar urban tion of the semantic and conceptual terrain of festivi- and cultural landscapes (serial reproduction, or serial ties, the increase in numbers of festivals, the adaptation monotony)” (Richards & Wilson 2004:1932f ). of cultural forms to the festival format, and the current Successful branding of music festivals is as much trend of festivalisation of society and culture at large. about creating new, attractive stories for visitors, as it is I have used music festivals as the example here, about overwriting and replacing older local narratives because music festivals provide an unusually clear about people, place, history and culture. Large festi- example of raised density at least at five levels, the matter vals are good news for media, as is media good news or expressive forms, performances, stage productions, for festivals. With the increasing festivalisation follows events and culture at large. To that comes that music an increase in importance of festivals as sources of new festivals also provide a good example of a cultural pro- messages, symbols and signs, new narratives, memories duction that both produce and express, present and rep- and myths, individually and collectively. The effect of resent many of the tendencies that in current academic the stories take an important role: articles, interviews, prose have been summarised as cultural complexity, glo- portrays and images displayed in newspapers, radio and balisation and postmodernity: on the one hand a stress television; videos, pictures, comments exchanged by on diversities - mixing, bricolage, eclecticism, crossover, visitors on You Tube, Instagram or Twitter – all these blurring of genres and categories; on the other hand a new layers of meaning make up disembedding mecha- stress on homogeneity, a purification and reification of nisms that enforce the uncoupling of the festival from its expressive forms and styles, in order to produce fast and local surrounding. It is through such active retelling that clear-cut messages. places, inhabitants and ways of life can be transformed As a phenomenon of the late modern, hyper-capi- into complex and culturally dense destinations that can talistic world, music festivals have become an arena, or be visited, consumed and enjoyed by masses with no interface, where the global and the local are negoti- previous local knowledge. ated and processed in new ways. And as so many other late-modern phenomena, music festivals are caught up in SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION a dichotomous structure, at once uniting and separating. Festival is an old form of cultural production that through On the one hand, a limited number of festival formats an unprecedented festivalisation has taken on radical- have spread over of the world, promoted by people with ly new functions and meanings in recent decades. As a similar interests and backgrounds, caught in similar result there are now more festivals, of more types, in more institutional logics, staged and perhaps also consumed places, used in more ways, and for more reasons. Both as in similar ways. On the other hand, as these globalised a conceptual framework and as an empirical phenome- festival formats are downloaded and applied locally, they non, music festivals seem to generate a certain cultural will inevitably be exposed to unpredictable adaptations energy attractive to growing numbers of managers, pro- and changes. In addition to that, the renaming and refor- ducers, artists, local volunteers, audiences and, to some matting of older established gatherings and celebrations extent, also to scholars. Festivals are increasingly impor- as “festivals” should also lead to increased diversification. tant as exchange offices, where economic capital can be Music festivals can thus be understood as a field changed to cultural and vice versa. Festivals can produce of tension with globalising and homogenising forces desirable visibility and attention capital but at the same at the one end, and localising and diversifying forces at time contribute to rapid devaluation and consumption the other. A striking feature of many music festivals is of such capital. Festivals are instruments for control of the complex interplay between such forces: a striving musical and cultural resources, as well as of the aesthe- for diversity, bricolage and crossover can coexist with a tics, ethics, values, symbols, and representations of the tendency to essentialise cultural forms in the very same presented expressive forms. Festival organisers thereby events. The hierarchy of values that organises and hold become controllers of political and ideological power. the field together is strengthened rather than threat- Perhaps the f-word can best be described as a “vessel ened by what might seem at first destabilising agents: of meaning” (Barth 1969), that could be filled with many increasing complexity and diversity at one level is coun-

Nätverket 2020: 22: 5–14 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 11 # Densities. A key to (late) modern cultural production terbalanced by increasing homogeneity and standardi- list. Also the music of revival bands playing middle age sation at another and vice versa (Malm & Lundberg & music, folk music, art rock of the 70’s or other kinds of Ronström 2000; Ronström 2008:223; Bjälesjö 2013) heritagized music, is generally denser than the music of To this I argue that music festivals (as perhaps also the “originals”, else it would not be possible to recognize many other types of festivals) summarize a trend in them as revival bands. contemporary society to produce the “greatest possible 2) When certain instances are marked as diffe- impression on shortest possible time”, to use the words rent from the ordinary flow of life and named rituals, of Zygmunt Bauman (1994), or, to borrow words from ceremonies, festivals, attractions, exhibitions, cultural Russian semiotician Boris Uspenskij , “to achieve the centers, museums, theme parks or tourist destinations, largest possible number of signs in the smallest possible the density of the expressive forms will raise as a conse- space”.11 This brings us to the role of density in today’s quence of the shift that is implied from one context to cultural production and also to theories about cultural another: the more important the event, in terms of audi- complexity, representation and the agency of display. ences, money, status, or cultural capital, the more dense There are at least three ways in which density, or the use of expressive forms, of props, performances and densities, can be approached as a key to cultural produc- of time and space (levels one to four) (Ronström 2011, tion, and to analysing cultural at large. 2014b). In my study of heritage politics and the re-mak- 1) As a descriptive and/or an analytical tool density ing of Visby, Gotland, Sweden, from a worn out small can of course be applied to all aspects of human culture. town to a Middle Age icon in the 1990’s (Ronström 12 In general the density of ordinary everyday life tends 2008), I have shown how cultural heritage production, to be low, or at least described as low, which should not especially in the form of Unesco World Heritage, trans- be surprising since low “event density” is one of the forms its objects by exhibiting, historicizing and es- central features of what we commonly understand as theticizing, and by objectifying and homogenizing, all “ordinary” and “everyday”. But when things are present- in order to increase the objects density and distinctive ed for display, or when marked as exhibited, such as in a character and thereby its visibility, locally and globally. concert, a festival, a museum, a film, a tourist brochure or 3) Central to the experience industry of late modern a photo album, the density of exhibited items increases, societies is “staging”, a process that requires putting as do the density of the performances, spaces and events something up at display. To put up things to display as such. This is especially so if the items at display are in turn requires a detachment that produces a prob- meant to stand as symbolic representations of some lematic relationship between the displayed objects and abstract or in other ways absent phenomenon. Symbolic the instruments of their display. As Barbara Kirshen- representation becomes possible and viable by means blatt-Gimblett has shown in her studies of heritage pro- of condensation and typification, homogenisation and duction and the agency of display, such staging produces standardisation. Thus, in the same way as the density in- an “interface that mediates and thereby transforms what creases when a course of events is packaged as a story, a is shown” (1998:7). The result is something new. Raised film, a book or an exhibition, a tribute or cover band’s density is then at once a mark of the successful transfor- performance is generally denser in a number of ways mation and a defining quality of the result. than the original, especially at levels one to three of my

11 Lecture given at Gotland University, autumn 1999. With that said it is necessary to mention also that horror vaccui - “fear of empty space”, the filling of the entire surface of a space or an artwork with detail, is a an old and common aesthetic principle in folk art, in- digenous art, and a large number of other art forms, over the world, from ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, to renaissance map-making, and graffiti-paintings. 12 Since density is a measure of quantity per unit, and since quantity is always a meaningful quality in the human world, in relation to cultural complexity and knowledge quantity and density can in practice become exchangeable: since culture and knowledge is always situated, there will always be a spatial unit of some kind implied, hence quantity of meaningful entities will always be possible to describe in terms of density.

Nätverket 2020: 22: 5–14 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 12 Ronström, O. #

REFERENCES Barth, Fredrik 1969. Introduction. In Fredrik Barth (ed.), Ethnic groups and boundaries. Bergen; Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. Bauman, Zygmunt 1994. Från pilgrim till turist. In Moderna tider, nr 47 årgång 5, september:20-34. Bjälesjö, Jonas 2013. Rock’n’roll i Hultsfred. Ungdomar, festival och lokal gemenskap. Lund: Lunds universitet. Diss. Florida, Richard L. 2002. The rise of the creative class: and how it’s transforming work, leisure, community and everyday life. New York: Basic Books. Giddens, Anthony 1990. The consequenses of modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press. Goldhaber, Michael H. 1997a. The attention economy and the Net. http://firstmonday.org/article/view/519/440 Goldhaber, Michael H. 1997b. What´s the Right Economics for Cyberspace? http://firstmonday.org/article/ view/537/458 Hannerz, Ulf 1983. Om skillnader i kulturlighet. In Ulf Hannerz, Över gränser. Studier i dagens socialantropologi. Lund: Liber Förlag. Hannerz, Ulf 1992. Cultural complexity. Studies in the Social Organization of Meaning. New York: Columbia University press. Jæger, Kari, Trine Kvidal & Arvid Viken 2012. Festivaler i Nord-Norge: Et samhandlingsfelt for reiseliv, øvrig næring, kultur og sosialt liv. Norut, rapport nr. 2012:10. (http://www.norut.no/alta/Norut-Alta-Alta/Publikasjoner/ Rapporter/Festivaler-i-Nord-Norge-Et-samhandlingsfelt-for-reiseliv-oevrig-naering-kultur-og-sosialt-liv) (downloaded 2015-11-19) Jakob, Doreen 2012. The eventification of place: Urban development and experience consumption in Berlin and New York City. European Urban and Regional Studies, October 3. http://eur.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/09/14/ 0969776412459860.abstract?patientinform-links=yes&legid=speur;0969776412459860v1 (downloaded 2015- 12-10) Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Barbara 1998. Destination Culture: Tourism, Museums, and Heritage. Berkeley: University of California Press. Lakoff, George & Mark Johnson 1980.Metaphors we live by. Chicago; London: University of Chicago Press. Ludvigsson, Josefine 2008.Festivalernas intåg. Korröfestivalen – en bordunstämmas resa genom festivaliseringen. Uppsats i musikvetenskap C. Avdelningen för musikvetenskap, Institutionen för pedagogik, Växjö Universitet. Lundberg, Dan & Krister Malm & Owe Ronström 2000. Musik, Medier, Mångkultur. Förändringar i Svenska Musiklandskap. Hedemora: Gidlunds. Richards, Greg & Julie Wilson 2004. The Impact of Cultural Events on City Image: Rotterdam, Cultural Capital of Europe 2001. In Urban Studies, Vol. 41, No. 10:1931–1951, September 2004. Roche, Maurice 2011. Festivalization, Cosmopolitanism and European culture: On the Sociocultural Significance of Mega-events. In Liana Giorgi & Monica Sassatelli & Gerard Delanty (eds), Festivals and the Cultural Public Sphere. London; New York: Routledge Advances in Sociology. Pp 124-141. Ronström, Owe 1994. Kulturell komplexitet och komplexa kulturer. Kulturella perspektiv, 1-94:26-33. Ronström, Owe 2001. Concerts and Festivals: Public Performances of Folk Music in Sweden. The World of Music, Vol. 43 (2+3). Ronström, Owe 2008. Kulturarvspolitik: Visby: från sliten småstad till medeltidsikon. Stockholm: Carlsson. Ronström, Owe 2009. Island Words, Island Worlds: The Origins and Meanings of Words for ‘Islands’ in North-West Europe. Island Studies Journal, Vol. 4, No. 2:163-182. Ronström, Owe 2011. Revival Reconsidered. In Max Peter Bauman (ed.), Readings in Ethnomusicology. The world of music. Vol. 52 (1-3):314-331. Berlin: Verlag für Wissenschaft und Bildung. Ronström, Owe 2014a. Festivals et festivalisations. Cahiers d’ethnomusicologie, Vol. 27:27-47. Ronström, Owe 2014b. Traditional music, heritage music. In Caroline Bithell & Juniper Hill (eds), The Oxford handbook of music revival. New York: Oxford University Press. Pp 43-59. Ronström, Owe 2016. Four facets of festivalisation. Puls, No.1:67-83. Royle Stephen A. 2007. Island definitions and typologies. In Godfrey Baldacchino (ed.),A world of islands. An Island Studies Reader. Institute of Island studies. University of Prince Edward Island, Canada, in collaboration with Agenda Academic, Malta. Sydsvenskan 2012. “Svenska festivaler slår biljettrekord”. 18/6 2012.

Nätverket 2020: 22: 5–14 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 13 # Densities. A key to (late) modern cultural production

Taylor, Timothy D. 2014. Les festivals de musiques du monde. La diversité comme genre. Cahiers d’ethnomusicologie, 27:49-63. Waite, Sue 2013. ‘Knowing your place in the world’: how place and culture support and obstruct educational aims. Cambridge Journal of Education, 43:4:413-433. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/030576 4X.2013.792787 Wallis, Roger & Krister Malm 1984. Big sounds from small peoples: the music industry in small countries. London: Constable. Wang Gierløff, Caroline, Kristin Magnussen, Lars Stemland Eide, Endre Kildal Iversen, Karin Ibenholt, Siri Voll Dombu, Ståle Navrud & Jon Strand 2017. The value of cultural heritage. An economic analysis of cultural heritage and cultural environments. Menon Publication, No. 72/2017. https://www.riksantikvaren.no/.../Verdien%20 av%20kulturarv%... Young, Percy, M. 2001. Festival. In John Tyrrell, Stanley Sadie, & George Grove (eds), The new Grove dictionary of music and musicians. 2. ed. London: Macmillan. Pp. 505-510.

Owe Ronström is Professor in ethnology at the Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology, Uppsala University, Campus Gotland, and associate professor in Musicology at Åbo Academy, Turku Finland. He has researched and written extensively on music, dance, ethnicity, multiculturalism, ritual, the culture of ageing, heritage politics, and islands. He is also active as a musician.

Nätverket 2020: 22: 5–14 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 14 Cultural immersion and production. The meaning of musickingAtt for forska social om trust ting and inclusion

Oscar KatarinaPripp, Uppsala Ek-Nilsson University & Maria Westvall, Rhythmic Music Conservatory, Copenhagen

abstract FÖREMÅLEN The I MUSEISAMLINGARNAaim of this article is to investigate participants’ För en engagementutomstående in kanmusic dettaactivities tyckas in ethnic-based märkligt, och associations today, in the light of 1) the Swedish integrationibland and culturalväcks frågan, policies vilket from thehar 1970shänt frånand 2) politikerhåll, general I museernasconditions magasin for social andträngs political föremålen. inclusion Rader through av association om inte engagement. museernas samlingar kunde/borde avyttras, spinnrockar,As a vagnar,starting point,möbler, we discussmangelbräden the ideas behind etc. är the culturalnär nu andalla integration föremål ändå policies inte launched visas, för in att Sweden skapa in större prydligtthe 1970s, sorterade and how på theyhyllor have i changedjättelika due utrymmen. to societal changesresurser and shiftingtill verksamheten. discourses during the recent decades Textilierup until ligger today. prydligt In our inpackade previous i syrafriaresearch, silkespapper we have found that engagement in music activities in ethnic-based och specialgjordaassociations has syrafria played kartonger.an important Dyrbarheter role for both som individuals, Frågan groups kan andtyckas on abåde societal befogad level. Bonding och enkel musical men är silver,activities smycken, within konstföremål, the associations men haveockså been mer intertwined triviala iwith själva bridging verket contacts komplicerad, with others, av bland and inclusionandra följande in 1 vardagsföremål,other activities skyddas outside av allehandathe associations, säkerhetsåtgärder. in line with the basicskäl: ideologiesMuseet har and en assumptions gång tagit of emot the policies föremålen from som the 1970s. However, such synergy processes only seem to donationerhave been valid eller under som some inköp general från, conditions i de flesta of in- fall, När ett föremål – det må vara ett ordinärt vardagsföremål privatpersoner. Man får utgå från att de som skänkt som clusiontidigare and har exclusion. hanterats These dagligen conditions i egenskapare signified av by: 1) The quality of, and the extensions of social networks, 2) The inner structure and organization of the associations,eller and sålt 3) föremålen, The social liksom climate museets and the representanter,political govern- har bruksföremål – blir ett museiföremål så genomgår åsatt dem ett kulturhistoriskt värde. Museet har påtagit det samtidigtance of the enlocal metamorfos. community. In Det the endblir ofinte the article,längre we add a discussion on how the ideas of the early policies comprehended these general conditions of inclusion, evensig if theyett ansvarwere not att implemented på bästa sätt fully bevara in practice. föremålen för möjligt att vidröra utan att man tar på sig särskilda framtiden, så långt det är möjligt, och det vore därför bomullsvantar och det får inte längre användas för oetiskt att avyttra dem. sitt ursprungliga ändamål. Vispen får inte mera vispa, INTRODUCTION the basis for a specific ”immigrant policy” with an ”in- mobiltelefonen inte längre sms:as med. En gräns har Om museerna skulle börja avyttra sina föremål så skulle Swedenpasserats has i föremåletsa long history livslopp, of citizen en ny participation status och enin allmänhetenstegrative potential” förtroende in the för 1970s museerna (Borevi sannolikt 2004:31). skadas. The socialsärskild movements magi har and laddat associations. föremålet. This För enunique utomstående tradition Museerpolicy followed gör inga aekonomiska generative värderingarmodel, how av immigrants föremål, haskan strongly det förefalla contributed både toegendomligt the formation och of komiskt the welfare att förwould att strengtheninte bidra theirtill marknadsmässiga integration by popular bedömningar education, statedet andsom the nyss Swedish hörde modeltill exempelvis of the ”home en familjsof the people” högst ochbased spekulationer, on an assumption och ofkan their därför need inteto learn gå ”Swedishin i en försäljningsverksamhet. Museiföremåls värde är helt och (Folkhemmet)vanliga köksutrustning that symbolizes plötsligt the måste idea behandlasof society opemed- democracy” and democratic processes (Dahlstedt et al. största varsamhet för att den förvärvats av ett museum. hållet2011; kulturhistoriska,Nordvall 2005; Eriksson inte ekonomiska. and Osman Ekonomiskt 2003). Es - rating as a “household” where each one contributes as är alltså ett museiföremål i princip inte värt något alls, Skillnaden mellan en porslinsurna från 1700-talet tablishing an ethnic minority affiliation was considered activeoch encitizens plastbunke (Khayati från & 2000-talets Dahlstedt 2014;IKEA Nordvallär i det eftersom det aldrig kommer ut på en marknad. 2005). Due to the large labor immigration to Sweden, a means of gaining a collective voice in Swedish society museologiska sammanhanget upphävt. Museiföremål utgör källmaterial för forskning. Vilka during the 1960s and 1970s, ethnic minority groups (Eriksson & Osman 2003; Bengtsson 2004). Cirka 1% av museernas föremålssamlingar brukar vara föremålThe som political skulle line kunna in avvarasthe immigrant kan inte policy avgöras, con - were expected to incorporate themselves in society by eftersom vi inte vet vilka frågor som kommer att utställda. Procenten ändrar visserligen innehåll vartefter tained principles of both ethnos and demos, since the organizingbasutställningar their own byggs associations. om, föremål The ställs idea ut iwas tillfälliga that life bli relevanta för framtida kulturhistorisk forskning. members of the associations were expected to maintain withinutställningar the associations eller lånas would ut till andrabe a forum museers for utställningar, immigrants’ Visserligen kan idag endast ett urval ur dagens ”democraticmen faktum education”, kvarstår attpolitical vid varje and socialgivet participation,ögonblick är föremålshavtheir ”culture görasof origin” – allt and kan be integratedinte sparas into – men Swedish de anddet noten mycketleast, opportunities liten del av den to preservetotala föremålsskatten their cultural tidigaresociety as urval equal som citizens föregångarna (Borevi på2002:97). museerna In harthe gjortarticle andsom ethnic är tillgänglig identities. i Autställningsform. political decision Digitalt was made ökar in enwe gånguse the måste ethnos respekteras, concept to eftersomdescribe ande order gjordes in society med tillgängligheten successivt genom att föremålsfoton utgångspunktwhere ethnic minority i den tidens or majority vetenskapliga groups intressen.have – or are 1975 that immigrant and minority organizations2 would receivepubliceras government på många grants museers (Ds hemsidor, 2015:38). menThe närheten subsidies Befintligagiven – roommuseisamlingar to consolidate måste hållas and intaktadevelop för theiratt kunna own och tillgången till museernas samlingar är ändå begränsad were intended to encourage activities, which would con- bildaethnic utgångspunkt identities and för museivetenskapligcommunities. Demos forskning, applies det to för allmänheten, trots att ”tillgängliggörande” har högsta villan ordersäga forskning where all om citizens museer of (inte a country bara på are museer). categorized tributeprioritet to thei museernas members’ verksamhet. integration processes as well as and treated as one people due to their joint citizenship to1 the preservation of their ethnic identities (Khayati & Jag avser här professionella museer som finansieras med offentliga (Borevi 2002). Dahlstedtmedel och 2014:59).har utbildad In personal, line with och thesebortser thoughts, helt från allehandacultural FÖREMÅL SOM KULTURPRODUKTER activitiesprivata eller were kommersiella supported samlingar by national som kallarand local sin verksamhet authori- FöremålenDuring har the i etnologisk1970s, the meningethnos aspectsin betydelse was strongly som ”museum” men som i själva verket inte uppfyller de krav på emphasized in Sweden. The importance of ”internal ties,professionell and had museiverksamhet a strong position som ställts in uppthe avmigrant den internationella associa- produkter av kultur. Detta innebär alltså att föremål eller tionsmuseiorganisationen during the 1970s ICOM and (International 1980s. Council of Museums). andrasolidarity” fysiska – orföreteelser bonding inte (Putnam i sig själva 2000) utgör – within ”kultur”. the 2 Se Theretill exempel was www.digitaltmuseum.se, a unique combination där flera of svenska state museergover- Förethnic att förstågroups vad was som stressed menas frommed dettaa political påstående perspective. måste nancevisar delar and ava sinatradition föremåls- of ochpopular fotosamlingar. education that formed viOver först the försöka next two förklara decades, kulturbegreppet. the focus on internal group

NätverketNätverket 2016:2020: 22:20: 15–242–7 ISSN:ISSN: 1651-0593 1651-0593 152 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/http://natverket.etnologi.uu.se # Cultural immersion and production. The meaning of musicking for social trust and inclusion solidarity shifted in favor of the citizenship perspec- grants to maintain and develop traditions and sonic ex- tive, which grew stronger. Consequently, as the demos pressions with references to their “homelands”. So why aspects became more central, the ”immigration politics” did the musical activities of the associations become so transformed into ”integration politics”. The intercon- important? Was it merely a sonic way of defining di- necting qualities of the associations came into focus, and versity, or a categorization of immigrants by highlight- the directives to them were now to work for integra- ing traditional cultural expressions? In order to find out tion and bridging activities from a more general societal more about this approach, we need to take a closer look perspective, rather than consolidating a specific ethnic at the general cultural policies of Sweden during this era. affiliation. It is this view that dominates politics and the In the Cultural Bill of 1974, there was a concep- public debate today. tual focus on changing social policies, rather than on The aim of this article is to investigate participants’ humanistic and artistic traditions (Kungl. Maj:ts prop. engagement in music activities in ethnic-based associ- 1974:28). The focus on music and other expressive forms ations today, in the light of 1) the Swedish integration of culture had a relational focus in the policy rather than and cultural policies from the 1970s and 2) general con- a categorical one; the collective participation was em- ditions for social and political inclusion through associ- phasized over individual artistic dimensions, represent- ation engagement. ing a broad view of music with active participation in As a starting point, we discuss the ideas behind the a social context. The opposite of this view would have cultural and integration policies launched in Sweden in been an aesthetic – normative – ideal, focusing on skill the 1970s. We focus on the ambitions of social and po- and professional practitioners and their audience, where litical inclusion of immigrants through popular educa- traditional aesthetic criteria set the norms for how music tion, membership in ethnic associations and cultural ac- is practiced and assessed. But in the first case, music tivities. The cultural and integration policies in Sweden was defined as a significant part of life, functioning as a have changed several times during the recent decades social glue between people. As such, it was understood up until today, due to shifting discourses and societal as an inter-human activity where members of the ethnic changes. In the following part, we present the research communities were likely to access musical interaction project Music, identity, and multiculturalism: A study of within their groups (Wallin 2002; Westvall 2007). the role of music in ethnic-based associations (Westvall, According to the Cultural Policy Bill of 1974 (p. Lidskog & Pripp 2018).1 The project’s results show how 295), the goals of cultural politics were to: engagement in music activities in ethnic-based associa- - contribute to the protection of freedom of expression tions has played an important role for both individuals, and create real conditions for the utilization of that groups and on a societal level. In the third and last part, freedom; we identify general conditions under which engagement - provide opportunities for creative activities and in music and dance in ethnic associations increase, or promote contact between people; counteract, social inclusion and political commitment - counteract the negative effects of commercialism in among its members. We discuss these general conditions the cultural field; in relation to the findings of the research project. As - promote decentralization of activities and deci- an ending, we also discuss the connection between the sion-making functions within the cultural field; general conditions of inclusion and the ideas and imple- - take into account the experiences and needs of disad- mentation of the early integration and cultural policies. vantaged groups to a greater extent; - enable artistic and cultural renewal; MUSIC AND THE CULTURE POLICIES - ensure that the culture of old times is utilized and In the 1970s’ policies, musical activities were considered brought to life; as cultural expressions of bonding, as ways for immi- - promote an exchange of experiences and ideas in the cultural field across language and national borders 1 The multidisciplinary research project studyMusic, identity, and (Kungl. Maj:ts prop. 1974:28) (freely translated into multiculturalism: A study of the role of music in ethnic-based asso- English). ciations was funded by The Swedish Foundation for Humanities and Social Sciences (Riksbankens Jubileumsfond). The researchers were In relation to the points presented above, the en- Maria Westvall (project leader), Rolf Lidskog and Ulrik Volgsten, couragement of musical activities in ethnic-based as- from Örebro University, Ove Sernhede and Johan Söderman from sociations intended to be a way of implementing the Gothenburg University and Oscar Pripp from Uppsala University.

Nätverket 2020: 22: 15–24 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 16 Pripp, O. & Westvall, M. # general cultural policy goals in Sweden at the time. 2018a:24-27; Wenger-Trayner & Wenger-Tray- However, the political discourse and the integration ner 2015). First of all, the members of a community system have changed over the last 50 years, which has of practice share a concern for a particular domain of affected the activities in and the role of the associations. knowledge, which creates a common ground for the The assumption that the engagement in ethnic associa- community’s existence. In our case, this domain was tions and cultural activities generate social inclusion is music. The domain of knowledge may be affected by the no longer a ruling principle (cf. Dahlstedt 2005; Dahl- attendants’ improvement of skills and competences, and stedt & Neergard 2019). Nevertheless, the ethnic asso- when generations shift and the society changes. A second ciations still exist and new ones are established. While characteristic of a community of practice is of course the research on ethnic-based cultural associations in Sweden practices, what the members actually do when they meet. has increased recently, the role of musical activities in The community exists because of the practices, which them has remained rather unmapped (cf. Lidskog 2016). in our study cover the notion of musicking. Musicking Though many of these associations focus on music, concerns all actions where music is involved, like listen- dance and other cultural activities, little is known about ing, singing, playing, composing, improvising, dancing, their current role in society and what the cultural activi- talking about music, reading about music, etc. (Lidskog, ties mean to their members, particularly with respect to Pripp & Westvall 2018a:16, cf. Lilliestam 2006, Small social inclusion. 1998). The notion of musicking makes the empirical field wider by rendering all kinds of music related prac- STUDYING COMMUNITIES OF MUSICAL tices. A third characteristic of a community of practice is PRACTICES AND THE MEANING the community, understood as a social collective, created OF MUSICKING and maintained by the members’ practices (musicking) The multi-disciplinary research projectMusic, identity, (Shelemay 2011:364-365). In this case, the communities and multiculturalism: A study of the role of music in are defined by the members of the associations. ethnic-based associations was comprised of six re- As mentioned, the study took place in Sweden’s searchers who examined the function and meaning of three largest cities. In Göteborg, members of the research music for participants in a number of ethnic-based as- team conducted fieldwork in Bosnian, Croatian, Romani sociations, located in the three largest cities in Sweden: and Gambian associations. In Malmö, we focused on the Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö (Westvall, Lidskog Finnish and Chilean contexts and in Stockholm, one as- & Pripp 2018). A central point was to investigate how sociation engaged in Kurdish culture and one in Swedish music may influence cultural identity formation and at folk dance. In the project, we empirically chose to call the same time constitute means of social change among them “association contexts”, giving attention not only to minority groups. The methods of collecting empirical activities within each association, but also considering data were participatory observation, individual semi- their social networks and people loosely connected to structured interviews and focus group interviews. The the communities. By that, we wanted to be attentive to fieldwork was conducted among musicians, dancers social and cultural complexity and to minimize the risk and other members in a number of different associa- of defining the associations as cultural homogenous col- tion contexts in the three cities. Among the results, it lectives (Pripp 2019; Ruskin & Rice 2012:16–17). was obvious that the ethnic-based associations still are We often combined the focus on the associa- a vital part of the cultural variety of the cities, and serve tions’ activities with life-stories of individual musicians as platforms for social engagement and inclusion. The and dancers. This was the case e.g. in the study of the practices of cultural expressions, such as playing and Gambian association in Gothenburg, which also com- dancing, seemed to serve a crucial role for generating prises interviews with the Gambian-Swedish percus- social effects, a subject we want to further develop and sionist Dembo Jatta and the rapper Ibrahima Erik Lun- investigate in this article. din-Banda, a second generation Gambian in Sweden While planning the fieldwork, we aimed to visit (Sernhede 2018:63–82). Another example was the field- ethnic-based associations, which focused particular- work concerning the Kurdish artist Hejar Duhoki, who ly on musical activities. We investigated the members’ now and then joined activities organized by the Kurdish actions and interactions, understanding the associations culture association Komciwan in Stockholm. Duhoki as “communities of practice” (Lidskog, Pripp & Westvall was touring in Sweden and abroad, wrote and produced

Nätverket 2020: 22: 15–24 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 17 # Cultural immersion and production. The meaning of musicking for social trust and inclusion music and music videos, based in his studio in the town duction of Culture, with reference to diasporic contacts of Norrköping, 130 kilometers south of Stockholm and cooperation with people in other countries. The di- (Pripp 2018a). asporic culture production was common in association The association contexts differed regarding their contexts representing groups like Kurds, Romani people, approach and attitudes to ethnic or national engage- etcetera. In some associations we found diasporic-like ment. In the Chilean context in Malmö, the music in traits like contacts and interchange with institutions and the 1970s served for the political struggle against the places in “the other homeland”, from where the group military regime and dictator Pinochet. Today the per- had migrated originally, like Finland for the Finnish im- formance of music aims to enhance solidarity between migrants (Lidskog, Pripp & Westvall 2018b:231–236; groups of people in Sweden as well as in other parts of cf. Olsson 2007:56–57). In the Bosnian and Romani the world (Söderman 2018:101–116). In the Kurdish cases, the contacts within the diasporas were explic- case, the ethnic symbolism of the music was explicit- itly physical, when travelling and visiting, playing/ ly expressed. The members of the Swedish folk dance touring with different musicians and constellations in association were comparatively more unaware of the the Balkan countries and other parts of Europe. In the ethno-national dimensions in their expressions. This un- Kurdish diaspora the musical contacts and the produc- awareness was probably due to the majority position of tion of culture relied to greater extent on internet and Swedish folk music and dance, as an established national social media, but also on travelling and touring. canon (Pripp 2018b). The fourth outcome is Contributing to the Cities’ As an overall result of the project, we found at Cultural Dynamics. We realized how several associa- least seven recurrent outcomes of what engagement in tion contexts served as hubs for culture practitioners of music and ethnic associations meant to their members, different backgrounds, were nexus in musical networks that we would define as various forms of cultural im- and co-organizers in local culture life. The associations’ mersion or production (Lidskog, Pripp & Westvall activities often took place in local community halls 2018b:231–239). The first outcome we label Being in and cultural centres. They were parts of cultural hubs, Music, which alludes to the flow and positive feelings organizing clubs, theme nights and fundraisers aimed augmenting when playing and dancing together. The to support voluntary organizations helping people in interviewees described this as a “kick” or the satisfac- vulnerable situations. The Gambian association had for tion of just “being there”, when working on a repertoire, years run a celebrated open live music club in the Old learning new songs or dances, synchronizing bodies and Bath House in central Göteborg. Dembo the Rootsman, instruments in the musicking processes. Being in music and other West African musicians, were music profiles was explained as a kind of free space where the mood in the same city, performing in all kinds of constella- was affected in positive ways, like a process of healing, tions and musical activities, for example spreading West a way of easing the mind without explicitly having to African drumming and music among the schoolchildren. think about problems. The musical hub Balkan Blues Company, in the quarters The second outcome we call Producing Culture, of Gamlestaden in central Göteborg, was an activity which alludes on how the members described learning centre and well-known scene for traditional folk, fusion skills, marketing, organizing and carrying out musical and rock music, gathering musicians of different ethnic productions and events. To produce culture also means backgrounds. The Romani music community Svarta Sa- to develop technical skills such as sound, light and re- firerna (Black Sapphires) were, beside their ordinary co- cordings, or how to write music, lyrics and make arrange- operation and performances, engaged in social projects, ments. Musicians and dancers in the Romani, Croatian, promoting Romani culture and Romani people’s inte- Bosnian, Kurdish and Swedish associations generally gration. The Kurdish culture association Komciwan for considered the younger generations as “apprentices”. By youth had for decades run activities and public events being immersed in the associations’ activities, they learnt open to all in a community hall in central Stockholm. how to master and develop the traditions. This was also The Chilean association context in Malmö was both a way of guaranteeing “regrowth” in the associations as part of the city’s music scene and a force supporting individuals of different age groups and levels of skills the fight for solidarity and justice, against oppression of were integrated with each other and regularly practiced various kinds. The Finnish association in the same city and performed together. organized Finnish dance nights. A third outcome we describe as Diasporic Pro- The fifth outcome we identify as Creating Alter-

Nätverket 2020: 22: 15–24 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 18 Pripp, O. & Westvall, M. # native Representations and Contrasting Pictures, which MULTI-MODAL AND alludes to how the members’ engagement also aimed to MULTIVALENT QUALITIES counteract stigmatization and nuance depreciative ste- Along with our results, the association members’ prac- reotypes of the groups. Such strategies could for instance ticing of music and dance were intimately linked to include how to display skillful and professional perfor- different kinds of driving forces and meaning making mances on a high level. Many members of the associa- processes. There was no doubt that the musical activi- tions had experiences of being categorized by negative ties supported the emergence of strong community ties stereotypes and doubts of their capacities. However, and feelings of ethnic or national belonging (Shelemay most of them had chosen not to react explicitly to such 2011; Kiwan & Meinhof 2011; Westvall, Lidskog & attitudes. They countered with “silence”, avoiding na- Pripp 2018; Pripp 2019; Volgsten & Pripp 2016). One tionalistic debates and attacks, as a kind of resistance, of the strengths of musicking is its multi-modal ca- and they kept the space free for nuanced and practically pacities that bring and keep people together, by using oriented integration work. In that way, they relied on the their sight, touch and hearing as well as their bodies and associations’ activities and engagements in civil society moods (Bull & Back 2016, Moore 2016; Pripp 2019). to speak for themselves. This also provided reinforce- A further explanation of the coalescent strength of mu- ment for the members of the associations to play “good” sicking is its multivalent and key symbolic capacities, to music and perform dance in a skillful manner without gather members of loosely knitted and scattered groups being interpreted through a lens of vulnerability and under one and the same umbrella, for example to con- marginalization. solidate positions and mobilize resistance (Erol 2012; The sixth outcome we designatePromoting Equality, Murthy 2009; Moore 2016, Pripp 2018b; 2019). Inclusion and Swedish Citizenship. The general goals A logical deduction of such strong conjunctive of the associations were to promote equality and their effects of musicking could be that ethnic associations members’ inclusion as adequate Swedish citizens. Many may build walls against “the world around”, which would members of the associations claimed though that they strengthen ethnic segregation and disunite local civil so- were labelled second rate Swedes because of not being cieties. Assumptions like that, how ethnic associations ethnic majority Swedes. The members often had a clear counteract integration, are common in public debates, picture of the differences and the relationship between for example in the Nordic countries (Dahlstedt, Ålund their own ethnicities (ethnos), on the one side, and being & Ålund 2010; Hertting 2011, Togeby 2004). However, Swedish citizens and a part of the Swedish society, on research does not support such causalities. The common the other (demos). For example, no one claimed exclu- experience from studies of integration is that engage- sive rights on cultural or religious grounds. Quite the ment in ethnic associations does not discourage social opposite, their aim was to be accepted as equal Swedes and political integration (Dixon, Bessaha & Post 2018; from a citizenship perspective, and to contribute to civil Fennema & Tillie 2001; Hertting 2011; Togeby 2004, society. Lidskog, Westvall & Pripp 2018b). In the next section, The seventh and last outcome is the creation of we will mention a range of decisive conditions that are Trans-minority Collaborative Networks and Convivial valid if association engagement is to have the potential Diversity. Many activities took place in trans-minority for social and political inclusion. contexts. Cultural initiatives and centres were some- times run as collaborations between various associations. SOCIAL NETWORKS, BONDING AND The musicians played regularly within different genres BRIDGING SOCIAL CAPITAL AND TRUST and musical constellations, where they met other mu- Strong ties between members of majority groups obstruct sicians and hence engaged in yet other musical contexts minority groups’ social inclusion in society (Granovet- and networks. Many members also had memberships ter 1973). A basic prerequisite for a transcending social in more than one association. Accordingly, one of our tissue in local communities is the existence of wide- most striking results in the project was the existence of spread weak ties or networks (Granovetter 1973; Gil de socially, culturally and ethnically transcending tissues, Zúñega & Valenzuela 2011). The strength of weak ties created on musical collaborations and by the co-work is that they reach beyond inner circles or strong commu- within and between minority groups (Lidskog, Pripp & nities. Weak ties emerge through contacts and ongoing Westvall 2018b:237). interaction between people of different social categories.

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Those involved bring their individual networks in, and at and a range of activities shifting from year to year de- the same time get access to wider contacts. pending on available leaders’ competences. The domain The (1)character of social networks is, in other of knowledge and the number of activities shifted in the words, decisive for bonding-bridging connections and associations due to changing times and generational dif- social inclusion. In our study, a common characteristic of ferences. Some of them had decreased because of the association members’ social networks was the presence aging of members, and the younger members’ other in- of both weak and widespread ties. The musicking ac- terests and requirements. They had run a multitude of tivities were conditioned on collaborations with others different activities and organized magnificent perfor- outside each musical community. Musicians and dancers mances during their heydays in the 1970s and 1980s. often had broad interests and skills and many individuals Today they have downsized their cultural engagement were engaged in other associations, groups and activities, to occasional dance or instrument groups. and across genres and social categories. The associations’ Another set of factors, which seems to be decisive performances, organized as joint events and festivities, for association members’ inclusion, are related to (3) the required networks of loosely-knit contacts for collabora- social and political climate of the surrounding society. tions, recruitment of competences and collecting of re- This contextual connection is dependent on abilities sources. For an ensemble, the collaborations also served and attitudes among local authorities and the political as a prerequisite to be recognized and invited to public establishment (Hertting 2011:141; Hertting & Kugel- events. The associations in our study functioned as hubs berg 2018; Statham & Tillie 2016; Togeby 2004:511). where contacts were transmitted through the members’ The local governance needs to be understood by the joint musicking activities (cf. Granovetter 1973; Gil de members/community as possessing perceptiveness and Zúñega & Valenzuela 2011). In that way, weak ties sup- political efficiency in relation to the associations’ expe- ported the transformation of bonding social capital into riences, conditions and needs. The efficiency could for bridging capital (Murthy 2009; Putnam 2000). example be the public representatives’ ability of coor- Another set of prerequisites for functioning dinating the dialogue between local associations and bonding/bridging processes has to do with (2) the inner transforming their wishes and needs into concrete action organization of an association. The membership must be (Danielsson, Hertting & Klijn 2018; Dixon, Bessaha & voluntary, something which is valid for all associations Post 2018; Hertting 2011:138; jfr Fennema & Tillie in the study. Good bridging conditions develop if the 2001:31, Newton 2001:206, Togeby 2004:522). relationships between its members are horizontal and of The associations in our study often had contradic- cooperative kind (Hertting 2011:139); information and tory relationships to their local authorities. They were favours do not have to be “repaid” to those who share dependent on them for the access to premises and for their knowledge and skills with others (as in asymmetric their collaboration with other parts of the civil society. and reciprocal relationships). The receivers are instead They were also dependent on subsidies and different expected to share their increased skills and forward their forms of support from the public. The attention from knowledge to new members (Newton 2001:31-32). The local authorities was, in other words, decisive for the as- relations between the members of the associations in our sociations’ legitimacy and recognition as fully adequate study were generally of the cooperative and horizontal parts of their local civil societies. Interviewees told us kind, as far as we could detect. how it was difficult to be taken seriously; how folk What also promotes bridging effects is thesize of music and folk dance sometimes were neglected by civil an association and to what extent it offers the members servants distributing resources. There were also good re- diverse activities (Strömblad & Bengtsson 2009). It lations and collaborations between the associations and has to be big enough for hosting different activities, the local authorities, for example when organizing local which most of the associations in our study were. In festivities and events. the Swedish folk dance association, the members were In these kinds of relationships between the ethnic also interested in wood- and metalwork, textile handi- associations and the public, these attitudes are critical craft, and historical and regional folk costumes, besides for establishing trustworthy social bonds. Political sci- dancing and playing. The members of the Kurdish asso- entist Kenneth Newton writes how “trust is a – probably ciation attended, in addition to the dance, instrument the – main component of social capital and social capital classes, study circles in organizational and societal issues, is a necessary component of social integration” (Newton

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2001:201). He defines trust “as the actor’s belief that, at was no sharp demarcation line between ethnos and worst, others will not knowingly or willingly do him harm, demos; they were presumed to work in harmony, not as and at the best, that they will act in his interests” (Newton contradictions (Borevi 2002:97). 2001:201-202, cf. Hertting 2011). In other words, social The ethnos-demos model changed during the fol- trust is a kind of measurement of how people in their lowing two decades into what could be defined as “inte- surroundings are met and treated, which individuals gration politics”, stressing the demos aspect by encour- continually read and interpret. (Hertting 2011; Newton aging the minority associations’ bridging social activities. 2001:202, Wenger-Trayner & Wenger-Trayner 2015:7). In accordance with this bridging logic, inner bonding It means that relations of trust, such as those established cultural activities became increasingly looked upon as within the musical communities, cannot automatically something cementing the members’ exclusion from the be moved to other social contexts and transformed into surrounding society. Ethnos and demos were defined as bridging social capital. The bonding social capital can two contradictory principles (SOU 1997 & Proposition only be converted to bridging capital if the prerequisites 1997/98 in Borevi 2002:124-133). for social trust are there, if those involved conceive that Looking back to the integration and culture politics people around them wish the best for them, and will of the 1970s, the ambition was that the principles ethnos act in their interests. That makes the social and political and demos should strengthen each other and harmonize. climate central for promoting inclusion. This double-barreled view of integration is still promi- In our study, it varied according to what degree trust nent today among the associations, even if it is abolished was established or not between the associations and the in the integration policy. authorities. One reason for the absence of trust could For the interviewees it was quite evident that their be that individuals did not feel that the representatives activities entailed aspects such as joy, solidarity, mobili- of the society understood the associations’ interests and zation and cultivation of traditions for their members. needs in trying situations. Another reason for distrust At the same time, the associations were striving for visi- came up when the associations experienced asymmetric bility in Swedish society, for the development of collabo- connections to other parts of the civil society. This unba- rations, and for their members’ integration. On a societal lance existed for example in relation to educational orga- and integrative level, they all supported the demos nizations, upon which they were often highly dependent. aspect, resting on Swedish citizenship as ruling political and organizational principle. DYNAMICS IN THE PRESENT AND Some of the associations were maybe too small to RETROSPECTIVE REFLECTIONS offer their members a variety of activities. Perhaps some The ambitions, articulated in the 1970s’ cultural and of them built on asymmetric and reciprocal relations immigrant policies, had both disciplinarian and inclu- and too strong excluding networks. However, this was sionary aims, to form safe and secure active citizens in not prominent during our fieldwork. The musical prac- Swedish society. Engagement in associations and cultural tices were in themselves dependent on, and contributed activities, encouraged by the state, was regarded as a to, voluntariness, cooperative relations, trust and good form of democratic schooling and active participation contacts with the surrounding society. Some of the iden- in the integration processes and political decision-mak- tified prerequisites were of course beyond the associa- ing. It was a uniquely Swedish model, a combination of tions’ own control, like the local authorities’ governance, state governance and the tradition of popular education, the local political and social climate and the presence of which formed the basis for the organization of diversi- excluding networks. ty. These early cultural political efforts struck a balance In retrospect we can see that the set of precondi- between ethnos and demos as organizing principles of tions for social and political inclusion, the implementa- the society. The identification processes and the internal tion of the integration and culture policy of the 1970s solidarity within the minority groups were expected to and 1980s, fell short partly because of the fixation on be strengthened by joint cultural activities and associ- culturalizing the immigrants as the “cultural others” (cf. ation engagement. Moreover, this kind of engagement Dahlstedt 2005; Pripp 2005; 2006; 2007). Ethnic-la- was supposed to be generative and contribute to inclu- beled folklore became the national canon for credible sion in civil society and the identification with Swedish artistic immigrant representations. This organizational society as a whole, the demos aspect. In this model, there and ideological premise rested on a binary opposition

Nätverket 2020: 22: 15–24 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 21 # Cultural immersion and production. The meaning of musicking for social trust and inclusion between Swedes and the immigrants, which became or in people’s minds, even if the integration policies in- the basis of asymmetric relationships between the “im- creasingly stressed how all citizens were equal parts of migrants’ associations” and what became known as “the the Swedish society’s diversity, regardless of ethnic and surrounding society”. This disappointed artists and intel- national descent (Borevi 2002). In other words, big lectuals from immigrant backgrounds, who felt locked- efforts, high ambitions and expectations on integration in by a discourse that emphasized the articulation of were counteracted by ethnic nationalism, asymmetric cultural group characteristics within immigrant commu- relations and strong ties. nities. They realized how their art was first and foremost Our aim with this article was to examine under understood as means of social inclusion. Many of them which conditions engagement in musical practices in wished to be recognized as artists in their own right, ethnic associations increase social inclusion and promote and as equal participants in the professional networks of political commitment among its members. We have dis- cultural life and artistic communities of Sweden. cussed the cultural political model of the 1970s and its In the 1970s and 1980s, a hegemonic ethnic shifts over the last five decades. According to our above ideology was established in Sweden, where the ethnic discussion on the preconditions for social and political majority Swedes were understood as not belonging to inclusion, we did not find any clear lines of demarca- what many would consider Sweden’s more “diverse” po- tion between association activities generating bonding pulation. They were rather understood as “role models” or bridging capital. Instead, the two aspects seemed for generations of immigrants. This dominant discourse to be intertwined in activities concerning culture pro- with its ethnicizing ideology supported an asymmetric duction and musicking. However, this synergy process ethnos-model on the national level, where “the Swedes” was valid only under the conditions mentioned above: became synonymous with the majority group of ethnic the quality and extensions of social networks, the inner Swedes. The demos principle, where “Swedes” first structure and organization of the associations, and the and foremost is understood as Swedish citizens, never social climate and the political governance of the local became fully accepted and implemented in the discourse community.

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Sernhede, Ove 2018. Gambisk diaspora och västafrikansk musik. In Maria Westvall, Rolf Lidskog & Oscar Pripp (eds), Migration – Musik – Mötesplatser. Föreningsliv och kulturproduktion i ett föränderligt samhälle. Lund: Studentlitteratur. Sernhede, Ove & Maria Westvall 2018. Migration från Balkan – en vital del av Göteborgs musikliv. In Maria Westvall, Rolf Lidskog & Oscar Pripp (eds), Migration – Musik – Mötesplatser. Föreningsliv och kulturproduktion i ett föränderligt samhälle. Lund: Studentlitteratur. Shelemay, Kay Kaufman 2011. Musical Communities: Rethinking the Collective in Music. Journal of American Musicological Society, 64(2):349-390. Small, Christopher 1998. Musicking: The Meanings of Performing and Listening. Hanover; NH: University Press of New England. Statham, Paul & Jean Tillie 2016. Muslims in their European societies of settlement: a comparative agenda for empirical research on socio-cultural integration across countries and groups. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 42:2:177-196. Strömblad, Per & Bo Bengtsson 2009. Empowering Members of Ethnic Organizations: Tracing the Political Integration Potential of Immigrant Associations in Stockholm. Scandinavian Political Studies, 32(3):296-314. Söderman, Johan 2018. Musik som folkbildning och socialpolitiskt verktyg i en chilensk musikgrupp. In Maria Westvall, Rolf Lidskog & Oscar Pripp (eds), Migration – Musik – Mötesplatser. Föreningsliv och kulturproduktion i ett föränderligt samhälle. Lund: Studentlitteratur. Togeby, Lise 2004. It Depends… How Organisational Participation Affects Political Participation and Social Trust among Second-Generation Immigrants in Denmark. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 30(3):509-528. Volgsten, Ulrik & Oscar Pripp 2016. Music, Memory, and Affect Attunement. Connecting Kurdish Diaspora in Stockholm. Culture Unbound. Journal of Current Cultural Research 8:44-164. http://urn.kb.se/ resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-30757 Wallin, Nils 2002. Om musikalisk förmåga och musikalitet. Fotnoten, May 29th. https://www.lararen.se/ grundskollararen/skapande-amnen/om-musikalisk-formaga-och-musikalitet- [2020-06-15]. Wenger-Trayner, Etienne & Beverly Wenger-Trayner 2015. Communities of Practice – a Brief Introduction. https:// wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/ (Downloaded 2019-02-04). Westvall, Maria 2007. Webs of Musical Significance: A study of student-teachers’ musical socialisation in Ireland and Sweden. Dublin: Dublin City University/ St Patrick’s College. Diss. Westvall, Maria, Rolf Lidskog & Oscar Pripp (eds) 2018. Migration – Musik – Mötesplatser. Föreningsliv och kulturproduktion i ett föränderligt samhälle. Lund: Studentlitteratur.

Oscar Pripp is Associate Professor in Ethnology at the Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology, Uppsala University. His research focuses migration, social inclusion, music and civil society.

Maria Westvall is Professor in Education at Rhythmic Music Conservatory (RMC) in Copenhagen. Her research focuses on music education, intercultural approaches, community music and migration.

Nätverket 2020: 22: 15–24 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 24 Swedish folk music and dance – vibrant but contested

LinneaAtt Helmersson, forska omUmeå tingUniversity Katarina Ek-Nilsson

abstract Recent years have seen an increased presence of nationalistic rhetoric in many European coun- tries, including Sweden. Apart from the general political implications of this, it has also generated an unwanted För en utomstående kan detta tyckas märkligt, och FÖREMÅLENattention on folk I dance,MUSEISAMLINGARNA folk music and other forms of folk culture. There are numerous examples of how the ibland väcks frågan, vilket har hänt från politikerhåll, radical right is promoting and highlighting elements of the old peasant culture, pronouncing them cultural I museernas magasin trängs föremålen. Rader av om inte museernas samlingar kunde/borde avyttras, heritage. In this, so-called Swedish values are focused, and the remnants of an old folk culture are used to create spinnrockar, vagnar, möbler, mangelbräden etc. är när nu alla föremål ändå inte visas, för att skapa större ideas of Swedishness and a homogenous Swedish history. However, this process of appropriation does not take prydligt sorterade på hyllor i jättelika utrymmen. resurser till verksamheten. Textilierplace ligger without prydligt a strong inpackade resistance i syrafria from, abovesilkespapper all, the practitioners of folk dance and folk music. Working in och specialgjordanetworks, projects, syrafria organisations kartonger. and Dyrbarheter with personal som initiatives, Frågan cultural kan workerstyckas andbåde practitioners befogad ochhave enkelmobilised men är silver,against smycken, racism konstföremål, and against themen nationalists’ också mer appropriation triviala i självaof folk verketculture. komplicerad, Instead, music av and bland dance andra are being följande vardagsföremål,used by folk skyddas practitioners av allehanda to create säkerhetsåtgärder. meeting places between1 skäl: native Museet Swedes har and en immigrants.gång tagit Mostemot importantly,föremålen som the dancers and musicians do not only debate and discuss,donationer many of them eller have som also inköpbecome från,anti-racist i de activists, flesta fall, När ettdemonstrating föremål – det out må on vara the ett streets ordinärt as well vardagsföremål as actively welcoming privatpersoner. immigrants Man into thefår arenasutgå från of dance att deand som music. skänkt som Intidigare this article har I hanteratswill show how dagligen folk dance i egenskap and music av in Swedeneller sålt have föremålen, become a battleground liksom museets for starkly representanter, differing har bruksföremålideologies and– blir values ett andmuseiföremål what the resistance så genomgår looks like. åsatt dem ett kulturhistoriskt värde. Museet har påtagit det samtidigt en metamorfos. Det blir inte längre sig ett ansvar att på bästa sätt bevara föremålen för möjligt att vidröra utan att man tar på sig särskilda framtiden, så långt det är möjligt, och det vore därför bomullsvantar och det får inte längre användas för oetiskt att avyttra dem. sitt ursprungligaINTRODUCTION ändamål. Vispen får inte mera vispa, Today, a number of practitioners express a necessity Inmobiltelefonen September 2017, inte the längre Neo-Nazi sms:as association med. En gränsNordiska har Omto defend museerna their skulle culture börja from avyttra nationalistic sina föremål and un-demo så skulle - motståndsrörelsen,passerats i föremålets The livslopp,Nordic Resistanceen ny status Movement, och en allmänhetenscratic forces. förtroendeThey have för engaged museerna in sannolikt different skadas. ways to Museer gör inga ekonomiska värderingar av föremål, wassärskild granted magi a permit har laddat for a föremålet.demonstration För en in utomståendeGothenburg prevent folk music and dance turning into exclusive kan det förefalla både egendomligt och komiskt att förnational att inte symbols, bidra tilland marknadsmässiga want to actively welcome bedömningar immi - on the same day as the Jewish festival day Yom Kippur. och spekulationer, och kan därför inte gå in i en det som nyss hörde till exempelvis en familjs högst grants to the arenas of Swedish folk culture. My aim Thisvanliga caused köksutrustning a lot of debate plötsligt in Sweden måste and behandlas on the daymed of försäljningsverksamhet. Museiföremåls värde är helt och is to show how folk dance and music in Sweden have thestörsta demonstration, varsamhet för several att den thousands förvärvats of av people ett museum. joined hållet kulturhistoriska, inte ekonomiska. Ekonomiskt forcesSkillnaden to stand mellan up against en porslinsurna Nazism and från racism. 1700-talet Among ärbecome alltså etta battleground museiföremål for i princip starkly intediffering värt något ideologies alls, theoch many en plastbunkethat gathered från in the2000-talets huge counterdemonstra IKEA är i det- eftersomand values det and aldrig what kommer the resistance ut på en looks marknad. like. First, I tion,museologiska was a group sammanhanget of people calling upphävt. themselves “Folk Museiföremålwill briefly outline utgör the källmaterial development för offorskning. the activism Vilka from musiciansCirka 1% againstav museernas racism”. föremålssamlingar Some of them had brukar brought vara föremål2010 and som until skulle present kunna day. avvaras I will givekan aninte overview avgöras, of alongutställda. instruments Procenten and ändrar played visserligen traditional innehåll Swedish vartefter folk eftersomwho the activistsvi inte andvet institutionsvilka frågor are som that kommer are resisting att musicbasutställningar as well as Jewish byggs om,klezmer. föremål One ställs year ut later, i tillfälliga in the blithe relevantaappropriation, för framtida and discuss kulturhistorisk the methods forskning. that are beginningutställningar of September eller lånas ut 2018, till andra elections museers for utställningar,the Swedish Visserligenbeing used forkan this idag purpose. endast I willett presenturval urfour dagens tactics parliamentmen faktum was kvarstår coming att up. vid At varje several givet occasions ögonblick when är föremålshavof resistance görasdistinguished – allt kan by intethe sparasethnomusicologist – men de tidigare urval som föregångarna på museerna har gjort thedet right-wing en mycket populist liten del party av den Sverigedemokraterna, totala föremålsskatten the David Kaminsky (2012a) and expand his analysis by som är tillgänglig i utställningsform. Digitalt ökar en gång måste respekteras, eftersom de gjordes med Sweden Democrats, held public meetings to rally voters, adding two other tactics, the arguments of inclusive- tillgängligheten successivt genom att föremålsfoton utgångspunkt i den tidens vetenskapliga intressen. ness and bridge building. I will also discuss how cultural theypubliceras were metpå många by folk museers musicians hemsidor, playing2 men music närheten and carrying banners with an anti-racist message. Befintligapolitics in museisamlingar Sweden has facilitatedmåste hållas the intakta appropriation för att kunna by och tillgången till museernas samlingar är ändå begränsad bilda utgångspunkt för museivetenskaplig forskning, det In this article, I will discuss how a political use the radical right. för allmänheten, trots att ”tillgängliggörande” har högsta vill säga forskning om museer (inte bara på museer). andprioritet appropriation i museernas of cultural verksamhet. expressions by radical na- My knowledge of the field comes from a long- tionalist1 organisations and political parties has led to time involvement as a dancer and active member of as- Jag avser här professionella museer som finansieras med offentliga FÖREMÅL SOM KULTURPRODUKTER a medelmanifold och har activism utbildad personal,among ochSwedish bortser heltpractitioners från allehanda of sociations for folk dance and music. Naturally, being a privata eller kommersiella samlingar som kallar sin verksamhet Föremålenmember of harthe fieldi etnologisk of study mening has its sinethical betydelse implications. som particularly”museum” men folk som music i själva and verket folk dance,inte uppfyller but also de amongkrav på othersprofessionell who museiverksamhethave a personal som relation ställts upp to av folk den internationellaculture and produkterLike the majorityav kultur. ofDetta my innebärinterviewees, alltså attI am föremål personally eller andra fysiska företeelser inte i sig själva utgör ”kultur”. culturalmuseiorganisationen heritage. ICOM (International Council of Museums). troubled by the Swedish nationalists’ appropriation of 2 Se till exempel www.digitaltmuseum.se, där flera svenska museer För att förstå vad som menas med detta påstående måste visar delar av sina föremåls- och fotosamlingar. vi först försöka förklara kulturbegreppet.

NätverketNätverket 2016:2020: 22:20: 25–422–7 ISSN:ISSN: 1651-0593 1651-0593 252 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/http://natverket.etnologi.uu.se # Swedish folk music and dance – vibrant but contested folk culture, which could render my study a bias. Being glected not only in media but also in cultural politics. aware of this, I have strived to use my role as an insider This dramatically changed in September 2010, when as a way for the researcher subject to gain more insight the right-wing populist party Sverigedemokraterna, the and to collect data from many parts of the folk culture Sweden Democrats, made it to the Swedish parliament.4 arena. My long-time involvement also includes having Suddenly a party that was regarded as xenophobic by followed the reactions on nationalist appropriation many Swedes, had taken seats in parliament claiming to from early on. The interpretations of the resistance and be a “cultural heritage party”, highlighting the old folk its motivations presented in this article are based upon culture and its values for the nation of Sweden. Culture my analysis of a vast amount of empirical data. I draw was one of few areas apart from immigration issues that upon interviews1 with practitioners of folk music and was actively discussed by Sverigedemokraterna at this dance, discussions on social media, newspaper articles time. The party stated that it wanted to support “tradi- and opinion pieces from several years, as well as other tional Swedish culture”, such as folk music and dance, kinds of texts, including websites and email communi- and instead cut the funding for multicultural projects cation with associations and institutes working with folk and institutions (see also Lindsköld 2015). culture. My choices of websites, media interviews and Culture has long been a marginalised topic in social media postings have been made in order to reflect Swedish politics, and it is the aesthetic norms of bour- influential voices, noted events and debates, and recur- geoisie high art that has laid the foundation for Swedish rent positionings. cultural policy (Frenander 2014). Consequently, folk In this article, I use the term folk culture to refer to culture has had, and still have, an even more margin- cultural expressions of today, tangible as well as intangi- alised position in Swedish politics, something that has ble, that have roots in the rural pre-modern society. The been emphazised for years by folk culture organisations. notion of folk culture, as well as terms like folk dance and One might therefore presume that these organisations folk music,2 originates from the national romanticism of would appreciate Sverigedemokraterna’s political as- the 19th and early 20th century, when the cultural ex- piration to support folk culture, but this was definitely pressions of the peasants were idealized and romanti- not the case. Instead, many practitioners expressed that cised. The term folk culture is thus tainted with nationa- their culture or hobby was kidnapped by nationalists and list ideas of uniqueness and the purity of a homogenous misused in political debate. The fact that party leader rural culture and has many implications. However, folk Jimmie Åkesson dressed up in a rented folk costume for culture is an emic concept today, used as an umbrella the opening of parliament, led to outrage and genuine term by persons and associations who engage with these worry among dancers, musicians and others who had a kinds of cultural expressions.3 personal relation to folk costumes. To them, his use of the costume conveyed unwanted associations between FROM INVISIBILITY TO A folk culture, nationalism and xenophobia.5 BATTLEGROUND FOR POLITICAL IDEOLOGY

At the turn of the 21st century, Swedish folk dance and 4 Sverigedemokraterna got 5.7% of the electorate (close to 350 000 folk music could be described as something of an under- votes) – enough votes to gain entrance to the Swedish parliament ground phenomenon – vivid and vibrant with festivals for the first time. The limit for entering parliament in Sweden is 4% of the national vote. In the elections in 2014 and 2018 gathering 10 000 participants, but nevertheless unknown Sverigedemokraterna got 12.9% and 17.5% of the electorate respec- to most Swedes. Folk music and dance, as well as other tively (Valmyndigheten 2018a, 2018b, 2018c). parts of folk culture, were more or less invisible and ne- 5 Folk costumes (also known as traditional, or national costumes) are clothes with local distinctive character that were used by peasants in the pre-modern society. During the national romanticism of the 1 Some of the interview material derives from my PhD work on nar- 19th century, folk costumes along with music and dance became ratives in lindy hop and the Swedish folk dance polska, but chiefly I national symbols. Today, folk costumes are mostly used at festive draw upon interviews made specifically for this article and previous occasions, and are not commonly used in most parts of the country. conference presentations on the politicization of folk culture. During the folk music revival in the 1970s and 80s, there was a 2 According to Mats Rehnberg (1977), the term folk dance is first renewed interest in folk costumes. At that time, folk costumes were noted in 1818 and folk music in 1823 (in Swedish sources). more common at dances and fiddlers’ meets spelmansstämmor( ). 3 In this article, I use the notions of folk music and folk dance as Today, the use of folk costumes is not so often seen among dancers, genre terms, in accordance with how it is used by many practitioners. whereas it is more common among musicians. To generalise, folk Here, folk dance primarily refers to the revived dance forms of the costumes are more commonly used today by persons who engage pre-industrial society (such as polska), but it also includes choreo- with folk culture, tangible as well as intangible, adding to the strong graphed dances with a national romanticist ancestry, since the terms associations between folk costumes and particularly folk music and are blurred among practitioners as well as dance organisations. dance.

Nätverket 2020: 22: 25–42 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 26 Helmersson, L. # A RESISTANCE STARTS6 inclusive and should not be used to polarize between Within a week of the 2010 election, Svenska Folkdans- people. The network has since the start been one of the ringen7, one of the largest organisations working with strongest voices in the debate advocating a non-na- folk culture in Sweden, published a sharply formulat- tionalistic view of folk culture. Despite the name of the ed statement saying that everyone in Sweden with an network, it aims to gather practitioners from all areas of 9 immigrant background has the right to safeguard their folk culture. cultural heritage. The organisation pointed out that it During the year following the 2010 election, many does not see this right as a threat to so called Swedish discussions and debates took place in radio programmes, expressions of culture, but rather as a resource for in- web pages, newspapers and magazines on the theme of tegration and development. Svenska Folkdansringen what Swedish culture, cultural heritage and folk music are, clearly dismissed the xenophobic use of folk culture spurred by the nationalistic rhetoric of Sverigedemokra- 10 11 displayed by Sverigedemokraterna, and stated that “in terna. The debate was often heated, and still is today. a multicultural, generous and open society there is room Sverigedemokraterna’s efforts to stake a claim to for everyone” (my translation) (Thalén 2010). My em- folk culture have made institutions and practitioners pirical data suggests that many institutions and prac- vigilant and, more often than not, suggestions from titioners that have close connections to old Swedish the party concerning folk culture have met strong reac- folk culture share this view. There is a strong narra- tions and rejection. One more recent example is a sug- tive of inclusiveness among practitioners saying that gestion from 2016 to increase the state funding of folk the folk culture belongs to all of us and that everyone culture, with dance mentioned specifically, with the aim is welcome irrespective of who they are or where they to spread it to suburbs with many immigrant inhabi- come from.8 Nowadays, it is also a common view among tants, in order to introduce them to traditional Swedish practitioners that folk culture benefits from influences culture. However, this suggestion was not appreciated from other cultures and styles – and has always done so by folk dance organisation Folkdansringen. In an in- (cf. Kaminsky 2012a). Today, a crossing of genres and terview, president Hans Hjelm pointed out that Sve- cultures is seen as a natural part of the folk music scene rigedemokraterna have a stereotype view on folk culture (cf. Fredriksson 2018). Sverigedemokraterna’s ambition that does not correspond with reality. Instead, he called to promote so-called Swedish folk culture at the expense for more understanding of different cultures and less of other cultures and cultural expressions has thus been fear of the unknown (Lindkvist 2016). strongly rejected by practitioners and cultural institu- With the 2018 elections coming up, a new surge of tions. activism and reactions took place, with social media and A few weeks after the election, demonstrations the street being two important arenas. In the summer were arranged in several Swedish towns, initiated by the of 2018, several appeals/opinion pieces were published newly formed network “Folk musicians against xeno- in newspapers and on the internet strongly rejecting the phobia”. Participants dressed up in folk costumes, played cultural policy of Sverigedemokraterna and their claims music and danced, wanting to send a clear message that to folk culture. One of the appeals was initiated and their culture had nothing to do with the xenophobic written by folk musician and pedagogue Pär Moberg, and nationalistic politics of Sverigedemokraterna. The who elaborated on why nationalism is a threat to folk network also emphasized that folk culture is changeable, culture, and stated that money from Sverigedemokra-

6 terna is not only unwanted, but would also bring a Actually, the resistance to nationalist appropriation, and awareness foul stench of exclusion and oppression to the vibrant of a nationalist interest in folk culture, started earlier. Even before Sverigedemokraterna gained entrance to parliament their cultural folk culture of today. The appeal was first published at policy had reached the attention of Swedish folk culture institutions. As a pro-active action, five national folk culture institutions filed in 9 The network later changed its name to Folk musicians against 2009 a common application for funding of a project aimed at coun- racism. (However, this is not updated on their website at the time of teracting discrimination and intolerance (see e.g Farago 2010). writing.) 7 Svenska Folkdansringen (Swedish Folklore Association) was 10 For a survey of the debates and discussions in media during founded in 1920 and has about 5 000 members. The organisation 2010–2011, see Bergel 2012 and Kaminsky 2012a. works mainly with dance, music, folk costumes and handicraft 11 However, it must be pointed out that resistance against (http://www.folkdansringen.se). Sverigedemokraterna, with particularly anti-racist motives, has taken 8 It is worth noting that this narrative as well as the multicultural place among many other segments of society, especially in relation approach that permeate the rhetoric of the folk culture organisations to the elections (see e.g. Hübinette & Lundström 2011). In general, correspond with current cultural policy in Sweden (cf. Lindsköld it is the xenophobic politics that is addressed and not the cultural 2015). policy.

Nätverket 2020: 22: 25–42 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 27 # Swedish folk music and dance – vibrant but contested a petition site and had in October 2018 gathered 891 The discussions are different because only one political cultural workers – musicians, dancers, festival producers, party (with a mandate in parliament) actively promotes researchers and representatives from folk culture insti- folk culture. It is also different because Sverigedemokra- tutions and organisations (Moberg 2018a). When pub- terna is a party with a pronounced “pro-Swedish” agenda lished in the newspaper Sydsvenskan 2018-08-17 it had and a politics that is regarded as xenophobic and racist by more than 600 signatures (Moberg 2018b). many Swedes (see e.g. Hübinette & Lundström 2011). According to Sverigedemokraterna, culture defines who SHIFTING IDEOLOGIES OF FOLK CULTURE is Swedish and who is not. With immigration and folk Ideological discussions about the nature of Swedish culture constituting the master narratives of the party folk music have occurred earlier among musicians and (cf. Lindsköld 2015), folk culture becomes political in a other practitioners, and connections between nation- way that it has not been before. It is important to notice alism, cultural heritage and folk culture are not new. that Sverigedemokraterna, unlike the nationalist parties Folk culture has been used for a long time to create in the other Scandinavian countries, have explicit racist ideas of national homogeneity and belonging, not only roots and was started by former members of a National in Sweden but also in many other countries (see for Socialist organisation (Teitelbaum 2013; Lindsköld example Giurchescu 2001; Öztürkmen 2001; Löfgren 2015; Lööw 2015; Svensson 2015). I believe that the 1993). In Sweden, the preoccupation with folk culture awareness of this background has contributed to the during the national romanticism of the 19th century, strong resistance to the party, not only among folk prac- transformed the everyday culture of the peasants into titioners but also among other Swedes (cf. Hübinette & national symbols that could be used in the construction Lundström 2011). Mulinari and Neergaard point out of a modern nation state. Peasant culture served as an that it is easy to find substantial similarities between “internal Other”, something exotic and timeless that the Sverigedemokraterna and Nazi organisations in their new urban middle class could distinguish themselves rhetoric (2012:68). Throughout the history of the party, from (Crang 2009:449). At the same time, romantic there have been multiple connections to more radical notions on the purity and authenticity of the pre-indust- nationalist milieus (see. e.g Larsson & Ekman 2001; rial folk culture rendered it a great source of inspiration Svensson 2015), something that is often highlighted in to the cultural elite and thus influenced e.g. writing and newspaper articles and opinion pieces. Since the party’s composing. Swedish folk music was regarded as unique entrance in parliament, it has not been uncommon that and superior (Ling 1980), albeit with a strong focus on members of the party have been stripped of assignments the oldest traditions and a disregard of younger and or even expelled from the party due to racist actions or more contemporary styles and instruments. As pointed statements (Axelsson & Borg 2014). out by several researchers, national romanticism had clear definitions of what was seen as genuine and au- RADICAL NATIONALISTS thentic, which has influenced the view on what Swedish AND FOLK CULTURE folk music is (e.g. Gustafsson 2000). In addition to the appropriation by Sverigedemokra- To some extent, the romantic narratives about folk terna, members of a growing Neo-Nazi movement in culture still prevail and influence the folk music scene Sweden highlight the old folk culture. During the last today, something that has also been pointed out by prac- years, a number of articles that promote and idealize titioners in my interviews and elsewhere. Additionally, Swedish folk music and dance have been published in in Sweden folk dance and folk music have previously magazines affiliated to radical nationalists (Teitelbaum had ideological associations not only to nationalism but 2017). Today, the Neo-Nazi organisation The Nordic also to conservatism, anti-commercialism and the leftist Resistance Movement has become much more visible movement (Ling 1979, 1980; Arvidsson 2008). Shifting in the Swedish society, both in terms of political activity, ideologies have influenced and created different, and recurrent manifestations and a threatening presence in sometimes conflicting, narratives on folk music, some- different contexts, such as Pride parades. The organisa- thing that has been discussed by researchers as well as folk tion (recently transformed into a political party) does practitioners. Among practitioners, the discussion about not have a pronounced focus on folk culture. The implicit folk culture has been quite different during the last eight connections between nationalism and folk culture, in years due to the cultural policy of Sverigedemokraterna. addition to anti-racist motives, has made a number of

Nätverket 2020: 22: 25–42 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 28 Helmersson, L. # folk practitioners feel the need to use their music and culture is a strategy to soften the image of the party and dance, along with anti-racist slogans, to show resistance reinvent it as a democratic alternative. The previous nar- to the organisation, as shown in the opening example. ratives on Vikings and Sweden’s era of great power is The recent interest in folk culture from radical na- considered as “politically sensitive” by Karlsson (Teitel- tionalists has been thoroughly discussed by ethnomusi- baum 2017:100). In Sverigedemokraterna’s present-day cologist Benjamin Teitelbaum (2013, 2017). He shows rhetoric, Sweden is depicted as a homogenous nation, in his dissertation on music and radical nationalism that whose old, rich culture and values are threatened by im- music has been used as a way to attract new people to migration and foreign cultures (Sverigedemokraterna the nationalist movement and discusses how it plays an 2011; cf. Mulinari & Neergaard 2012; Lindsköld 2015). important role in the process of reinventing radical na- They see the promotion of a national culture as a neces- tionalism as righteous and intellectual. In his study, Tei- sary means to solve societal issues and to create a stable telbaum encompasses nationalists ranging from a scale and successful state (Lindsköld 2015). of democratic, moderate nationalism to race ideologists. Furthermore, a new political party was established Music has played an important role to the radical right in in 2018, Alternativ för Sverige (Alternative for Sweden), Scandinavia through several decades and has been a way by former members of Sverigedemokraterna. The agenda to voice opposition (see also Lööw 2000). During the of the party is strongly nationalist, and the rhetoric is 1980s and 90s, radical nationalism was associated with more or less openly racist. Several of the leading repre- white power music, Viking rock and a brutish skinhead sentatives of the party were previously active members of culture. At that time, folk culture rendered a marginal Sverigedemokraterna but were kicked out due to prob- interest, even though Viking rock to some extent has lematic and xenophobic statements (see e.g. Dalsbro been influenced by folk music. In the beginning of the 2018). The main focus of the party is a very restricted im- 21st century, radical nationalism in Scandinavia trans- migration, and one of their demands is that all residence formed from a violent skinhead culture to a “costume permits since 2000 shall be reconsidered (Alternativ för culture”, a transformation that has “been perpetuated by Sverige 2018). Similar to Sverigedemokraterna, and na- a dramatic shift in activists’ musical practices” (Teitel- tionalist parties in many other countries, culture plays baum 2017:3). Not only folk music played a part in the an important role to Alternativ för Sverige. The party process of reinventing nationalism, also pop, reggae and wants to “abolish the cultural hegemony of the Left” singer-songwriter music were used to distance from a and cut the funding to cultural expressions and produc- brutish skinhead culture. tions that “seek to undermine the western, or Swedish identity” (my translations) (Alternativ för Sverige 2018). FOLK CULTURE AS A POLITICAL STRATEGY In relation to the election campaigning for the Swedish parliament in 2018, a campaign song for the party could Teitelbaum (2017) shows that a shift from narratives on 12 a mythical past and Viking era culture to a focus on folk be found on YouTube. The lyrics depict a Sweden culture and cultural heritage is an important strategy that suffers from multiculture and envisions the party for Sverigedemokraterna in their political makeover. as saviours of a nation in a crisis. A video accompany- In the process of turning Sverigedemokraterna into a ing the song consisted of different cuts that could be mainstream party that could appeal to more voters, folk interpreted as symbols of Sweden, such as Midsummer music is seen as uncontroversial and something that celebrations, the Swedish royal court and folk musicians more people could relate to. During Sverigedemokra- (published 17/07/18). One of the cuts showed dancers terna’s first years, their cultural policy is not clearly for- in folk costumes, dancing outdoors on a summer day. mulated, but from 1999 culture is addressed, for example This was noticed by folk practitioners and discussed in a in suggestions to increase support to organisations Facebook group on Swedish folk music in August 2018. working with tangible and intangible cultural heritage. The members of the group were very upset at seeing folk Since 2005, Mattias Karlsson, often regarded as chief dance in a campaign video by a radical nationalist party. ideologist of the party, has been the leading person in 12 Whether the song was produced or ordered by the party itself developing the cultural policy of Sverigedemokrater- remains unclear, but it was distributed on YouTube through several na. Even if he seems to have something of a personal accounts under the labelling of Alternativ för Sverige Vallåt 2018 (Alternative for Sweden Election Song 2018). However, the word- interest in folk culture, an interview conducted by Tei- ings in the song with direct references to the party strongly suggests telbaum makes it clear that the party’s new focus on folk that the song is either produced or approved by the party.

Nätverket 2020: 22: 25–42 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 29 # Swedish folk music and dance – vibrant but contested

Several of them recognized the scene from the open-air days of Sverigedemokraterna. According to Karlsson, museum Skansen in Stockholm and the dancers as the the festival served as a conservative alternative to a left- folk dance group of Skansen. Besides the unwanted na- ist-leaning cultural sphere, and in an interview with tionalist connection, there were also many reactions to Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, he claims that the the matter of copyright of the film cut.13 Members of purpose was to arouse curiosity for the Swedish cultural the Facebook group contacted the museum and the folk heritage (Lenas 2018). During the festival, Karlsson in- dance group who reacted strongly and rapidly. The party structed the folk dance Väva vadmal, and the program and YouTube were contacted with address to copyright included workshops in old painting techniques as well laws, and within a few days the video footage accom- as different kinds of old games. panying the election song was removed. The museum posted a statement on its Facebook page where it dis- FROM PRACTITIONERS TO ACTIVISTS sociated itself from Alternativ för Sverige and the view- The appropriation process of the last eight years has points displayed in the video (Skansen 2018; see also turned a number of folk practitioners into activists. There SVT Nyheter 2018). is a kind of institutional activism, as well as activism out Common for both Sverigedemokraterna and Alter- on the streets. To a large extent, this is not an organised nativ för Sverige, as well as their counterparts in Norway activism, but a resistance carried out in many different and Denmark, is that they see culture as a way of life forms and by many voices. In this context, activism and (an anthropological understanding of culture), whereas activist are mainly ethic concepts, albeit the network other parties have an aesthetic understanding of culture, Folk musicians against racism could be regarded as ex- discussing it in terms of art (Lindsköld 2015). Hence, plicitly activist, and several of its members name them- folk culture is regarded as part of a national identity and selves activists. In this article, I use the term activism the cultural expressions in themselves become entan- overall to describe the multifaceted resistance and strong gled with values, norms and habits that are supposedly reactions to xenophobic cultural policy, displayed in all Swedish in essence. segments of the folk culture scene. In their definition Despite the political claims to folk music, there are of resistance, Vinthagen and Johansson (referenced in few radical nationalists that are known to partake in Lauth Bacas & Näser-Lather 2018) distinguish between the folk music scene. Teitelbaum points out that most publicly declared resistance and disguised resistance. nationalists have from the 1980s and onwards regarded Publicly declared resistance refers to public protests folk music with apathy, or even expressed dislike for it like demonstrations and petitions, whereas disguised (2017:96). However, a small minority, chiefly consist- resistance encompasses different forms of actions that ing of members of Sverigedemokraterna, has started are characterised by a low profile. Practices of disguised to express interest in folk music (Teitelbaum 2017). resistance might even be held secret or acted out from To what extent the interest in folk culture is genuine is within the system. Lauth Bacas and Näser-Lather note hard to tell, but leading representatives of the party have that disguised resistance might not be intentionally po- been working hard to incorporate folk culture not only litical, organised, formal or public (2018:6). They point into the political agenda, but also into social activities out that resistance is often continuous and includes with the party. In an interview with Swedish newspaper concrete actions for change. There are many examples Svenska Dagbladet, Mattias Karlsson explained that it is of both publicly declared resistance and disguised resist- important that the members of the party learn about the ance among the folk practitioners, and sometimes the cultural heritage to make sure that they can explain what forms are blurred. Unlike many other forms of activism they are defending (Lönnaeus 2017). In the summer of or resistance, the activism of the folk practitioners does 2018, a folklore festival was arranged parallel to the party not in the first place strive to accomplish political goals, but rather to hinder specific political goals. At the same 13 Members of the Facebook group also found that one of the time, this activism also serves to re-/claim the right to YouTube users who had uploaded the video (an account under the define the genre of folk culture and to avoid representa- name of Blot-Sven) also had several other videos uploaded with songs by Swedish folk musicians. Many of the affected musicians tions of folk culture as nationalist. reacted strongly to having their songs appropriated and used in a Many of the practitioner activists are working as context that could be seen as nationalistic. Copyright restrictions professional musicians. To name just a few examples, were addressed in these cases as well, and shortly after most videos were removed from YouTube. folk musician Sara Parkman has been in the forefront

Nätverket 2020: 22: 25–42 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 30 Helmersson, L. # of the resistance, initiating demonstrations, writing blog Several of the national organisations and institutes texts and participating in official debates. Together with working with folk culture, as well as some regional, have Samantha Ohlanders she has toured Sweden for several repeatedly taken a clear stand against xenophobia and a years stating that they play feministic and anti-nation- homogenous, exclusive view on folk culture. This could alistic music. One of their trademarks since the start, be regarded as something of an institutional activism, has been an educational approach with a feminist and acted out as publicly declared resistance as well as dis- anti-nationalist take on folk music history. They use guised resistance. Sverigedemokraterna’s cultural policy their position as professional and influential musicians is seen as a threat to the associations’ work and to their to manifest against nationalism. Sara Parkman stresses core values, and is understood as something that needs that with folk music being her job and her life, activism to be gainsaid. However, some institution represent- is paramount and necessary (Sämgård 2018). Parkman atives point out that responses to the politicization of believes that she as a professional has more responsibility folk culture is not about making resistance to a specific to take political stand, as compared to hobby musicians. political party, but to defend democracy and core values. Isak Bergström, another young musician who, The political claims on folk culture have rendered similar to Parkman and Ohlanders14, has studied at the an awareness of how folk culture can be misused to build Royal Music Academy in Stockholm, dedicated his exam barriers between people. Several organisations declare concert in May 2018 to the struggle against nationalism. that they are much more aware today of how they com- He called the concert “Lullaby for nationalism”. In his municate outwards and use PR, for example on webpage presentation, he writes: presentations and in social media like Twitter. It has become important not only to mediate what the insider As if nationalism had anything to do with my feeling for practitioner view on folk culture is, but also to be aware Hälsingland [his home region], my love for folk music, my fidelity and reverence to the forests and lakes that have sur- of the risk that statements from representatives of folk rounded me during my childhood? No, no, no. Nationalism culture institutions can be intentionally misinterpreted creates barriers, it locks people out and it has had its time. and exploited in nationalist rhetoric. Let me sing and play it to eternal sleep. (my translation) During the last years, several organisations have started to work more actively to make the folk culture Bergström points to one of the core elements of the scene more heterogeneous, both in terms of ethnicity romantic nationalism of the 19th century: the com- and in other aspects. Some have also introduced pres- bination of a love for nature, a strong feeling for the entational texts on their webpages in immigrant lan- home region (or nation) and a passion for folk culture. guages such as Arabic. In some cases, this is a direct Despite the fact that Swedish folk music has turned into response to Sverigedemokraterna’s xenophobic cultural a dynamic musical genre among many others, this na- policy. Much work has taken place to introduce im- tionalist narrative still prevails, to the obvious dismay of migrants to the folk culture associations and to facili- Bergström and many other practitioners. Not only do tate more interaction between immigrants and native the associations between folk culture and nationalism Swedes, for example through specific projects. This in general prevail, but they have also become enhanced work increased after the war in Syria that brought many due to the cultural policy of Sverigedemokraterna, as refugees to Sweden, but it has also increased due to the well as associated with xenophobia and racism. It would politicization of folk culture. The nationalist rhetoric of seem that many folk practitioners feel obliged to actively an implicit white Swedish ethnicity that is distinguished counteract these associations and to defend their hobby through folk culture, has made many institutions and or genre from discrediting narratives. organisations scrutinise how they work. In recent years, the view of folk culture as a possibility to create meeting AN INSTITUTIONAL ACTIVISM places between people has been put to action more con- Today, the resistance against the appropriation of folk sciously, which I will return to later. culture and xenophobic cultural politics is most evident Organisations engaged with folk culture feel that among folk musicians but they do not stand alone. the responsibility of contradicting the nationalist view on folk culture lies heavy upon them, since few other 14 Isak Bergström and Sara Parkman were both part in the process of forming the network Folk musicians against xenophobia/racism and politicians and debaters bring the question to light. Some are still active in the network. of the associations, such as Riksförbundet för Folkmusik

Nätverket 2020: 22: 25–42 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 31 # Swedish folk music and dance – vibrant but contested

& Dans, Svenska Folkdansringen and Folkmusikens WHY RESISTANCE? hus, have been visible continuously in the resistance and Why is the resistance to this appropriation so strong? have been working in varying ways, such as publishing There are several answers, but they are in many ways in- opinion pieces and position statements. Representa- terlinked. First, and maybe foremost, it is about taking tives of Folkmusikens hus, a regional institute for folk a clear stand against racism and to dissociate from con- music and dance, have repeatedly emphasized that Sve- nections between nationalism, xenophobia and Swedish rigedemokraterna are a threat to their existence (see e.g. folk culture. Speaking in broad terms, it is also about Gudmundson 2018). On the web page of Folkmusikens colliding worldviews and of political ideology versus hus, the appropriation attempts by nationalists is ad- artistic practice. It is about identity, about legitimacy and dressed and the visitor gets a brief historical overview ownership; and it is about ideals and about defending of how folk culture has been used and misused. Folk- human rights. musikens hus emphasizes that the radical nationalist Today, not only Sverigedemokraterna but also more idea of a pure, nationally distinct culture is historically radical nationalist groups use the symbolic power of folk false, and “its ultimate consequence is intolerance, xeno- culture to convey images of a homogenous Swedish phobia and racism” (my translation) (Folkmusikens hus history and nation, and to define who is Swedish and 2018). Several other organisations and festival organis- who is not. As pointed out by many researchers, xen- ers, for example the fiddlers’ meets spelmansstämmor( ) ophobia and racism is nurtured by ideas of cultural in Bingsjö and Delsbo, display similar position state- barriers, cultural identities and romanticized views on ments on their websites, as a direct response to nationa- history (e.g. Lööw 2013; Svanberg 2016). In my em- list rhetoric (Bingsjöstämman 2018; Delsbostämman pirical data, this is also a common critique against the cultural essentialism of Sverigedemokraterna. From a 2018). historical perspective, interpretations of history and The politicization of folk culture has also genera- cultural expressions have had great importance for ted an administrative burden for several organisations. radical nationalist movements in many countries, with Eric Sahlström Institutet (ESI) is a Swedish institution Nazi Germany the most famous example (cf. Bohlman that particularly works with promoting the nyckelhar- 2004). As pointed out by my interviewees, the historical pa, one of few instruments that is regarded as genuine- connection between radical nationalism and folk culture ly Swedish. The frequent use of the nyckelharpa as a makes it even more important to resist the appropria- national symbol by Sverigedemokraterna, has rendered tion by xenophobic forces. When speaking with practi- an awareness of where and how the instrument is used. tioners on this topic, references to World War II are not Hadrian Prett, the CEO of the institute, told me in an uncommon. To quote one of my interviewees: interview that he spends a lot of time making sure that pictures taken of his students playing the nyckelharpa Since Germany used particularly this part [folk culture as national symbols] as an identity thing when they… it’s much don’t turn up in the wrong places. That is to be under- more concrete, whether you like it or not, that it will happen. stood as where they are used as national symbols and They will use these symbols, because they do not have more displayed in nationalistic or xenophobic contexts. Today, imagination than that, I believe. And the more we use it there is a delicate balance for the institute to work with [the folk culture] as some kind of national identity, we will strengthen it. So, it’s a hell of a dilemma. promotion and safeguarding of the nyckelharpa, without adding to an instrumental interpretation of the nyckel- As discussed earlier, folk culture has been part of a na- harpa as a symbol of Sweden and Swedishness. tionalistic discourse in Sweden before, and some folk Since 2010, the debate on folk culture and na- practitioners feel that this discourse has never really tionalism has been undulating and some organisations disappeared. Being active in the folk scene, the heritage feel that there is less activity now on the topic, whereas from national romanticism is something that many prac- other emphasize the need for an ongoing discussion and titioners relate to in one way or another (cf. Kaminsky awareness of how, when and why folk culture is used and 2012b). Since the election in 2010 when folk culture displayed. It is repeatedly stressed by the organisations became part of Swedish politics, a number of practi- that they don’t want folk culture to be used as a political tioners have called for more introspection and a raised tool. awareness of how and when folk culture is used and dis-

Nätverket 2020: 22: 25–42 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 32 Helmersson, L. # played, as well as how it is presented and discussed in- The dance has not been in common use among people ternally (e.g. Parkman 2011; Persson 2011; Prett 2018). in general. Mattias Karlsson, chief ideologist of Sve- Shortly after the election in 2010, the network Folk mu- rigedemokraterna, learnt the dance on YouTube and sicians against xenophobia published a manifesto where has taught it to party members at least since 2009 (Tei- they pointed out that the public view of folk culture is telbaum 2017). In recent years, more elements of folk obsolete and national romanticist, demanding a prob- culture have been introduced at Sverigedemokraterna’s lematisation of concepts like folk culture and diversity events, like kulning, an ancient herding song technique (Folkmusiker mot främlingsfientlighet 2010). In 2018, (Lenas 2018). Furthermore, apart from highlight- many practitioners worry that Sverigedemokraterna’s at- ing folk culture and cultural heritage in general, Sve- tention will strengthen the old ties between folk culture rigedemokraterna have also brought forward a number and nationalism, despite decades of work to get rid of of more or less out-dated or unknown cultural forms15 them, and that this will cause folk culture to remain in their strivings to create a set of national symbols that marginalised (e.g. Moberg 2018a). can serve to shape feelings of national belonging. In a Ethnomusicologist David Kaminsky (2012a, 2012b; newspaper interview with Mattias Karlsson, he claims cf. Teitelbaum 2017) claims that the Swedish folk music that the use of these cultural forms, which he sees as scene of today is clearly left leaning, as a result of leftist symbols of Swedish culture, are motivated by integra- orientations during the Folk music revival. I believe that tion purposes (Lönnaeus 2017). he is right, regarding the parts of the folk music scene Among folk practitioners, Sverigedemokraterna are that are dominated by an urban, cosmopolitan subgroup. seen as ignorant outsiders and they are often critiqued In other subgroups the political ideologies might for not knowing anything about the culture they seek to diverge more. Irrespective of the actual political stand- safeguard. One example from 2011 that is often men- points among practitioners, it is outspoken among as- tioned describes how a party representative turned up sociations and practitioners alike that the music should at a nationalist demonstration in a folk costume with be free from party politics and that everyone, irrespec- his trousers turned the wrong way round (see Bergel tive of political colour has a right to it. It is inscribed 2012). This incident rendered a lot of amusement but in the statutes of several of the folk culture associations also proved to many practitioners that Sverigedemokra- that they shall be free from political and religious affili- terna lack knowledge of the so-called Swedish culture ation. Some of my interviewees point out that the main they want to safeguard. Some practitioners feel deeply problem with the appropriation of folk culture by Sve- offended by the fact that individuals, who do not actually rigedemokraterna, is that folk culture gets tied up with know the folk culture, appropriate it and make them- one specific political party. It would likewise have been selves spokespersons of it, conveying a view of what folk problematic if the party was another. However, not all culture is, that is not shared by the people who actually agree on this. From following the debates on the matter, produce it, transmit it and live in it. as well as drawing upon my insider knowledge of the Among today’s practitioners, the inclusive nature of field, I claim that to most practitioners it is definitely folk culture is strongly emphasized – in the folk scene, more problematic that the folk culture gets associated to there is room for everyone. Words like diversity and het- Sverigedemokraterna than to any other Swedish party. erogeneity are loaded with positive value, and social and Obviously, as discussed earlier, this is due to the view of bridge building aspects are often highlighted. The folk Sverigedemokraterna as a xenophobic party. It also has music scene is often portrayed as welcoming and open to do with Sverigedemokraterna’s view on Swedish folk to cultural meetings. The worldview among members culture as well as their instrumental use of it. of the scene collides heavily with the views displayed According to many practitioners, Sverigedemokra- by Sverigedemokraterna, where Swedish culture is de- terna has a homogenous, idealized and ignorant view scribed as threatened by multiculture and immigration. of what folk culture is. Single cultural expressions are In contrast, some of my interviewees think of the folk put forward as “good Swedish traditions” regardless of music scene as more anti-racist than other parts of their historical background, such as Oxdansen, a cho- society, something that is also suggested by the eth- reographed dance used among students in the 19th century and adopted by the early folk dance movement. 15 Examples of this are the old games of varpa and stångstörtning, mainly practised on the island of Gotland, a small region in Sweden.

Nätverket 2020: 22: 25–42 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 33 # Swedish folk music and dance – vibrant but contested nomusicologist and folk practitioner David Kaminsky factors. Therefore, the politicization and appropriation (2012b). Being an integral part of many practitioners’ of folk culture could be discussed in terms of owner- life, folk culture is seen as a natural platform to use to ship and legitimacy. Who has the right to define what enable integration and to work anti-racist. Swedish folk culture is? And to whom does it belong? Not only do Sverigedemokraterna present a view on Being a folk dancer or a folk musician today is culture that contradicts with the views of most culture largely a question of identity, of having strong emotional institutions in Sweden, their cultural policy is also seen bonds to the cultural expression and to the folk music as a threat in itself to the folk culture organisations (see scene. To many dedicated practitioners, the dance or e.g. Gudmundson 2018). Sweden has a strong tradition music is an integral part of the self, and becomes a way of independent, public organisations where democratic to define oneself as a person. I believe that this is one of values are fundamental. Cultural life is mainly financed the reasons that practitioners feel so strongly that they by the state and with limited governing on how each have to make a clear standpoint against nationalism and institution spend the money (Lindsköld 2015). As men- racism. To them this is personal. Many dancers and mu- tioned earlier, Sverigedemokraterna’s financial support to sicians express that they feel sorrow and anger at the folk culture is conditioned, with a strong focus on what thought that people might connect the culture that they the party sees as an authentic Swedish culture or cultural love with xenophobia and an excluding nationalism. heritage, a perspective that does not correspond with the This may even be experienced as being “guilty by associ- organisations. Instead, they highlight the diversity of ation”. As one of my interviewees puts it: ”You play the influences that contributes to developing folk culture. nyckelharpa because it makes you happy, and suddenly Sverigedemokraternas’s claim to folk culture could also the instrument is used to symbolise fascism in Sweden.” be understood as a questioning of the position of the Naturally, this is deeply disturbing. Seeing yourself as a folk culture organisations as producers and bearers of folk musician or dancer, associations to nationalism and knowledge. In the debates, organisations and folk prac- xenophobia can be experienced as both discrediting and titioners alike have repeatedly emphasized that they are a threat to the personal identity and self-image. Today, the insiders, the ones that actually know the folk culture, practitioners face a risk of being seen as sympathisers of and that Sverigedemokraterna are ignorant outsiders, Sverigedemokraterna, nationalists or even racists. In a lacking knowledge of what folk culture is today. The or- radio documentary from September 2018, one of the in- ganisations’ responses to Sverigedemokraterna could be terviewed musicians told that people have thought him summarised as: “How dare you come knocking on our a member of Sverigedemokraterna only due to his use of doors trying to give us presents, when at the same time a folk costume (Sämgård 2018). questioning our legitimacy and our views on the cultural expressions we engage with, telling us that folk culture is POLITICAL IDEOLOGY something else than what we perceive it to be!” VERSUS AESTHETIC QUALITY As previously shown, there is a deep frustration among FOLK CULTURE AS A COMMUNITY practitioners, experiencing how their hobby, lifestyle and In today’s Sweden, a country that is often depicted as source of happiness become subject to politics. Practi- one of the most modern in the world, folk culture has tioners also express sorrow and indignation at seeing the to a large extent become something that is associated intrinsic quality of music and dance become subordi- with the past. When the modern Swedish society de- nate to political agenda. Practitioners live it and love it veloped, folk culture, as well as nationalism, was seen as – they want to see folk culture recognised and appreci- something out-dated that did not fit into modernity (see ated for its aesthetic qualities and ability to affect, not Löfgren 2000). Nowadays, folk dance, folk music and for its ascribed symbolic meanings or political power. other cultural expressions with roots in the old peasant A number of practitioners express that they wish folk society, such as knitting and storytelling, could in many music to be an attractive genre that can appeal to people ways be seen as subcultures, hobbies or lifestyles. They in general. The invisibility and marginal position of folk are no longer intrinsic parts of the life of an average culture in Swedish society renders it extra vulnerable to Swede, but cultural knowledge shared by a minority. politicization; since it is well known only to a minority This minority could be described as a community of of Swedes, narratives on folk culture spread by political practitioners, but also as several overlapping subcul- forces might easily be stuck in the public mind. There- tures where different cultural expressions are the uniting fore, practitioners feel that they must defend their genre

Nätverket 2020: 22: 25–42 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 34 Helmersson, L. # and counter the nationalist narratives. It is also argued cultural heritage in need of rescuing still linger from that Swedish media adds to a public view of folk culture previous times. However, it is the lack of transmission of as something slightly outdated, exotic or uninteresting the dances and the music that is the main concern, and (e.g. Parkman 2011). When portrayed in media, it is not a lack of financial support or national acknowledge- seldom the artistic quality that is addressed, but instead ment. Notwithstanding differing ideas on to what extent social aspects and the ritual uses of folk culture at Mid- immigrant cultures are beneficial to the contemporary summer celebrations, or the Swedish National day. A folk music and dance, they are not in themselves seen perspective of folk culture as “low art”, the antithesis to as a threat. high art, still prevails in many contexts. “The only threat to the folk culture is Sve- In one of the opinion pieces from the summer of rigedemokraterna”, is an expression that has been re- 2018, six professional practitioners direct an appeal to curring many times since 2010. It has been expressed the political parties in Sweden to update their knowledge in debates and opinion pieces, as well as in concerned on folk culture and not to let nationalists get a monopoly discussions on the dance floor. To practitioners, the real of Swedish folk culture. “It would be unfortunate if your threat is that Sverigedemokraterna will gain more power inability to create a relation to folk culture would leave and influence over cultural politics16 and that nationalist the field open to an exploitation by political nationalism” narratives will become dominant and render folk culture (my translation) (Möller et al. 2018). Despite a low state associated to xenophobia. Several debating folk musi- investment in folk culture, the debaters reject funding cians (e.g. Åström Rune 2010) have pointed out that from Sverigedemokraterna, because they believe that the the Third Reich interest in German folk music has gen- party lacks a genuine interest in folk culture and only erated that folk music is pariah in Germany today (see uses it for political purpose, to create a We and Them. In also Morgenstern 2018). Sverigedemokraterna’s procla- my interviews with practitioners, it is often stated that mations on the need to safeguard folk culture, due to it the lack of interest in cultural politics by the other poli- being a national heritage and valuable to the Swedish tical parties leave the field open to Sverigedemokraterna nation, have put practitioners in a situation where prac- to claim the agenda. Their politicization of folk culture tising their hobby could be seen as a safeguarding action, undermines the strivings of folk practitioners and in- or a display of nationalist sympathy. To some practitio- stitutions to see folk culture recognised for its aesthetic ners, this has rendered an awareness of how their hobby qualities and its vital role in Swedish cultural life (see can be interpreted as a political statement, something also Andersson et al. 2018). that is disturbing and frustrating. As one of my inter- viewees states: ”I didn’t start playing the fiddle to safe- PRACTISING A HOBBY OR guard the cultural heritage, hell no!” He stresses that to SAFEGUARDING A THREATENED CULTURE? him, it is the intrinsic quality of the art and the possi- In the rhetoric of Sverigedemokraterna, folk culture is bility to enjoy himself that are the motivations. He sees described as a national asset that not only suffers from the concerns of safeguarding a cultural heritage as some- neglect by other political parties but is likewise threatened thing that might be contra productive, and points out 17 by multiculture and immigration (Sverigedemokraterna that it has to be okay to go to a festival to dance polska , 2011; cf. Lindsköld 2015; Teitelbaum 2017). Swedish without it being a political action. However, his strong radical nationalists treat folk culture as something that interest in folk culture and feeling of identifying with needs to be safeguarded and put out of oblivion, seem- the music have made it necessary to him to become an ingly unaware of the fact that it constitutes a vibrant activist. To give just one example, he tells that he some- subculture today. Leaving the neglect from other poli- times uses the music and his folk costume in settings that tical parties aside, practitioners in general do not share are seen as less traditional, to challenge the homogenous the concerns of the radical nationalists. Neither multi- view on folk culture displayed by Sverigedemokraterna. culture and immigration, nor political neglect are seen The use of folk costume is something that often comes as threats, at least not on an institutional level, and many up in discussions today; some fear to use it due to risk of practitioners see folk culture as vital and strong. negative connotations, whereas others use it even more Yet there are differing views among practitioners of 16 Cultural policy discourse has already been influenced by the radi- folk music and dance as to the need of safeguarding. In cal right in other Scandinavian countries (Lindsköld 2015). some parts of the folk music scene, there is a concern 17 Polska is the oldest couple dance form used in Sweden, and one of for the survival of the old traditions, and notions of a the most common dances in the folk music scene today.

Nätverket 2020: 22: 25–42 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 35 # Swedish folk music and dance – vibrant but contested than before to make a statement that folk culture is not the deconstruction argument has been recurring among up for the taking. politicians from all parts of the political spectrum, In a radio documentary from September 2018, the paving the way for a nationalist rhetoric on culture. politicization of folk music is problematised and dis- Statements by former Swedish ministers such as Mona cussed by practitioners of folk music (Sämgård 2018). Sahlin and Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth implying that there Some of the participants express a necessity to take a is no specific Swedish culture, have been referred to re- clear stand against xenophobia and the appropria- gularly by members of Sverigedemokraterna as evidence tion by nationalists, whereas others express revulsion that other political parties denounce or neglect Swedish against taking political stand in their roles as musi- culture (see Teitelbaum 2017). As pointed out by the cians, no matter their personal opinions. Reporter and ethnologist Orvar Löfgren (Löfgren 2000; see also folk musician Stina Sämgård describes folk music as a Kaminsky 2012a and Teitelbaum 2017), native Swedes breathing-space and a haven to her, adding that person- tend to believe that they don’t have a specific culture, as ally, she does not want to feel forced to take political compared to immigrants. Even if the deconstructionist stand. Several persons in the documentary stress that argument has been much used in the debates, it has also folk music is not political and should not be, instead, been questioned by practitioners who see that this tactic the love of the music and its possibility to create social plays into the hands of the nationalists (e.g Ahlbäck et meetings are highlighted. Like in other practitioner al. quoted in Bergel 2012). contexts I have studied, e.g discussions on social media, The tactic of regionalism focusses on the discrep- it is obvious that differing views on what is political ancies between the nation of Sweden and culturally dis- contributes to whether practitioners feel obliged to take tinctive regions, emphasising the differences within the political stand against xenophobia or not. I want to nation as well as the similarities across nation borders. point out that not everyone engaged with folk culture One example is the folk music tradition in the western thinks that it is equally important to avoid associations parts of the county of Dalarna (Dalecarlia) that has more to nationalism or specific political parties. There are of similarities to the music in the neighbouring Norwegian course different ideologies and standpoints represented region than in the eastern part of Dalarna. among todays’ practitioners, and not everyone regards Multiculturalism is the argument that internatio- the nationalists’ interest in folk culture as problematic. nal influence is beneficial to Swedish folk music. This However, the dominant discourse is clearly non-na- is something that has often been emphasized in the tionalistic among all folk culture institutions as well as debates and might be the most common tactic. Folk among practitioners. musician Ale Möller, who is known for his prowess at bringing different music styles and musicians together, TACTICS OF RESISTANCE claims in an interview from 2011 that the folk musicians Ethnomusicologist David Kaminsky (2012a) distin- that are in the vanguard are those that fuse the polska guishes four different tactics, or arguments, used by folk tunes with techno, jazz and rock. He compares this to musicians debating Sverigedemokraterna: deconstruc- the times before national romanticism, when the hottest tion, regionalism, multiculturalism and redefinition. He musicians where those who brought in new stuff and relates the tactics to the narrative revision of folk music borrowed from others (Dzedina 2011). As pointed out carried out during the Folk music revival in the 1970s by Kaminsky, a problem with multiculturalism is that and 80s. Through the tactic of deconstruction, the view it tends to presuppose that discrete cultures exist, thus of Swedish culture as something static and homogenous possibly adding to cultural essentialism. is problematised and the continuous changes and influ- By redefinition, Kaminsky refers to the use of folk ences from outside Sweden are emphasized. According music as a genre term, describing a music form with to Kaminsky, this argument builds on the work of Jan specific stylistic traits, which is common praxis among Ling (1979, 1980) and other scholars who challenged an practitioners today. This, as pointed out by Kaminsky, old view on folk culture deriving from national romanti- cannot in itself cut the ideological ties (2012a:89), at cism. As Kaminsky notes, a more extreme version of the least not on a short-term perspective. As a genre, folk deconstructionist argument denies the validity or exist- music undisputedly has its musical roots in a pre-mod- ence of Swedish folk music as a category (2012a:84), ern society, and the continuous discussions and defi- or of a Swedish culture. This more extreme version of nitions on where in time those roots are attached will

Nätverket 2020: 22: 25–42 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 36 Helmersson, L. # make it difficult to deliberate folk music from historical nationalist narrative that constitutes folk culture as ex- narratives. However, this does not necessarily mean that pressions of an excluding national identity. Nevertheless, a nationalist narrative on folk music and folk culture the argument of inclusiveness is somewhat paradoxical, need to prevail. since folk culture today is in praxis cultural knowledge These four tactics are used not only by musicians, shared by a minority. Is it possible to make cultural ex- but also by other debaters from the arena of folk culture. pressions that have turned into a subculture accessible There is also one argument, or narrative, used by the for everyone? debaters and activists that is overarching and permeates The argument of bridge building refers to culture all four tactics that Kaminsky distinguishes. It is the as a means to create meeting places and bring people narrative of culture and tradition as changeable. Institu- with different backgrounds together. Being insiders of tions and activists alike emphasize that change is a core the scene, practitioners point to the fact that the folk element in folk culture, irrespective of what arguments music scene is not the homogeneous, pure and “authen- they otherwise use. Whether this is a view shared by all tic” scene nationalists want it to be. On the contrary, practitioners can be discussed, but it is a dominant nar- contemporary folk music is a place where integration rative on an institutional level and among many practi- and bridge building can take place, something that is tioners. regarded as one of many positive aspects of the scene, as well as a natural part of it. The affective qualities of INCLUSIVENESS AND BRIDGE BUILDING music and dance are seen as a possibility to bring people To the tactics distinguished by Kaminsky, I would like to closer to each other, a way to unite in the love of certain add the arguments of inclusiveness and bridge building. cultural expressions. These arguments are interlinked, and the argument Certainly, the integrational aspect is something that of bridge building could be seen as deriving from, or has been targeted by Sverigedemokraterna in political building upon, the argument of inclusiveness. However, proposals. To them, participation in the folk culture arena I will use them to point to two different aspects that I could serve to facilitate the embodying of a Swedish perceive not only as commonly recurring arguments, or identity. In the cultural policy of Sverigedemokraterna, tactics, used by debating practitioners, but also as char- full-scale assimilation is seen as a necessary means to acterising traits of the folk music scene today. With the render immigration acceptable – through the embodi- tactic of inclusiveness, or openness, I refer to the per- ment of Swedish culture and values, and by giving up on spective of folk culture as belonging to all of us, some- one’s original culture and identity, it might be possible thing that everybody has a right to irrespective of poli- for an immigrant to become a Swede (Sverigedemokra- tical colour and personal background. This perspective terna 2011). The idea that getting to know Swedish folk is likely to some extent a heritage from the Folk music culture is paramount to become a Swedish citizen is revival in the 1970s and 80s, when a conservative, purist strongly disputed by folk practitioners. Instead, to enable ideology and perspective on music and dance was chal- meetings and interaction between native Swedes and lenged (Arvidsson 2008). Leftist ideals contributed to a immigrants, for a mutual benefit, is seen as the purpose redefinition of the concept of folk music as a product of in itself, and not as a way to teach immigrants how to an independent “folk”, and as a music genre free from become Swedish. commercialism and high art norms. The idea that it Obviously, the tactic of bridge building connects should be accessible for everyone was a common proc- to the tactic of multiculturalism in that (folk) culture is lamation among practitioners. Whereas the anti-com- regarded as limitless and benefitting from new influen- mercial perspective is quite absent today, the perspective ces. However, bridge building does not necessarily entail of folk music as a heritage belonging to the populace is an exchange of musical knowledge but can be limited to common. As previously shown, it is often highlighted culture as a meeting place. among practitioners that everybody is welcome and that It could be argued that Kaminsky’s tactics mainly no one has monopoly on folk culture. I argue that inclu- relate to the definitions and characteristics of folk music, siveness is part of the identity of the folk music scene whereas my tactics, or arguments, mainly relate to the today and is regarded as a characteristic trait, thus in characteristics of the scene, or subculture, of folk music. itself disqualifying nationalist claims – a scene charac- Like the tactics distinguished by Kaminsky, the tactics terised by its inclusiveness cannot easily be forged into a of inclusiveness and bridge building serve to problem-

Nätverket 2020: 22: 25–42 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 37 # Swedish folk music and dance – vibrant but contested atise a homogenous view on folk culture, while at the different ages later came to the festival, and some of them same time being a description of how the folk music tried dancing Swedish folk dances for the first time. The scene of today is perceived by its participants. My rea- fiddlers’ meet in Delsbo Delsbostämman( ), one of the soning issue from folk music and dance; although these largest and oldest folk music events in Sweden, has also arguments might be valid for other arenas of folk culture worked similarly: in 2016 they added a new item to as well, I do not have enough empirical knowledge to the programme with a more multicultural profile and include them in these definitions. invited people at all asylum centres in the region (a total of 2 500 persons). Like the festival in Umeå, they also BUILDING BRIDGES organised bus rides to the festival from all the centres In today’s Sweden, a large percentage of the population with residents who wanted to attend (Delsbostämman has roots in other countries. However, this is not visible 2018). This kind of work is not carried out only by or- on the dance floor or in the folk music jam sessions. The ganisations and festival producers, but also by individu- Swedish folk music and dance scene still is predominant- als, for example by bringing immigrant acquaintances to ly white18 and homogenous in many aspects, despite the folk culture events. aforementioned perspective of inclusiveness. This does In addition to this kind of explicit bridge building not mean that the inclusive and open-minded ideals work, there have been cross-cultural projects and ex- of the folk music scene are only varnish and wishful changes among professional folk musicians and in- thinking. However, it would seem that it was not until stitutions for a long time. In some cases like Ethno, fairly recently that practitioners in general have come a summer camp for young musicians started in 1990, to realise that an open attitude might not be enough to the exchange is on an international level, but there are attract new crowds to the folk music scene. The inclu- also many examples of fruitful meetings between native sive ideals must also be transferred into action. However, Swedes and Swedes with an immigrant background. there are also several institutions, organisations and in- In some respects, the folk music scene has been dividuals engaging with folk music and dance that have multicultural for decades, and musical influences from been working for years with projects aiming to create other countries and other musical styles and genres meeting places between native Swedes and people with have been an important part of Swedish folk music at other backgrounds and ethnicities. One example is the least since the 1970’s, later adding to the development project “Världens musik och dans” (the music and dance of a new genre of “world music” (Lundberg, Malm & of the world), aiming to make folk and world music and Ronström 2000). Already in 1964, Swedish jazz musician dance more visible and to reach out to new groups. The Jan Johansson blended folk music with jazz, and in the project is a cooperation between several folk culture or- 70s folk music groups experimented with mixing folk ganisations and has been going on since 2008. music with pop and rock, or “ethnic” music. From the The bridge-building efforts within the scene -in 80s and onwards, the instrument flora has become more creased and got a more political dimension after Sve- and more diverse. Even if fiddle still is the dominant rigedemokraterna made it to the parliament in 2010. instrument in Swedish folk music, more or less any During the last three years or so, this work has increased type of instrument might be used today, and contem- considerably, due to the large influx of refugees in porary folk music big bands might include instruments Sweden from particularly Syria and Afghanistan. Many like saxophone, banjo, djembe, bass guitar, cello, flutes local organisations have reached out to asylum centres or keyboard. Today, the Swedish folk music scene is and immigrant societies – one example is the folk music musically diverse and at the same time local, national 19 festival in Umeå, Umefolk. In 2016, when I was also one and global. Often, but not always, the concept of folk of the producers of the festival, every asylum centre in music encompasses “world music” (Fredriksson 2018), Umeå was contacted and the refugees were offered free and multiculture in terms of different musical sounds tickets for the festival. A concert with both Swedish and and musics is seen as part of the scene. On the dance Syrian musicians was also arranged at the largest asylum 19 The international influences in folk music and the genre of world centre during the festival week. About 100 refugees of music has also received criticism for destroying Swedish folk music and making it devoid of nuance (see e.g. Lundberg, Malm & Ron- 18 According to Teitelbaum (2017), the whiteness of the folk music ström 2000). In the 1970’s, when many musicians experimented with scene is highlighted by radical nationalists who see this homogeneity new instruments and styles in folk music, musicians were criticised as evidence on an inherent ethnic whiteness. for not playing genuine and authentic folk music.

Nätverket 2020: 22: 25–42 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 38 Helmersson, L. # floor, this eclecticism is not as visible. Sometimes, the such as the folk music festival Umefolk, but also at traditional dance forms are mixed up with foxtrot, lindy asylum centres and at special arrangements organised in hop or its Swedish derivation bugg. However, this is a parts of the town where many immigrants live, to make slightly different eclecticism since these dance genres are the music more accessible and known outside the tradi- part of an international transmission and are not seen as tional venues. ethnically characterised dance forms. Today there are few large folk music events and CONCLUDING REMARKS festivals where multicultural features are absent. The The recent years’ politicization of folk culture has caused audience might still be homogenous (cf. Teitelbaum both activism and discussion among practitioners who 2017), but many organisers work actively to find ways feel that their culture is misused and turned into a na- to make the folk music scene accessible and attractive to tionalist symbol. Since 2010, there is an anti-racist people with immigrant backgrounds. For example, this movement within the folk culture scene where music is done by including workshops in music or dance led and dance at the same time have become emblemat- by immigrants. The common perspective of folk music ic symbols used in a struggle against racism, as well as and folk culture as limitless opens for musical meetings, cultural expressions that need to be defended. Activism where integration into the Swedish society might come is carried out through music and dance as well as for as a positive side effect. In the beginning of 2018, the music and dance. 20 music group Bullermyrens spelmanslag was formed Contradictory to the view on folk culture expressed with the outspoken ambition to play traditional music by Sverigedemokraterna, many practitioners see folk from both Sweden and Syria (Dalarnas spelmansför- culture as a melting pot of styles, influences and cultures bund 2018). The explicit driving force is the musical and highlight its potential to create meeting places curiosity, whereas bridge building is an implicit driving between people, regardless of origin. Whereas musical force, which can also be traced in financial and practical curiosity for a long time has been a driving force to support from local institutions and the county council. many musicians, it has now also turned into a politi- In an interview conducted with one of the founding cal driving force, implicitly as well as explicitly, leading members of the band, he strongly emphazises that his to enhanced work to interact with people of different motivations for forming the band above all comes from background. The common narrative of culture as limit- musical curiosity and an interest in getting to know less and inclusive is a strong contributing factor to the other music cultures. The integration aspect comes in resistance against a homogenous and excluding perspec- the second place. However, to him, and many other tive of folk culture. Swedish musicians and dancers, folk culture provides In accordance with many of the activists, I argue meeting places between newly arrived immigrants and that the invisibility of folk culture in Swedish cultural native Swedes, something that is seen as a natural part policy and media has facilitated the appropriation by of the folk scene since many years. the radical right. The appropriation is also facilitated by Another example of a bridge building musical folk culture’s marginalised position in Sweden and by project is the band Sammani from Umeå, consisting nationalist narratives lingering from the days of national of local folk musicians and Syrian immigrants. In their romanticism. music repertory, traditional Nordic tunes are played Not only do practitioners need to raise their voices alongside traditional Syrian and Arabic tunes, and in to contradict the radical nationalists, they also feel the some arrangements the different musical styles are need to continuously counteract the image of folk culture transformed into new soundscapes. Sammani has since spread by radical nationalists towards the public at large. the start in 2016 played at traditional folk music venues Sverigedemokraterna’s focus on folk culture has, despite all the effort from practitioners to avoid this, created 20 The Swedish concept of spelmanslag (fiddlers’ group) refers to new, as well as enhanced old, associations to national- local groups of amateur musicians, where folk music is played in ism and xenophobia. Even if Sverigedemokraterna’s ensemble. Spelmanslag are often seen as a very typical and old-fash- ioned part of the Swedish folk music life, sometimes used as national newfound love for old traditions and cultural heritage is symbols, even though spelmanslag are not very traditional in histor- mocked in satire and political debate, the image in the ical terms. It was not until the 1940’s that spelmanslag, ensembles public mind is established. Due to the popularity of folk of folk musicians, became a common part of the folk music life in Sweden (see Roempke 1980). costumes among representatives of Sverigedemokra-

Nätverket 2020: 22: 25–42 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 39 # Swedish folk music and dance – vibrant but contested terna, these have become loaded with symbolic value. concepts like cultural heritage and folk culture are used, Today it is not rare to hear people say that they think and has added to the insight that ideals of openness and twice before putting on their folk costume for fear of inclusiveness must also be combined with active work being misjudged as racists or nationalists. Even though to make the arenas of folk culture less homogenous. The folk music and dance do not seem to have similarly appropriation process has also generated a need among negative connotations in the public mind, the fear of the institutions to emphasize core values and human being associated to a conservative or excluding national- rights. As already mentioned, there are strong narratives ism influences practitioners’ choices. of inclusiveness and openness in the folk culture arenas Today, a number of practitioners feel the need to today; and I argue that this has become part of a collec- consider when and where folk culture is displayed, and tive identity within these arenas. Today, integration, in to resist xenophobic cultural policy. The scene of folk terms of bridge building, has become increasingly im- culture, and particularly music and dance, has become a portant to institutions and practitioners alike, and many site of resistance. The resistance has many forms and is efforts are made to welcome immigrants and minorities acted out in public as well as in a more disguised manner. to the folk culture arenas – this work might even be the The process of appropriation has rendered an aware- most widespread and important way of putting up re- ness among practitioners on the need to consider how sistance to xenophobic cultural politics.

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Linnea Helmersson is a PhD student in ethnology at Umeå University. Her research interests are social dancing, tradition, gender relations in dance and social interaction on the dance floor.

Nätverket 2020: 22: 25–42 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 42 “The beginning of a new society”. Forms of politics in late Att1960s forska Swedish om ting alternative music

Sverker Hyltén-Cavallius,Katarina Ek-Nilsson Svenskt visarkiv

abstract An issue that engaged the alternative music movement in 1970s Sweden was what “political FÖREMÅLEN I MUSEISAMLINGARNA För en utomstående kan detta tyckas märkligt, och music” could be. In hindsight, the movement has often iblandbeen associated väcks frågan, with vilketpolitical har dogmatism, hänt från politikerhåll,orthodox marxism and narrow-minded sectarianism. However, the music movement and its forerunners in the form and I museernas magasin trängs föremålen. Rader av om inte museernas samlingar kunde/borde avyttras, genre experiments of the latter Sixties reveal other ways of approaching the political. Through the close reading spinnrockar, vagnar, möbler, mangelbräden etc. är när nu alla föremål ändå inte visas, för att skapa större of in-depth interviews, magazines, media and record albums, this article demonstrates how three related bands prydligt sorterade på hyllor i jättelika utrymmen. resurser till verksamheten. Textilierassociated ligger prydligtto flumprogg inpackade (“fuzzy/hazy i syrafria progg”) silkespapper formulated a critique of an anthropocentric worldview where och specialgjordaMan is supposed syrafria to overexploit kartonger. nature. Dyrbarheter This critique, som I argue,Frågan can kanbe seen tyckas as shaping både befogadacosmological och dimensionenkel men är silver,to smycken, the cognitive konstföremål, praxis of the men emerging också alternative mer triviala music movement,i själva verket later tokomplicerad, be dominated av by bland a focus andra on organ följande- vardagsföremål,izational dimensions skyddas av. allehanda säkerhetsåtgärder.1 skäl: Museet har en gång tagit emot föremålen som donationer eller som inköp från, i de flesta fall, När ett föremål – det må vara ett ordinärt vardagsföremål privatpersoner. Man får utgå från att de som skänkt som tidigare har hanterats dagligen i egenskap av But the funny thing is that, no matter what, you pick up ellerfrom sålt 2016, föremålen, Persson liksomclaims thatmuseets it was representanter, a stay in England har bruksföremål – blir ett museiföremål så genomgår a few things, in a way, as I said... so the first thing that led åsattalready dem back ett kulturhistorisktin 1959 that had värde. directed Museet his harattention påtagit to det mesamtidigt onto that entrack metamorfos. was this thing Det with blirthe worldinte längrefamine, sig ett ansvar att på bästa sätt bevara föremålen för möjligtthat appeared att vidröra with suppliesutan att in mangeneral, tar that på was sig my särskilda way into environment issues, which is three years before Rachel framtiden,Carson’s “Silent så långt Spring” det är (1962) möjligt, came och to det ignite vore the därför inter - bomullsvantarthis from the start:och howdet onefår isinte to survive längre on användas smaller resour för- oetiskt att avyttra dem. sitt ces.ursprungliga And so then ändamål. I heard Georg Vispen Borgström, får inte that’s mera how vispa, the national environmental movement (Wolay 2016). In the mobiltelefonenpiece Proteinimperialism inte längre [Protein sms:as Imperialism] med. En gräns came intohar OmSwedish museerna alternative skulle music börja avyttramovement sina thatföremål takes så shape skulle at being, I heard a presentation by Georg Borgström on the passerats i föremålets livslopp, en ny status och en allmänhetensthe beginning förtroende of the 1970, för the museerna environmentally sannolikt orientedskadas. radio where he described very thoroughly – you know, those Museer gör inga ekonomiska värderingar av föremål, särskild magi har laddat föremålet. För en utomstående parts of the movement would sometimes be perceived kanbooks det förefallaare still worth både reading. egendomligt They have, och the komiskt left still atthas för att inte bidra till marknadsmässiga bedömningar problems with those issues actually. They haven’t taken that as flummiga (“fuzzy/hazy”). But what exactly constitut- det som nyss hörde till exempelvis en familjs högst och spekulationer, och kan därför inte gå in i en in, it’s that thing with how the world is supposed to lie open vanliga köksutrustning plötsligt måste behandlas med försäljningsverksamhet.ed that “haziness”? In thisMuseiföremåls article, I wish värde to är devote helt och at - to man, man, man. (Interview with Bo Anders Persson, No- tention to stances on the ‘political’ in the early stages of störstavember varsamhet 9th 2016) för att den förvärvats av ett museum. hållet kulturhistoriska, inte ekonomiska. Ekonomiskt Skillnaden mellan en porslinsurna från 1700-talet ärwhat alltså came ett tomuseiföremål evolve into thei princip so-called inte alternative värt något music alls, Booch Anders en plastbunke Persson, born från in 2000-talets 1936, is the IKEAson of aär Baptist i det eftersommovement det in aldrig Sweden. kommer The utarticle på en takes marknad. as its starting pastormuseologiska and grew sammanhanget up in the suburb upphävt. Tallkrogen in southern Museiföremålpoint life history utgör interviews, källmaterial that inför turn forskning. led me toVilka look Stockholm.Cirka 1% av1 In museernas the mid-1960s föremålssamlingar he was a student brukar of com vara- föremålfurther intosom movementskulle kunna and avvaras pre-movement kan inte avgöras,fanzines, positionutställda. at Procenten the Royal ändrar College visserligen of Music innehåll in Stockholm vartefter eftersomrecordings vi and inte other vet media.vilka frågor The focus som forkommer my interest att andbasutställningar created the work byggs Proteinimperialism om, föremål ställs ut(Protein i tillfälliga im- blihere relevanta lies in how för weframtida can understand kulturhistorisk “the political” forskning. as a Visserligen kan idag endast ett urval ur dagens perialism),utställningar an eller electronic lånas ut piece till andra consisting museers of utställningar, loops and situated historical phenomenon, constantly controver- men faktum kvarstår att vid varje givet ögonblick är föremålshavsial and constantly göras changing.– allt kan inte sparas – men de permutations of a single word expressed by plant physi- tidigare urval som föregångarna på museerna har gjort det en mycket liten del av den totala föremålsskatten The concept of “politics” and its scope can extend ologistsom är and tillgänglig food technologist i utställningsform. Georg Borgström. Digitalt During ökar en gång måste respekteras, eftersom de gjordes med from almost universal – that “everything is political” is thetillgängligheten same period, he successivt begins to improvisegenom att with föremålsfoton a few other utgångspunkt i den tidens vetenskapliga intressen. students,publiceras including på många Urban museers Yman, hemsidor, Arne2 menEriksson närheten and a perfectly legitimate claim – to specific kinds of action Befintligain specific museisamlingar social arenas måste– such hållas as the intakta parliament för att kunna or the musicologyoch tillgången student till museernas Torbjörn samlingar Abelli. The är ändå band begränsad evolves bilda utgångspunkt för museivetenskaplig forskning, det city council – or about certain areas, such as the man- intoför allmänheten,Pärson Sound, trots later att ”tillgängliggörande” International harvester har högsta and vill säga forskning om museer (inte bara på museer). Träd,prioritet gräs ochi museernas stenar (Trees, verksamhet. grass and stones, here abbre- agement of the common tasks and resources of society. viated1 Jag avser TGS). här professionella In a radio show museer by som journalist finansieras Elena med offentliga Wolay Sociologist Adrienne Sörbom defines activities as poli- medel och har utbildad personal, och bortser helt från allehanda FÖREMÅLtical when they aimSOM at changes KULTURPRODUKTER that not only concern the privata eller kommersiella samlingar som kallar sin verksamhet Föremålenindividual orhar the i etnologisk nearest family, mening but sin also betydelse (if indirectly) som 1 ”museum” men som i själva verket inte uppfyller de krav på Thisprofessionell article is museiverksamhet based on research som carried ställts out upp within av den the internationella project produkteron a collective av kultur. level Detta (Sörbom innebär 2002:11). alltså att In föremål this context eller Kreativa förflyttningar – musikaliska flöden i 1960- och 70-talens museiorganisationen ICOM (International Council of Museums). andraI will fysiskatreat conceptions företeelser inteof “the i sig political” själva utgör as a ”kultur”. first and Sverige2 (“Creative transitions – musical flows in 1960s and 70s Se till exempel www.digitaltmuseum.se, där flera svenska museer För att förstå vad som menas med detta påstående måste Sweden”), funded by Riksantikvarieämbetet (the Swedish National foremost discursive phenomenon, and thus construed in visar delar av sina föremåls- och fotosamlingar. vi först försöka förklara kulturbegreppet. Heritage Board).

NätverketNätverket 2016:2020: 22:20: 43–492–7 ISSN:ISSN: 1651-0593 1651-0593 432 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/http://natverket.etnologi.uu.se # “The beginning of a new society” Forms of politics in late 1960s Swedish alternative music discursive practices – in language, praxis and symbolic much is true. As ethnologist Alf Arvidsson phrases it in form. This means that there will be controversy about a study on politics and music between 1965 and 1980, what is to be included in the political, and discursive music during this period was “politicized” in the sense formations around different understandings of its scope that “music as artifact and process was judged as poli- and meaning. Here I will look at one such formation in tical” (Arvidsson 2008:10). But the received notion of particular, namely the early stages of what came to be a homogenous orthodox left movement only holds true labelled “fuzzy” progg (flumprogg) within the Swedish for some passages of the music movement (not even in alternative music movement.2 It will serve as an example its years of existence, 1973-1980, was Musikens makt of how the political can be construed (and debated) in the only forum for interaction within the movement), music. and for some periodical segments. The movement’s pre- cursors in the second half of the 1960s appears more THE MUSIC MOVEMENT AND sprawling, and even when the music movement culmi- BEFORE: EXPLORATION AND FORMATION nates around the mid-seventies, it holds a wide span. It It is a widely held notion of the Swedish alternative also depends on where you look – the movement’s offical music movement that it solely consisted of a conform- magazine Musikens makt released in Gothenburg, tends ist and orthodox revolutionary left. For example, in an to a more ideologically consistent socialist or Marxist editorial, liberal journalist Mats Wiklund summarizes stance, while the magazine Huvudbladet (“The Main/ the movement’s magazine Musikens makt (“The Power of Music”) as follows: “Music was supposed to have a poli- tical awareness in line with the socialist values of the magazine. Consequently, just about every issue was domi- nated by personal vendettas, fulminations against traitors, analyzes of potential missteps and incessant attacks on anything that smelled of com- mercialism.” (Wiklund 2007, my translation) Roughly de- scribed, these descriptions have fitted into a black-and- white and highly schematic image of this period: on the one hand a radical and un- compromising music movement, on the other hand a Head Sheet”) that was released in Stockholm 1971-72 commercial music market with artists such as ABBA, contains anything from instructions on how to grow Björn Skifs and the so-called dance bands. your own cannabis to how to make your own Molotov Of course, there are no non-ideological stances cocktail. from which this highly politicized period can be viewed The music movement housed a lot of music that was in hindsight. Even if Wiklund’s description is exagge- overtly political: for example Knutna nävar’s (“Clenched rated in order to illustrate the background to his liberal fists”) Stalin tribute “Sången om Stalin” (“The Song of awakening, it points out traits that any reader will see Stalin”, a translation of a German version of a hymn when looking through the magazine: there were disputes to Stalin) or the women’s movement in “Sånger om and quarrels about ideological implications of all music kvinnor” (“Songs about women”) and “Jösses flickor” and a constant stress on political textual content, that (“Gee, Girls”). But a common factor in all these records and projects, and this holds true for a vast majority of the 2 For an introduction to progg and the alternative or progressive ideological and political discussion in Musikens makt, music movement in Sweden, see Hyltén-Cavallius 2017.

Nätverket 2020: 22: 43–49 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 44 Hyltén-Cavallius, S. # is that the political in music is assumed to reside on a Musikens makt from Christian Diesen (who later on textual and organizational level. This implies that music became a law professor), and other discussions in the is primarily understood as politically active through journal, Träd, gräs och stenar and people like Channa language. In their book Music and Social Movements, Bankier were perceived as a “fuzzy left” by the more sociologists Andrew Jamison and Ron Eyerman claim literal left. Where Bankier and Thomas Mera Gartz ar- that music can be active on several levels (Eyerman & gumented for a “union of the proletarian and the occult Jamison 1998). In their study, they investigate what they left” (Musikens makt 1973:4:19), Christian Diesen term the cognitive praxis of social and political move- concluded his reply with “Have no illusions about the ments, that is, actions managed within the movements power of the music! Towards the dictatorship of the pro- that are never formalized or standardized in bylaws or letariat!” (Musikens makt 1974:1:11). But what did that protocol. There are three dimensions in cognitive praxis haziness really mean? There were definitely leftist ideas, – a cosmological, a technological and an organizational. from Marx and his more recent interpreters, but also a I will here go on to demonstrate how the 1960s forerun- strong environmental awareness and engagement, from ners to the 1970s music movement can be understood as Georg Borgström to Rachel Carson, joined with an a kind of exploration of these dimensions – eventually almost romantic view of nature and all living creatures, settling and formalizing into the more structured and the “hip” ideas of the time such as Marshall McLuhan’s ideologically driven movement. ideas about media as the global village, and of course third world-solidarity and resistance to the Vietnam “ABOVE ALL A POLITICAL BAND” War. That smoking pot – which according to Tidholm In order to illustrate this I will use the rock bands Pärson was ubiquitous – was perceived of as “hazy” is perhaps Sound – International Harvester – Harvester – Träd, not that surprising, but one might consider what else gräs och stenar, with a number of members in common. was excluded along with it. For it is quite clear that the In a way, they are of course unique in their sound and members of these bands saw what they did politically, background, but in other senses they are typical for the from the musical to the wider environmental commit- movement – with ideas that everyone can make music, ment. In a 1968 newspaper article about the band, jour- with their influences from Swedish folk music and music nalist Ludvig Rasmusson writes: “International Har- from other parts of the world. vester regard themselves as above all a political band. Thomas Tidholm, born in 1943 in Örebro, played Ideas are carefully thought through. They claim that the saxophone in International Harvester and later joined entire Western culture has to do with keeping people Arbete & Fritid (Work & Leisure), but was active both from meeting each other. It is a system for individua- as an author and cultural writer during the period. For lists.” (Rasmusson 1968) Another interesting example Thomas the leftist orientation was “crystal clear”, as he of this is when Bo Anders Persson, in a telephone in- puts it when I interview him in March 2018. However, terview in the first issue ofMusikens makt, says of the he immediately adds that he and the band rather move to the country to more commitedly grow crops belonged to what movement artist Channa Bankier and cultivate the earth that “it was our first practical po- called “the occult left” (Musikens makt 1973:4:19). Here litical standpoint” (Musikens makt 1973:1). he is referring to a debate article Bankier and drummer The bands were widely appreciated exactly for their Thomas Mera Gartz wrote in Musikens makt in 1973, live performances, it was there that they really came which pleaded for a more free left, one that embraced into their own with their special expression, and with not only the whole human, but also nature, the ground their sometimes half-hour long improvisations around and the air. Thomas is not entirely sure what they meant, repeated monotonous riffs that slowly changed. In live and he describes himself as more of a Zen Buddhist performance, they used to accompany the music with than occult, but goes on to explain: projected stills, often with nature motifs. In compari- And we used drugs, which is to say we smoked hashish, it son to this, the records come forth as a kind of frozen, was something that belonged to it, so of course it belonged finished and heavily slimmed art works, while they have to our music too, it belonged to everything, everything then. in a different way given room for planning, consider- […] So it was going on all the time – some smoking and ations and not least highlighted the song (which in such in some corner. And it was maybe that which became the occult then, I don’t know. live performances seems to have been a fairly limited element). Not least, we should also consider that Bo Judging by both the response in the following issue of Anders Persson, who was a key figure in the bands, had

Nätverket 2020: 22: 43–49 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 45 # “The beginning of a new society” Forms of politics in late 1960s Swedish alternative music made several electronic compositions for tape recorders How does it sound then? When I talked to a before he started playing with Pärson Sound and In- well-known guitarist in different bands in the music ternational Harvester – and those compositions might movement, he said about Bo Anders Persson that actually be more similar to the planned studio work than “he never learned how to play the guitar”. Maybe it is to live performance. In short, the records can give an in- Persson’s unvarnished way of playing, combined with dication of how these bands wanted to appear when they his keen interest in soundscapes and manipulations could design their sound in a more controlled studio of guitar sounds, along with on the other hand more setting. In addition to this, one must take into account driven musicians like Thomas Mera Gartz, Urban Yman the album covers, which are in themselves measured or Kjell Westling, and Bo Anders Persson’s and Thomas works of art that further articulate the band’s self-image. So how can we conceive of the political in these “fuzzy” bands, how do they configure a “fuzzy” politics? International Harvester’s record “Sov gott Rose-Marie” (“Sleep tight Rose-Marie”) came in 1968 and the cover is made by Mats Arvidsson, later on a well- known arts journalist. A map of Sweden is being devoured by flames from a hill, on which there is also a small sign saying “Good Luck”. Thomas Tidholm says that Mats Arvidsson was a long-time friend of his, who used to doodle nice flames when speaking on the phone. The sign saying Good Luck refers to a little stamped token Tidholm got from a machine in Coney Island (on his US trip the year before). This token also provided the name for the shows, or better maybe get-togethers, that the band did at the theatre Pistolteatern in the autumn of 1968. The picture displays a naivist tone, with clear blue, red and green colours against a white background. Its composition is basically symmetrical, with birds circling around notes, clouds, and hills. My personal associations go to folk art, with a tendency to horror vacui aes- thetics and symmetrical patterning, but also through the bright colors used. The cover of Harvesters record “Homeward” from 1969, made by the band’s drummer Thomas Mera Gartz depicts green hills with flowers on, a large tree on the highest hill and some red birds flying to the right in the picture, and green people who hand in hand dance around something. The backs of both discs are centered around photographs, the former portraying a large group of people standing in front of the grillhouse in Vårby at Alby lake south of Stockholm, the second por- traying the band standing by a fountain in the square Nytorget in Stockholm.

Nätverket 2020: 22: 43–49 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 46 Hyltén-Cavallius, S. #

Tidholm’s minimalist aesthetics that combined give the on the edge of electronic music. In the intro to “The band its special character. Influences from Swedish folk Runcorn Report On Western Progress” one hears the music can be heard in e.g. “Sommarlåten” (“Summer sounds of a highway – which could illustrate the rampant tune”) and the traditional song “Kristallen den fina” industrialism, at the end of “Och solen går upp” (“And (“The beautiful crystal”), or a little more playfully in the sun rises”) there is the sound of a rippling brook, “Kuk-polska” (“Prick-polska”, a variant of a tune by and “Sov Gott Rose-Marie” (“Sleep tight, Rose-Ma- nyckelharpa player Joel Jansson). The long course of rie”) features birdsong. The lyrics tend to be somewhat slow, subtle changes can remind one of, for example, dreamlike and almost romantic, but sometimes they are Indian art music (a reference they themselves also would very simple and straight, for example in “Statsministern” make in the manifesto cited below), the song “Ho Chi (“the Prime Minister”) or “Klockan är mycket nu” (“It Minh” is a rhythmic chanting of the North Vietnamese is late now”), which, like Bo Anders’ solo composition leader’s name, and “the Runcorn Report On Western “Proteinimperialism” (“Protein imperialism”) uses quo- Progress” uses bells and cymbals that can bring to mind tations from the famous food scientist and environment the sounds of Southeast Asian music. debater Georg Borgström. But the more overall concept of form was inspired by American minimalist composer Terry Riley. This CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS: “HAZY concept was developed early on, when they still called PROGG”, ENVIRONMENTAL MUSIC OR BOTH? themselves Pärson Sound, and was formulated as a kind After having interviewed some members of the groups of manifesto in the experimental Danish culture journal and going through their production, it is difficult to 3 Ta’. The manifesto, entitled “Om Terry Riley och vi perceive them as “flummiga”, that is “hazy” or “fuzzy”, in andra” (“On Terry Riley and the rest of us”), sets out the way that they eventually came to be perceived by the with a discussion of a “Persian-Christian” way of thought dominant parts of the music movement. To the contrary, that organizes the world in terms of dualistic opposites as I have shown here, the members of these bands were and absolutes, and excludes certain kinds of experi- without doubt politically aware and engaged, not least ence – such as presence and joy – as shallow (Persson & so in environmental matters and the relation between Tidholm 1968:15-17). Persson and Tidholm claim that humans, nature and animals (“friendly farming”, the this dualism in music takes the shape of harmony. They special way of cultivating the land adopted by Persson present Riley as an opponent of this – he puts all effort referred to above for example, relied solely on human into, as they put it, the creation of one single sound. All labor and human fertilizers, avoiding all forms of ex- his music builds on the collective establishment of and ploitation of animals). And these concerns were ex- being in a sonic space, why, as they conclude: pressed in a wide array of visual motifs, allusions in lyrics We all exist here in an intensive dependency on each oth- and not least in the way extra-musical elements were er, under common responsibility, but the interesting, the interwoven with the music, in ways that seem to have extremely significant thing, is the insight that there exists partly evaded their critics. In the music movement that no opposition whatsoever between the care for your own started to develop around 1970 – after these albums, contribution/experience and the responsibility for the oth- ers. This could be the beginning of a new society. (Persson & that is – the political to a high degree became confined Tidholm 1968:17, my translation) to the textual dimensions in music. If we return to Eyer- man’s and Jamison’s cognitive praxis, it is possible to in- That is, Persson and Tidholm clearly viewed musical terpret the work of the more text-oriented bands during structure, performance and society as tightly interwo- the consolidating years of the early 1970s as formulating ven, to the point that changes in musical performance a kind of organizational infrastructure: in their lyrics, and concepts at least symbolically could alter social rela- they explain the contradictions, conflicts and tensions tions and society at large. in class society, they point out hierarchies and give voice The records also build up interesting sonic environ- to marginalized and subaltern groups. In a similar vein, ments in themselves, perhaps mirroring Persson’s work one can describe the bands discussed in this article as formulating a cosmological dimension – one that rather

3 relates humans to the earth, the air and cosmos, than In her article portraying the journal Ta’ as a whole, Tania Ørum, sees it as a manifesto-oriented journal, from the statement of its relate workers to the means of production. For the mu- stance in its very first issue, and not least so in issue 6, where Persson sicians in these bands, the problems inherent to class and Tidholm were included (Ørum 2005).

Nätverket 2020: 22: 43–49 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 47 # “The beginning of a new society” Forms of politics in late 1960s Swedish alternative music society and to the anthropocentric worldview described it is soon too late and that it is man’s overexploitation in the opening quote, were inseparable. For the bands of nature that lies behind this situation, one utopic, that would formulate the organizational infrastructure, looking back to the roots, the earth and the simple life, the two were almost irreconcilable. which musically comes out as minimalism and folk- Music can be seen as politically active in a myriad like melodies. Bo Anders Persson, who introduced this of ways, from its force in creating senses of community article, would eventually follow through the entire way: through communal song or music-making, to lyrics with when touring Värmland in western Sweden in the late political messages or the use of sounds or melodies as 1960s, he along with two band members look up an al- comments on political issues. The bands discussed here ternative farmer that he has heard about in a radio show, were political in many ways. Their performances would Anders Björnsson. Björnsson, according to Persson an be more of communal efforts than idolized stars per- eloquent speaker, gets them all but maybe especially forming for a passive audience. In his book on the aes- Persson, hooked to his ideas, and assigns them a small thetic crossovers of the 1960s, critic and musician Leif piece of land that they can cultivate. Persson eventual- Nylén says about International Harvester’s Good Luck ly settles not far from Björnsson in rural Värmland and Show that it was “with its loose, open mix of rock music, begins to, in an almost orthodox manner, follow Björns- projected stills and dialogues (rather a party with partic- son’s ideas about “friendly farming”. It is from this point ipants than a show with an audience) an expression of of view that he can claim that this move was his “first the underground aesthetic…” (Nylén 1998:153). Their practical political standpoint” (cf above). On pictures music transcended the standardized pop format, with in the second issue of Huvudbladet (1972), they can be half-hour long repetitive and slowly changing songs, seen sowing along with Björnsson. In one sense then, and in that sense questioned the logic of music industry he had reached the logical endpoint of his political rea- itself. In their records, there are two strains to their “cos- soning: the only way onwards was to go out and practice mology”: one dystopic and almost alarmist sense that another attitude towards the environment.

INTERVIEWS Gartz, Thomas Mera 2011-09-26, Rågsved, 2h 34min. Persson, Bo Anders 2016-11-09, Likenäs, 2h 24min. Tidholm, Thomas 2018-03-27, Stockholm, 2h 7min.

MEDIA Wolay, Elena 2016. P2 Dokumentär: Bo Anders Persson – progglegend, minimalist och odlare. Radio documentary originally aired on Swedish radio P2, 2016-05-26. Huvudbladet, Stockholm, 1971-72. Musikens makt, Gothenburg, 1973-1980.

DISCOGRAPHY Harvester. Hemåt. Decibel Records DRS 3701, 1969. International Harvester. Sov gott Rose-Marie. Love Records LRLP5, 1968.

REFERENCES Arvidsson, Alf 2008. Musik och politik hör ihop. Diskussioner, ställningstagande och musikskapande 1965-1980. Hedemora: Gidlunds. Carson, Rachel 1962. Silent spring. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Eyerman, Ron & Andrew Jamison 1998. Music and social movements. Mobilizing traditions in the twentieth century. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.

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Hyltén-Cavallius, Sverker 2017. Progg: Utopia and Chronotope. In Alf Björnberg & Thomas Bossius (eds),Made in Sweden: studies in popular music. New York: Routledge. Nylén, Leif 1998. Den öppna konsten. Happenings, instrumental teater, konkret poesi och andra gränsöverskridningar i det svenska 60-talet. Stockholm: Sveriges allmänna konstförening. Persson, Bo Anders & Thomas Tidholm 1968. Om Terry Riley och vi andra.Ta’ , 6:15-17. Rasmusson, Ludvig 1968. International Harvester sjunger helst svenskt. Dagens Nyheter 1968-09-25:21. Sörbom, Adrienne 2002. Vart tar politiken vägen? Om individualisering, reflexivitet och görbarhet i det politiska engagemanget. Stockholm: Stockholms Universitet. Diss. Wiklund, Mats 2007. Ledare: Musikens makt. Proggen gjorde mig liberal. Dagens Nyheter 2007-07-26. Ørum, Tania. 2005. Tidsskriftet Ta’ Som Manifest. Passage – Tidsskrift for Litteratur Og Kritik, 20 (53). https://doi. org/10.7146/pas.v20i53.1423, downloaded 2018-10-02.

Sverker Hyltén-Cavallius is Associate Professor in ethnology and works as a research archivist at the Centre for Swedish Folk music and Jazz research (Svenskt visarkiv). His research has covered areas such as ageing and collective memory, affect and historiography in popular music networks, formations of natural history in popular culture, and the history of Swedish progressive music.

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“It’s about togetherness” The creation of culturallyAtt forska diverse om music ting venues in Sweden

JonasKatarina Ålander, Ek-NilssonÖrebro University

abstract In this study, preconditions for the creation of six culturally diverse music venues in Sweden are FÖREMÅLENidentified and discussedI MUSEISAMLINGARNA through the scope of “the logics För approach”. en utomstående The empirical kan startingdetta tyckas point ismärkligt, interviews och with eight organizers about the creation and maintenanceibland of their väcks music frågan, venues. vilket The har analysis hänt frånshows politikerhåll, that the I museernas magasin trängs föremålen. Rader av creation of the six venues emanates from ideas about eitherom changeinte museernas or preservation. samlingar The sourcekunde/borde of these ideasavyttras, spinnrockar, vagnar, möbler, mangelbräden etc. är can be traced to dislocations in social reality, such as socialnär exclusion nu alla föremål or vanishing ändå music inte visas, traditions. för att The skapa orga större- prydligt sorterade på hyllor i jättelika utrymmen. nizers work within complex networks where negotiationsresurser are continuously till verksamheten. needed to achieve and realize ideas Textilier ligger prydligt inpackade i syrafria silkespapper and how ethical principles, cohesion and music develops into ideals around which the venues arise. Finally, the Frågan kan tyckas både befogad och enkel men är och specialgjordacreation of the syrafria venues iskartonger. dominated Dyrbarheter by five constitutive som preconditions: patrons; yields; valuations of diversity; i själva verket komplicerad, av bland andra följande silver,ethical smycken, ideals; konstföremål, and community men cohesion. också mer triviala vardagsföremål, skyddas av allehanda säkerhetsåtgärder.1 skäl: Museet har en gång tagit emot föremålen som donationer eller som inköp från, i de flesta fall, När ett föremål – det må vara ett ordinärt vardagsföremål privatpersoner. Man får utgå från att de som skänkt som tidigare har hanterats dagligen i egenskap av INTRODUCTION ellerabout sålt music föremålen, and migration liksom museets take on representanter, the topic through har bruksföremål – blir ett museiföremål så genomgår åsatt dem ett kulturhistoriskt värde. Museet har påtagit “Thisdet samtidigt is the place; en metamorfos.this is where Detthe festivalblir inte should längre be different themes such as places, journeys, subjectivity, sigidentity, ett ansvar hybridity att påand bästa musical sätt change.bevara föremålenEthnic groups, för held!”möjligt The att commentvidröra utan is uttered att man by tara concertpå sig särskildaorganizer framtiden, så långt det är möjligt, och det vore därför individual musicians, music genres or ensembles are duringbomullsvantar a nightly ochwalk detwhen får passing inte längre a special användas place. Itför is oetiskt att avyttra dem. precededsitt ursprungliga by a myriad ändamål. of thoughts, Vispen experiences får inte mera and vispa, pro- common starting points in these studies (e.g. Aparico Om museerna skulle börja avyttra sina föremål så skulle cesses,mobiltelefonen but before intea musical längre event sms:as is realizedmed. En both gräns prac har- & Jáquez 2003; Gebesmair & Smudits 2001; Krüger & passerats i föremålets livslopp, en ny status och en allmänhetensTrandafoiu 2013; förtroende Toynbee för & museerna Dueck 2011). sannolikt skadas. tical and intellectual tasks must first be attended to. In Museer gör inga ekonomiska värderingar av föremål, särskild magi har laddat föremålet. För en utomstående However, unlike studies about migrants’ musics, thiskan particular det förefalla case, både the festivalegendomligt was eventually och komiskt held attat för att inte bidra till marknadsmässiga bedömningar there is less research about aesthetic practices connected “thedet place”,som nyss but hördewhat madetill exempelvis the musical en eventfamiljs possible högst och spekulationer, och kan därför inte gå in i en andvanliga which köksutrustning preconditions plötsligtwere there måste to realize behandlas it? med försäljningsverksamhet.to integration-related topics Museiföremåls (Martiniello värde 2015). är helt Studies och störstaIn this varsamhet study, interviewsför att den withförvärvats eight avorganizers ett museum. are hålletabout kulturhistoriska,migrants’ participation inte ekonomiska. in music practicesEkonomiskt tend analyzedSkillnaden for themellan purpose en porslinsurnaof identifying frånand articulating1700-talet ärto alltsåcome ettback museiföremål to two themes: i princip obstacles inte värtof participation något alls, constitutiveoch en plastbunke preconditions från 2000-taletsof culturally IKEA diverse är musici det eftersomand strategies det aldrig to overcome kommer thoseut på enobstacles. marknad. The main venuesmuseologiska in Sweden. sammanhanget A common upphävt. denominator was the Museiföremålobstacle is ethnic utgör and källmaterial racial discrimination, för forskning. but a Vilka disbe - pronouncedCirka 1% av inclusion museernas of föremålssamlingar participants associated brukar withvara föremållief of migrants’ som skulle musical kunna qualifications avvaras kan is intealso aavgöras, reason of “migration”utställda. Procenten and “cultural ändrar diversity”. visserligen This innehåll was varteftermanifes- eftersomhindrance. vi A intetypical vet strategy vilka frågor for migrants som kommer to overcome att tedbasutställningar for instance when byggs organizers om, föremål actively ställs utsearched i tillfälliga for blithese relevanta problems för is framtidato emphasize kulturhistorisk stereotypical forskning. attributes Visserligen kan idag endast ett urval ur dagens migratedutställningar performers, eller lånas when ut till a andra venue museers had outspoken utställningar, in- and thereby “meet expectations” (Sievers 2014; for an men faktum kvarstår att vid varje givet ögonblick är föremålshav göras – allt kan inte sparas – men de tegration-related aims, or (but then as a consequence) example, see Carstensen-Egwuom 2011). Migrants’ par- det en mycket liten del av den totala föremålsskatten tidigare urval som föregångarna på museerna har gjort ticipative conditions in cultural institutions in Sweden whensom ära venuetillgänglig was situatedi utställningsform. in an area Digitaltwith a ökarhigh en gång måste respekteras, eftersom de gjordes med numbertillgängligheten of migrated successivt residents. genom Because att of föremålsfotontheir common utgångspunkthave been scarcely i den studied tidens andvetenskapliga previous results intressen. demon- 2 strate clear similarities with the above-mentioned denominatorpubliceras på the många venues museers in this hemsidor, study are mencalled närheten “cultu- Befintliga museisamlingar måste hållas intakta för att kunna themes (Feiler 2010; Kulturanalys Norden 2017; Pripp rallyoch diverse”.tillgången The till museernasnotion “venue” samlingar is typically är ändå defined begränsad as a bilda utgångspunkt för museivetenskaplig forskning, det spaceför allmänheten, where organized trots att events ”tillgängliggörande” of specific types har are högsta held, vill2006; säga Pripp, forskning Plisch om & museer Werner (inte 2005). bara påHowever, museer). these suchprioritet as concerts, i museernas conferences, verksamhet. or sports competitions. studies were not merely focused on music institutions 1 and events, but on culture in a broad aesthetic meaning. Thus, Jag avser a härmusic professionella venue is anmuseer organized som finansieras event medwhere offentliga music FÖREMÅL SOM KULTURPRODUKTER ismedel performed. och har utbildad personal, och bortser helt från allehanda Music event organizers are frequently mentioned in privata eller kommersiella samlingar som kallar sin verksamhet Föremålen har i etnologisk mening sin betydelse som ”museum”Migrants men andsom imusic själva isverket a well-established inte uppfyller de areakrav ofpå studies about diasporic cultural production, but seldom produkter av kultur. Detta innebär alltså att föremål eller research.professionell Many museiverksamhet studies about som migrants’ ställts upp avmusical den internationella practices the main object of study. This is a serious lack, since the museiorganisationen ICOM (International Council of Museums). andra fysiska företeelser inte i sig själva utgör ”kultur”. focus2 on specific sounding elements or the performative process of creation of a music venue is comprised of in- Se till exempel www.digitaltmuseum.se, där flera svenska museer För att förstå vad som menas med detta påstående måste actvisar per delar se (Nettl av sina 2015,föremåls- Sievers och fotosamlingar. 2014). Several anthologies viformation först försöka about förklara guidelines, kulturbegreppet. negotiations and beliefs in a

NätverketNätverket 2016:2020: 22:20: 51–622–7 ISSN:ISSN: 1651-0593 1651-0593 512 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/http://natverket.etnologi.uu.se # “It’s about togetherness”. The creation of culturally diverse music venues in Sweden venues’ existence – in other words constitutive precondi- various locations within a city limits, often in segregated tions. And the reasons an organizer may have for creating areas, and the network functioned as a “spatial hub” for a music venue and the particular ways of making it its participants, meaning their activities were coordina- happen arguably determine the participative conditions ted and supported by the network (Kiwan & Meinhof of the venue. Thus, the aim of this study is to identify 2011). and articulate preconditions relevant for the creation of The fourth type of venue in this study is the concert these music venues. To accomplish this, the theoretical stage or music club. In contrast to the network, this model called “the logics approach”, introduced by Jason venue is situated at a specific location designed to stage Glynos and David Howarth (2007), is implemented. In- concerts and other artistic performances. terviews with eight organizers in Sweden are analyzed utilizing Glynos’ and Howarth’s “logics” as the principal THE ORGANIZER notion to clarify the construction of organization “prac- The focus of this study is those in charge of the venues tices” that precondition culturally diverse music venues – the “organizers”. Organizers are sometimes called di- in Sweden. rectors, managers or leaders, depending on the organi- zational structure of the venue they represent. Venues MUSIC VENUES are generally structured as a network of persons with Four types of music venues are represented in this study: similar interests, with leading positions commonly the music festival, the music camp, the network, and the occupied by one or two individuals who express strong music stage. Music festivals are generally larger events enthusiasm, initiate activities and energize other partici- with multiple performances, often created around a pants (Lundberg, Malm & Ronström 2000). These en- specific theme. Characteristic of festivals is a multiplic- thusiasts are usually “known by everyone”, although not ity of cultural expressions and the possibility of “dis- everyone in a network may know each other. The notion covery”. That is, festivals supposedly function as venues of “human hubs” is useful when thinking about an or- where the audience and performers get an opportunity ganizer in this way (Glick Schiller & Meinhof 2011; to meet new people and cultural expressions. Festivals Kiwan & Meinhof 2011). thus provide spaces for its participants where an ela- The basic task of an organizer is to gather people in borated awareness of the unknown is possible through the same place at the same time. The process is complex cultural and social interaction (Connell & Gibson 2014; and involves finding appropriate artists, preparing a see also Dowd, Liddle & Nelson 2004). However, the scene, advertising, delegating responsibilities and finding contents of these learning spaces are partly limited by its funds. The work of an organizer often involves nego- creators’ aims. Festivals can therefore also be perceived as “instruments for control of musical and cultural resour- tiations and struggles of economical, ideological and ces, as well of the aestethics [sic], ethics, values, symbols, practical nature. Financing the venues is one of the most representations etc. of the presented musics” (Ronström important practical tasks, but handling and developing 2001:62; see also Taylor 2017 for a critical discussion strategies for social relations, laws and policies are also about “World Music Festivals”). crucial. The tasks vary according to the size of the event Music camps also function as spaces of explora- and might involve several people, thus positioning the tion and development, much like festivals but on a more organizer as a member of a collective or social network individual level, since the audience of the music camps (Kaijser 2007). usually consists of its performers. By sharing a confined As a consequence of their control over economical, time and space, camps provide possibilities for its parti- material and ideological resources organizers are some- cipants to develop musical skills through musical inter- times described as “gatekeepers” (Lundberg, Malm & action. Social development is another important part of Ronström 2000). However, venues that engage migrant a music camp, as living together allows the participants participants are often financed by associations and orga- to challenge and develop both collective and individual nizations with explicit integration policies. This means identifications (Zelensky 2014). that the organizer’s freedom to create music events ac- The word venue is often associated with a physical cording to their own ideas, and thus act as autonomous space, but in the case of the network-venue the focus gatekeepers, is often limited (Carstensen-Egwuom lies more within the activity than the actual place of 2011; for illustrative examples, see Gibert 2011, and the activity. The music performances were carried out in Gibson 2013).

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A LOGICS APPROACH TO MUSIC VENUES describe relations, processes and circumstances in a nor- To identify and articulate constitutive preconditions for mative, yet regulatory and determining, manner. the creation of the music venues, the concepts of “logics” Political logics can, as opposed to social logics, be and “practices” are implemented with reference to the thought of as diachronic and are manifested through theoretical frame called the “logics approach” (Glynos & the organizers’ accounts of the venues’ historicity. Po- Howarth 2007). The approach is an elaborate way of op- litical logics show how antagonistic frontiers within erationalizing the discourse theoretic framework estab- practices become successively strengthened or weakened lished by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe (2001).1 as a result of changes in elements (e.g. beliefs, activi- In this study, six particular venues are regarded as a ties and other circumstances) concerning the practice in singular music practice. By definition, a practice is either question. When there are more similar elements, they social or political, although it may change from one to strengthen the frontier as there appears to be a common the other over time. Social practices are characterized by goal worthy of contesting. If elements become dissimi- routine, normativity and they are seldom questioned by lar, they weaken the frontier, and the need to contest the their practitioners. On the contrary, political practices frontier vanishes. The organization of elements, as either “comprise struggles that seek to challenge and transform similar or dissimilar, makes it possible to identify the the existing norms, institutions and practices […] in emergence, transformation and preservation of practices the name of an ideal or principle” (Glynos & Howarth (Glynos & Howarth 2007). 2007:105). Political practices can therefore be conceived The third type of logic is the fantasmatic. Fan- as the opposite to social practices, as they are conscious tasmatic logics show how ideas grip subjects, indicat- 2 and responsive. ing why subjects act and are involved in practices. The The concept of “logics” refers to “the purposes, rules notion of fantasy is understood as a motivational force and ontological presuppositions that render a practice behind processes of transformation and preservation or regime possible and intelligible” (Glynos & Howarth within practices (Glynos 2008; Glynos & Howarth 2007:15). When a practice is analyzed using logics’, it 2007). Social reality, as experienced by subjects, is filled is thus possible to both describe it and “to capture the by actions that derive from, or are nurtured by, narratives various conditions that make that practice ‘work or promising change or perpetuation. These promises come ‘tick’” (Glynos & Howarth 2007:15). The concept can in different shapes, either as beatific promises suggesting be thought of as a theoretical device that accounts for that “if we do this then this will happen”, or as horrific different aspects of practices’ preconditions. Three types promises which imply that “if we do not do this, this will of logics can be distinguished: social, political and fan- happen”. Related to the creation of the venues, fantas- tasmatic. matic logics accommodate organizers reasons and ideas Social logics captures governing rules of practices, in which name they are committed to their tasks. providing an overview of the present. Rules of a practice The three logics should not be viewed independent- are not understood as reified entities with subsumptive ly of each other. For example, a social logic of a practice qualities, but rather as normative patterns of social rela- does not make any sense unless it is articulated together tions. Social logics operates in synchronic fashion and with political and fantasmatic logics. In other words, a makes it possible to characterize practices in terms of practice always accommodates the three types of logics, typical contents, relations and processes. They are always which combine and form an overarching tripartite logic contextual but not bound to specific contexts and situ- of the practice. As this complex logic thus contains ations as they can also be patterns of thoughts, allowing aspects of a practice’s what, how and why, it makes it for contextual and situational overlaps. Social logics of possible to identify and articulate, in this case, music the music venues become apparent when the organizers venues’ preconditions. 1 The approach rests on the ontological presuppositions that “all practices and regimes are discursive entities” and that “any field of DESIGN OF THE STUDY discursive social relations is marked by radical contingency” (Glynos & Howarth 2007:109, See further discussion in, Laclau 1990, 1996, The selection of venues in this study was based on two 2005, Laclau & Mouffe 2001, Marchart 2004). main criteria; first that music, in all its diversity, was 2 The concept of “the political” is “not restricted to the ongoing a primary activity; and second that the venues were practices of politics within a pre-defined set of institutional forms. Instead, it concerns the contestation and ‘radical institution’ of social publicly presented as inclusive of participants associated relations through acts or decisions” (Glynos & Howarth 2007:113f ). with migration or cultural diversity.

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To find relevant participants, an overview of poten- ing, but were still recognized as fundamental. The tasks tial music venues in Sweden was initially achieved with included both simpler everyday paperwork and com- the use of Google. The outcome was thereafter scruti- munication as well as more complex processes such as nized in relation to the second criterium. To avoid po- dealing with laws, policies and financial matters. tential identification of the participants, venues located Financing was always a decisive issue for the venues’ in smaller cities were excluded. Hence, six venues were existence and one of the most frequent talking points. located among the top 15 most populated areas in None of the venues were economically self-supportive. Sweden. However, it can be assumed that they are rep- Instead they were all dependent on grants and other resentative for a larger number of similar venues. financial contributions. The accumulation of financial Once the venues were selected, potential partici- backing was generally fragmented, with multiple con- pants were contacted in order to arrange interviews. In tributors. Governmental subsidies, through municipal all, six interviews were carried out with eight partici- authorities, were most common, but private (very rare) pants. Two of the interviews were conducted with two and corporate actors also appeared. individuals, upon request by the organizers in question The importance of financial matters required the as they worked closely together. Of the eight partici- organizers to adapt to different situations in order to pants, four were female and four were male. Age varied obtain funding and this task related significantly to the between early twenties to mid-sixties. Three of the par- venues’ organizational structure. Most of the venues were ticipants also worked as professional musicians, primar- administered as non-profit associations, a type of go- ily with traditional (“Nordic”) music. Three participants vernment supported fellowship. According to two of the considered themselves having a migration background. organizers this structure was necessary to raise certain The latter three worked mainly with “popular music” in governmental funding (cf. Kaijser 2007), although a broad sense. they both reportedly would have preferred to manage The interviews were conducted over telephone, in the venues privately since it would have been less bu- offices, and in private homes. They lasted approximately reaucratic and therefor easier to handle. The organizers two to three hours and were digitally recorded. The par- whose venues were not non-profit associations, tried to ticipants were informed about research ethics, including obtain governmental funding by creating temporary as- how the recordings would be stored and used, that they sociations or using closely associated associations. Some were not to be identified and that their participation was of the venues were part of larger organizations, a kind voluntary and could be withdrawn at any time. of semi-independence, which meant that they obtained The interviews were semi-structured, the questions partial funding from their parent organizations. following a relatively strict script, following the tripar- It is compulsory for non-profitable associations in tite logics of practice – bearing in mind that the object Sweden to have written statutes where purposes, internal of study is the discursively structured music practice, not rules and activities of the associations’ must be declared. the participants’ opinions of it – while simultaneously The organizers relation to statutes and other similar providing for the participants to elaborate their answers. regulative documents were a bit ambiguous. When the The semi-structured interviews also allowed the inter- topic was discussed during the interviews, one organizer viewer to venture outside the script when needed, to said “there are some [statutes], but they don’t really say follow up answers (Kvale & Brinkmann 2014). anything”, whereas another remarked “I had to start an association to be able to pursue those funds”. These kinds LOGICS OF CULTURALLY of administrative errands were expressed as confusing DIVERSE MUSIC VENUES and frustrating because of their lack of clear frames and In the following, the interviews are analyzed to identify instructions. Statutes were thus often perceived as a ne- and articulate constitutive preconditions of the music cessary evil since they simultaneously enabled the orga- practice. The three types of logics are applied to account nizers to obtain important funding. for the what, how and why of the practice. Regulative entities and processes, such as financing and statutes, are assembled within what can be described Sponsorships and regulations – social logic of patronage as a social logic of “Patronage”. Patrons refers to subjects Many tasks that characterize the organizers work were who support and somehow care about the venues and expressed by the participants as restricting and exhaust- its participants. Patrons could for example be indivi- duals, organizations or their representatives. The logic

Nätverket 2020: 22: 51–62 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 54 Ålander, J. # of patronage emphasizes how dependent these venues reason was the possibility to contract more well-known were of their patrons, and the governing patterns they and thereby generally also more expensive artists. For created. Without patrons, the existence of the venues the camp organizers, participation fees were perceived would have come into question. Patrons can therefore as problematic since they implied an exclusion of parti- be said to partially govern the venues by instituting cipants based on their financial situation. So instead of constitutive norms and rules, which can be perceived as rejecting young musicians, the organizers of the camp frames within which organizers work. These frames are tried to solve this problem, when possible, by helping however not particularly clear and therefore also enable youths to find funds in other ways. This was typically a sort of freedom, opening the possibility for the organi- carried out through collaborations with other organiza- zers to set their own policies within the venues, creating tions that cherished the music camps activities. a sort of space within a space. An absence of patrons Arguments against entrance fees were mainly based was never discussed or mentioned. This further supports on ideas of freedom and unlimited accessibility, some- the normativity of their presence, which thereby can be thing that would be reduced if fees were introduced. concluded as a constitutive precondition during the con- Fees would also lead to more regulations surrounding struction of the music practice. The logic of patronage the venues, something the organizers wished to avoid. additionally shows how organizers are members of col- They explained that with money comes more rules, lectives (Kaijser 2007), but also that this membership is regulations and demands on control and security and neither optional nor on equal terms. This is important thereby costs. Since these venues already were financial- when their positions and actions are scrutinized as it ly vulnerable, fees were therefore not an option – even though they could have provided important funding. elaborates the understanding of and reasons for specific However, all funders were not welcome as there decisions. were ethical and political aspects to take into consid- Yields – political logic of capital covenants eration. This related to whether potential funder’s ideas about a venue correlated with its organizer’s or not. One The support from patrons mainly consisted of economic organizer expressed a responsibility toward foundational resources, but there were also other forms of capital, ideas and grass root members of the venue, summing such as the provision of music equipment and stages, it up by saying “you shouldn’t go to the dark side to marketing and “helping hands” were also ways of sup- get money”. In this case the Coca Cola Company was porting the venues. However, along with the support discussed as an example of a funder that was rejected, came demands of yields. During the creation of the even though they would have provided essential con- venues, these demands became sites of negotiation, or tributions. The reason of rejection, and naming as “the frontiers, where organizers and patrons met to decide dark side”, was based on narratives of oppressive acts a venues’ conditions. Such negotiations were seldom carried out towards native societies throughout the on equal terms, rather there was an imbalance where Latin Americas. Another organizer expressed similar patrons seemed to have an advantage since they were considerations when the musical content of the venue scarce. But, as double as it might seem, this is where the had to be slightly changed because of a funder’s ethical organizers had a possibility to change terms. After all, it principles. This was demanded if funding was to be was still negotiations where organizers had the oppor- obtained. The patron provided generous contributions tunity to say “well, we can include that if you provide and the organizer decided to listen to the funder and get this” and so on. The processes described ended up in the much-needed financial support instead of keeping agreements, here assembled within the political logic the musical ideals of the venue untouched. of “Capital Covenants”. Two particular sites of negoti- At both frontiers, the antagonistic relation in focus ations were identified within this logic: fees and funders. was complex and basically consisted of on one side “fi- Various kinds of fees were discussed during all the nancial matters” and on the other the venues “main ac- interviews, but the stage and the music camp were the tivities”. The negotiations were preceded by wishes to only venues that applied fees for their participants. The either change or to sustain the status of the practice, stage organizer explained entrance fees as something which exemplifies how political and fantasmatic logics thoroughly necessary and mentioned two main reasons. connect and overlap. In the second example, the fantas- The first was the high costs of running the venue, which matic horrific promise, or threat, of a possible exclusion included rent, wages and other expenses. The second of musical content was used against the organizer as an

Nätverket 2020: 22: 51–62 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 55 # “It’s about togetherness”. The creation of culturally diverse music venues in Sweden argument in the negotiation of a venue’s aesthetic orien- P – Yeah, or like they don’t really interfere with us because tation. Both examples also highlight the double position they are a bit scared also, because it’s a bit abnormal, it’s a bit “off the record”, so they get nervous because everyone wants organizers hold, where they must consider both external to be mainstream, which we are not, somehow they are at- (patrons) and internal (grass root members) demands. tracted to it, the multicultural, they are drawn to it but can’t The recurring presence of these frontiers indicates their really handle it, so they want to stay in the background and importance to the venues’ formation. The normative they don’t want to have their name there, they get scared, so we are the wildcards in this town. perception of patrons’ presence is thus complemented with the political logic, which exemplifies how negotia- This suggests that the municipal administration tions takes place and on which terms (e.g. Gibert 2011; somehow benefited from the festivals inclusion in their Gibson 2013). cultural program, likely by being able to officially show Bureaucratic encounters – political logic of depiction an act of inclusive cultural policy. However, the funding granted to the venue was always less than asked for and Related to the discussion regarding financial matters, the reduction of funds can be interpreted as an expres- another arena in which the organizers frequently needed 3 sion of “We like this, and it makes us look good, but we to negotiate, was in the field of politics. The organizers do not want too much of it”, which would indicate the relationship with policies and politics, often represented importance of “the multicultural” as a frontier of nego- by politicians, was generally strained. They testified of tiation. problems of being taken seriously by politicians when The second example refers to the network venue, discussing their venues activities and contents and ex- where the majority of the participants themselves were pressed an implicit hostility, or sense of antagonistic po- migrants or had a migration background. The organizer, sitioning, where notions such as ethnicity and diversity who also was immigrated, discussed meetings with poli- seemed to function as main sites of struggle. This was ticians and other people in similar positions with power exemplified in three accounts during the interviews. over possible funding. The first example refers to when the organizers perceived that their festival was presented as an “exotic P – I went there to see them, I even brought some parti- attraction” in a regional culture activity brochure. Most cipants so that they could explain what the venue is really about, but we didn’t get either a stage or funds, so I ended up of the other activities in the brochure promoted (pre- paying with my own money. sumably) highly educated musicians and performers, who played western classical music, jazz and to some I – Why do you think you didn’t get any support? part Nordic traditional music. The organizers believed their own festival differed significantly from the rest P – I don’t know really, but I think it’s about, it’s like nobody of the events, in the way that they focused extensive- [politicians] believes in real things, serious things like this, people just back off […] all they read about is bad things ly on minority groups music, but also included reggae, like cars set on fire, damage, mischief and drugs, and then hip-hop and “world” music. And therefore, they thought they forget about the good that also is there, so the focus that they were included in the brochure because they probably… represented something “different” and diverse. The fol- lowing excerpt regards when they discussed potential The spirit and interest in the venue shown by officials support from the municipal administration. was constantly optimistic and encouraging, although funding was rarely guaranteed at the outset. On a few P – I don’t think politicians know what we are doing, they occasions the organizer set up concerts and music work- just “ok yeah that sounds good”. shops partly by using private funds, in addition to other organizations that sponsored with for example a stage, I – Is that because the festival seems to represent something diverse, which is regarded as inherently “good”? sound equipment or a showground. Only after these events had taken place, was the organizer able to raise further funding from the municipal administration in

3 order to continue the same or similar activities. Notice here the difference between “the political” discussed above (note 2) and “politics”. In this section politics and politicians refers I – So you had to prove yourself somehow to gain to the latter, “the set of practices and institutions through which an trust? order is created” (Mouffe 2005:9) and to those who professionally serve those institutions and practices.

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P – Yes, all the time, especially when it comes to people with failure to understand and handle “other(s)” traditions a foreign background, one has to prove and prove all the (ideas), contrary to one’s own, in relation to what it for time, and in proving people lose hope, because it feels like it’s never sufficient. example means to perform on a stage or to participate in a music venue. Treated as a logic of depiction, organizers A third example of similar interaction with government are, in these instances, sometimes doing the very same officials was stated by another festival organizer. In this thing they criticize for example politicians and media case the organizer discussed the experience of how the for, when complaining over being depicted wrongly. As suburb, where the festival was held, was generally nega- shown, the logic of depiction was certainly present and tively depicted in mainstream media (on media coverage important during the creation of the music venues, as it of migrants and music, see Ålander & Volgsten, forth- affected decisions made by both politicians and organi- coming). This affected the organizers’ work and meant zers. But if this argument is turned around and viewed a loss of credibility because the area represented was from an artists’ perspective, it would provide a conceiv- highly segregated and associated with unemployment, able explanation to some of those participatory obstacles crime and social problems. The case has similarities with presented in previous research regarding exclusion and the two previous examples. Firstly, to represent a segre- disbelief in musical skills (cf. Pripp 2006; Sievers 2014). gated area or activity that presumably includes several Spreading the word migrated participants, and secondly how “diversity” is – fantasmatic logic of enlightenment described as an uncomfortable but crucial theme during discussions with political representatives. This shows When discussing the reasons for the venues’ creation, similarities to Feiler’s (2010) study, how participants ex- the dominant idea among the organizers was about a perienced contacts with authorities regarding support, musical space where unity, freedom and diversity was especially when they were immigrated. cherished, closely articulated with ideas of solidarity The music stage and camp organizers also labelled and democracy. This musical space offered an opportu- negotiations with politicians as tiresome. However, nity for its participants to become “enlightened” and to the reason for their grievances was not based on social learn how to be good citizens and to behave themselves aspects, but on what they perceived as politicians’ lack of towards others in the name of ideals like “equality”, recognition of certain musics as important (more about “peace” and “acceptance”. The venues were perceived as this below). spaces where such an act could be accomplished, spaces Due to issues of negotiations that were seemingly where prejudices could be challenged, especially when based on portrayals, rumors and tales, the examples above artists from various cultures performed at the same can now be assembled within a political logic of “Depic- venue. A wide representation of many cultures was ex- tion”. The organizers struggled against undesirable at- pressed in appreciative terms as something intrinsically tributes in combination with the tiresome job of raising “good” and “positive”. A propagation of such ideals was funds to music related activities. However, organizers desired, an action which was assumed to be realizable sometimes also found themselves on the other side of through the creation of a music venue. the frontier in this logic, which is related to the collabo- One example of when participants got the chance ration between organizers and performers. Problematic to learn about “other” cultures was at the music camp. situations had occurred when organizers approached, The overall idea of the camp was to bring young (tradi- or were approached by, representatives of specific tional) musicians, with diverse backgrounds, together to ethnic groups’ leaders, musicians or dancers. These si- play music and to share musical as well as social aspects tuations were demonstrated through fortified diasporic of life. The intention was to learn about cultural differ- networks, absent performances and disagreements over ences as something interesting and inherently good, as payment. Because of the conflicts, organizers in some well as to further develop musical skills. One of the or- cases ceased to cooperate with certain ethnic groups. ganizers explained Some of the critique of the groups was explained by … and the idea then about the camp, is some kind of equal- the organizers as a clash of “different cultural manners”. ity, democracy, everyone’s equal worth as well, and to see Such an argument can be seen as a result of a prolonged that we are all quite alike and have a lot in common, and the process of failure, where the organizer has repeatedly felt differences we have become a wonderful spice. let down. But it can also be interpreted as the organizers

Nätverket 2020: 22: 51–62 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 57 Originally, the idea of the camp was more on the musical the venues’ existence. The party and its associates thus side, but the social aspects became increasingly central. curiously seemed to function as an accelerating and mo- Learning about values and how to interact with other tivating force for the organizers to continue their work. people became equally important to the elaboration of The logic of enlightenment expands the organizers musical skills. role, which no longer only is to gather people in a certain The other venues also held educational aspects. time and space. The logic adds and highlights constitu- They were not discussed at length, however when men- tive ideas used by the organizers to justify the creation tioned they were quite specific. The students were the of their music venues. Democratic and inclusive views audience, the wider society or the artists, sometimes all. are prominent, however only as long as they are in con- In the name of the ideals mentioned above, the audience sonance with the organizers’ own. This emphasizes the needed to be shown “other cultures expressions” and the power organizers hold to, for example, to select desired artists were educated in how to “be themselves” as well performers, and it shows how the organizers position as how to be “artists”. themselves as patrons and consequently must take ex- Given the contingent state of all social relations cluding decisions – after all, not everyone is welcome. (Glynos & Howarth 2007), the ideals could be thought The reasoning supports the statements about festival or- of as keys to what these venues strived to represent and ganizers power positions (Ronström 2001, Taylor 2017), capture. It suggests that these ethical principles of life in but extends here to other types of venues than festivals, some way were regarded as missing and therefore were which separates the ideals from the physical venues. This needed to be “found” – with the creation of the venues can thus be viewed as an example of when organizers as a result. These voids could be understood as the or- are driven by cultural and political motifs when creating ganizers’ perceptions of the reasons some or many of a music venue (cf. Lundberg, Malm & Ronström 2000). the venues’ participants were anticipated to be excluded Fortified communities from the wider society, mostly because of their migrant – fantasmatic logic of togetherness background. And as inclusiveness was a leading notion amongst the organizers – the venues thus offered a One of the most common purposes of the venues was the chance for this “expected” exclusion to be altered. elaboration of social relations and processes in related Nevertheless, the ideals discussed above were “communities”. However, the limits of these communi- strongly linked to participative conditions. These ties were not clearly defined, but commonly associated regarded both aesthetic qualities and a sort of ideologi- with geographical areas such as neighborhoods or cities, cal coherence with the “venue’s ideas”, and were found in ethnic or national belonging or musical interest. statements like “if you are to perform on this stage your The idea of a “strong community” was explicitly ex- message has to be good”, ”as long as the artists communi- pressed by the organizers of the network and the three cate something good and positive, they can perform” and festival venues. Their accounts referred to ideas and ex- “if you are a good performing group that we want, then periences of problematic circumstances in the areas in we usually help out”. But at the same time the slogan which the venues took place. One shared purpose of repeated over and over was “the venue is for everybody, these four venues was to direct the focus of both its par- everyone is welcome”. Against this proclamation, it was ticipants and news media “somewhere else”. This else- clear that the presence of representatives from the right- where was the areas and activities of the venues. wing political party Sverigedemokraterna (SD), some- Two of these festival venues were situated in times described as a (culturally) racist and populist party suburban areas that were heavily associated with social (Berggren & Neergaard 2013), were not tolerated at the problems, crime and segregation. The organizers ex- venues. The party was mentioned by all the organizers, pressed how the areas always were depicted in negative and several times as a threat to the venues existence and ways and that news about these places always were about implicitly thought of as an embodiment of the excluding crime, drugs and other adverse occurrences. The festivals processes which the venues partly were created to fight overarching purposes was to bring the residents of the against. Related to the organizers’ desire to be inclusive areas together as well as to generate positive news. They and welcoming, this is contradictory. However, the men- stressed the importance of community solidarity time tioning of SD as a threat to the venues signals a fan- after time by saying that the festivals were for and by the tasmatic promise, which if not obeyed would threaten citizens of the specific and similar areas, the communi- Ålander, J. # ties. “This is for us” was the typical expression, with an mood or mode changer. Music could function as a help emphasis on “us”, often followed by “by us” to further through the day by its ability to provide the possibility fortify the sense of belonging. Similar reasoning was also to express feelings, but also to arouse feelings, as music expressed by the organizers of the network-venue and could be calming, energizing or even become, as one or- the third festival, but the difference was the limits of ganizer said, “a gateway to somewhere else”. the communities. In both cases the communities were The second thought about music was as a tool for scattered over various parts of the cities and bound social and professional interaction. This included ideas together only by its participants (rather than by geo- of music as a tool for engagement, integration, commu- graphical proximity), who in majority were described nication and unification. This idea about music was ex- as diverse and immigrated. But the motivational idea, pressed as a reason for the creation of the venues when or fantasmatic promise, was similar at the four venues; they were to function as spaces for social elaboration. a thought of dislocated communities whose members In all but one of the venues (the camp) a clear aim was were longing for a better life or at least some sort of im- to provide the participants with the means to perform, provement and meaningfulness. A community member- or at least provide for the possibility to expose them ship thus seemed to be a way to achieve change, which self, for the community or wider society. The social en- as such would provide a shared point of cohesion. “It’s counter was about making friends and getting to know about togetherness” as one of the organizers concluded. new people with a shared interest. The professional in- A music venue meant that community members could teraction was instead about broadening professional come together, at least momentarily, to enjoy music, networks, meeting other professionals and finding new dance and art instead of thinking about poverty, racism possibilities for work. and other social issues. The final aspect of what music meant or what At the final two venues, the camp and the scene, the purpose it had, was as an object or a tradition. The idea community was principally represented by those who of keeping certain music alive was very important in shared the interest in traditional music. But here the conjunction with the venues’ creation and continued communities and their members already seemed united survival. A split between music genres was apparent- and the fortification was instead needed to prevent the ly related to this as only the organizers of venues that communities from dissipating. focused on traditional music were the ones who talked Overall, the logic of “togetherness” assembles or- about this. The organizers uttered grievances about ganizers’ ideas about cohesion as a constitutive precon- politicians’ failure to understand the importance of the dition in which name the venues were created, even music genre (in a broad sense). Here is a connection to though the shape of its manifestation, here referred to as the political logic of depiction and an example of why communities, varied. organizers at times experienced negotiations with politi- cians as tiresome. In this case, because the idea of music Emotions, social elaboration and differed so extensively that the actual site of negotiation music traditions – a fantasmatic logic of music? became unclear. In addition to the fantasmatic logics of enlightenment An overall “fantasmatic logic of music” is difficult and togetherness, the organizers´ beliefs in and ideas to capture because of the diverse notions of music. But about music related to the creation of the music venues despite the lack of coherence between the different ideas should be mentioned. Music is, after all, that which ties of music, it is important to remember that the main these venues together as a music practice. However, activity of the venues was music. Nevertheless, the in- “music” was understood in various ways, generally as a consistent definitions also show that the venues were tool or vehicle. The variety of ideas about music makes not exclusively about music. The inclusion of “music” it difficult to name a singular “logic of music”, but there was obviously important to all the organizers as a consti- were three aspects of the concept that dominated: an in- tutive idea, but it appeared as an indistinct center around dividual, a social and a musical. All three aspects were which different meanings and processes took place. So simultaneously present among the organizers, although instead of becoming its own logic, “music” is better incor- more or less emphasized. porated as an integral part of other logics. For example, First the individual aspect, where different emo- the ideas of music as a tool for integration, communi- tional references were expressed depicting music as a cation and unification is better located within the logic

Nätverket 2020: 22: 51–62 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 59 # “It’s about togetherness”. The creation of culturally diverse music venues in Sweden of togetherness, since the main idea to follow was social political rather than social, since the principal purpose change rather than a specific music experience. And the of the practice is to change prevailing social hegemon- individual aspect of music could be located within the ic structures (cf. Glynos & Howarth 2007). The belief logic of enlightenment. That is because the possibility to in music’s transformative power also contributes to the evolve as an artist or person at a venue seemed more im- creation of the practice. But the self-evident presence of portant than the music listened to or played by the artist. music in the practice and the difficulty of naming a logic However, at the two venues that mainly included of music means that music instead represents social, traditional music, the idea about music was more central. rather than political, aspects of the otherwise political In these two cases a fantasmatic logic of “music” could practice. In other words, it is not music that is political, be applicable because one of the main purposes of these it is the practice in which the music sounds. venues was to preserve and maintain a special kind of Standing out in regard to the creation of these par- music, or musical tradition, the existence of which ticular venues are the two articulated fantasmatic logics seemed threatened in a horrific manner. The organizers’ and how the notion of diversity affects the process of passion for this music was thus crucial for the “ticking” creation. The dependence of patrons and the struggle for of those two venues and could therefore be considered as financial and other material assets are typical for other a constitutive precondition.4 music venue organizers as well (cf. Kaijser 2007). But when the practice is characterized by migration and CONCLUSIONS cultural diversity, ideas about changing social injustice The analysis shows that the creation of the particular become constitutive. The political logic of depiction ex- music practice of the six venues emanates from ideas emplifies this by illuminating the importance of repre- about either change or preservation.5 The source of these sentation. When the practice has a clear connection to ideas can be traced to dislocations in social reality, such cultural diversity, it affects the obtained quantity of the as social exclusion or vanishing music traditions, which resources. This turns out to be crucial if the organizer were desired to be either fixed or concealed. The study has a foreign background (cf. Feiler 2010). Moreover, shows how ethical principles, cohesion and music deve- the fantasmatic logics of enlightenment and together- loped into ideals (functioning according to what Laclau ness can both be said to deal with the same issue; the and Mouffe would describe as “nodal points” or “empty former as a way of publicly contesting social injustices, signifiers”, cf. note 4), around which the practice deve- manifested by the propagating of ideals in the name of loped, but always in relation to external powers. democracy and equal rights; and the latter as a manifest Altogether, there are five dominating preconditions act to directly support those who were considered in that comes into play when this culturally diverse music need of change. practice is created: the practice is extensively dependent When it comes to the aesthetic content of the on external help from patrons; negotiations will take practice, the organizers became gatekeepers. The multiple place regarding patrons demands of yields; negotiations positions which the organizers thus occupied emerged will be affected by valuations of diversity; the practice is not only by the following and establishing of rules, but created in the name of ethical ideals; and the practice is also through contradistinctive statements about partici- closely related to ideas about community cohesion. Taken pative conditions. The same ideals used as points of ne- together, these preconditions show that the practice is gotiation with patrons can also be understood as poten- tial fantasmatic promises for participating artists, as they

4 would have to advocate “good values” and demonstrate The notions “nodal point” and “empty signifier” are useful to elabo- rate the discussion about how different ideas about music relates to aesthetic quality to be accepted (cf. Lundberg, Malm the construction of the music practice. Howarth (2015:12) explains: & Ronström 2000). This shows how powerful the or- “Whereas nodal points are those privileged points of signification ganizer is, as these demands partly govern participative within a discourse that partially fix the meaning of practices and institutional configurations, empty signifiers provide the symbolic conditions. It also shows how contingent the organizers’ means to represent these essentially incomplete orders”. Music can positions are as they constantly must reflect, modify and thus be identified as a nodal point during the creation of the scene relate their ideals to the practice. This becomes particu- and the camp, but as an empty signifier at the other venues. (see also: Laclau 1996) larly clear in the discussion about the right-wing politi- 5 In the following “practice” again refers to the six venues as a singu- cal party, which obviously represented and materialized lar unit.

Nätverket 2020: 22: 51–62 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 60 Ålander, J. # some of the deficiencies set out to thwart through the obligations to achieve success. Their job is thoroughly creation of the practice. A defined antagonist facilitates complex, and they need to be conscious about how rules the formulation of transparent ideals and purposes of and regulations work and to be prepared to adapt ac- the practice as opposed to following equivocal principles cordingly. And while facing the lack of resources and such as peace or democracy. time hindering them from fulfilling their desired goals, The emerging overall logic of this music practice they must also submit to the fact that many, probably shows how strong ideas about contents and purposes most, of their tasks are social and administrative rather are imperative, but also how its creators need to be well than aesthetic. prepared to negotiate ideals and be thoughtful of their

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Lundberg, Dan, Krister Malm, & Owe Ronström 2000. Musik, medier, mångkultur: förändringar i svenska musiklandskap. Hedemora: Gidlunds Förlag. Marchart, Oliver 2004. Politics and the ontological difference: on the ‘strictly philosophical’ in Laclau’s work. In Simon Critchley & Oliver Marchart (eds), Laclau: a critical reader. Oxon: Routledge. Martiniello, Marco 2015. Immigrants, ethnicized minorities and the arts: a relatively neglected research area. Ethnic and Racial Studies, No. 38 (8). Mouffe, Chantal 2005.On the political. London: Routledge. Nettl, Bruno 2015. The study of ethnomusicology: thirty-three issues and concepts (3rd ed.). Urbana: University of Illinois Press. Pripp, Oscar 2006. Den kulturbundna kulturen: om strukturell uteslutning i kulturlivet. In Masoud Kamali (ed.), Den segregerade integrationen: om social sammanhållning och dess hinder. Stockholm: SOU 2006:73. Pripp, Oscar, Emil Plisch & Saara Printz Werner 2005. Tid för mångfald: en studie av de statligt finansierade kulturinstutitionernas arbete med etnisk och kulturell mångfald. Botkyrka: Mångkulturellt centrum. Ronström, Owe 2001. Concerts and festivals: Public performances of folk music in Sweden. The world of music (new series), No. 43 (2+3). Sievers, Wiebeke 2014. From Others to artists?: immigrant and ethnic minority art. In Marco Martinello & Jan Rath (eds), An Introduction to Immigrant Incorporation Studies - European Perspectives. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. Taylor, Timothy D. 2017. World music festivals as spectacles of genrefication and diversity. In Timothy D. Taylor (ed.), Music in the world: selected essays. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press. Toynbee, Jason & Byron Dueck 2011. Migrating music. London and New York: Routledge. Zelensky, Natalie K. 2014. Sounding diaspora through music and play in a Russian-American summer camp. Ethnomusicology Forum, No. 23 (3). Ålander, Jonas & Ulrik Volgsten 2021 (forthcoming). Migrants Swedes and the unchanging practice of music: discursive representations in Swedish newspapers. (work title)

Jonas Ålander is a Doctoral Candidate in musicology at Örebro University, Sweden. Drawing on discourse the- oretical approaches, he currently studies participative conditions in migration related music practices in Sweden.

Nätverket 2020: 22: 51–62 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 62 Unhearing as a cultural practice in urban sound spaces

KarinAtt Eriksson-Aras, forska Uppsalaom ting University Katarina Ek-Nilsson

abstract This article aims to raise awareness of how people handle sound-packed environments. As a back- ground to this article, my starting point is the doctoral dissertation Ljudrum – en studie av ljud och lyssnande FÖREMÅLENsom kulturell praktik I MUSEISAMLINGARNA (“Soundspace – a study of sound andFör listening en utomstående as cultural practice”) kan detta (Eriksson-Aras tyckas märkligt, 2017). och Via field studies in the city of Istanbul, I investigated iblandhow sound väcks spaces frågan, become vilket arenas har hänt for communicationfrån politikerhåll, I museernasbetween people. magasin The trängsdoctoral föremålen. dissertation Radershows howav cultureom inte is created, museernas established samlingar and transformed kunde/borde by soundavyttras, spinnrockar,spaces through vagnar, behavior, möbler, social mangelbräden interaction and etc. perceptions är när of nu time alla and föremål space. ändå inte visas, för att skapa större prydligt Thesorterade article påis introduced hyllor i jättelikawith a brief utrymmen. description ofresurser my choice till of verksamheten. field in Istanbul, as well as a conceptual Textilierdefinition ligger prydligtof ‘unhearing’ inpackade as a icultural syrafria practice.silkespapper Subsequent passages then examine empirical examples where och specialgjordaunhearing sounds syrafria as a culturalkartonger. practice Dyrbarheter is illustrated. som These Frågan examples kan aretyckas accompanied både befogad by a description och enkel of menhow är silver, smycken, konstföremål, men också mer triviala i själva verket komplicerad, av bland andra följande mobile players are used as a tool in people’s different1 approaches to unhear sounds. The conclusion contains vardagsföremål,a summary skyddasdiscussion av ofallehanda how big säkerhetsåtgärder. cities, with their packed skäl: sound Museet spaces, har challenge en gång and tagit in manyemot ways föremålen change som people’s need of unhearing sounds. donationer eller som inköp från, i de flesta fall, När ett föremål – det må vara ett ordinärt vardagsföremål privatpersoner. Man får utgå från att de som skänkt som tidigare har hanterats dagligen i egenskap av eller sålt föremålen, liksom museets representanter, har bruksföremål – blir ett museiföremål så genomgår åsatt dem ett kulturhistoriskt värde. Museet har påtagit detSOUND samtidigt SPACES en metamorfos. IN ISTANBUL Det blir AND inte THE längre sigall theett soundsansvar youatt påare bästa surrounded sätt bevara by, which föremålen means förthat CONCEPTUALmöjligt att vidröra DEFINITION utan att man OF tar UNHEARINGpå sig särskilda framtiden,the need for så “tuning långt det out” är and möjligt, selecting och thedet partsvore därförof what bomullsvantar och det får inte längre användas för The sound spaces in Istanbul were selected in the area oetisktcomes outatt avyttraas important dem. information increases. In this sitt ursprungliga ändamål. Vispen får inte mera vispa, way, sound spaces are also part of what creates people’s ofmobiltelefonen Eminönü with inte its compositelängre sms:as geography, med. En and gräns every har- Om museerna skulle börja avyttra sina föremål så skulle life worlds: their culture. A sound space is something thingpasserats from bridgesi föremålets with fishermen,livslopp, en swaying ny status fishing och rods,en allmänhetens förtroende för museerna sannolikt skadas. heavysärskild traffic, magi har boat laddat whistles föremålet. and street För en vendors, utomstående tunnels Museerthat is experienced. gör inga ekonomiska It is experiences värderingar based avon föremål, listening, andkan transitions det förefalla are abåde place egendomligt and a soundscape och komiskt where a attlot förmeaning-making, att inte bidra tillresponses marknadsmässiga to interaction bedömningar and silences’ happens.det som Sound nyss hördeis partly till filtered exempelvis through en familjsmovement högst and ochrhythms, spekulationer, as well as tonaloch kanqualities därför in intemusic gå and in sound.i en pace,vanliga but köksutrustningmost of it is done plötsligt through måste acoustic behandlas processes med försäljningsverksamhet.Sound spaces which are Museiföremåls too dense lose meaning,värde är helt in dense och hållet kulturhistoriska, inte ekonomiska. Ekonomiskt instörsta sound varsamhet spaces. Thus, för attit is den also förvärvats the city’s avactual ett museum.prerequi- sound spaces, there is a clear requirement to “unhear” Skillnaden mellan en porslinsurna från 1700-talet ärsome alltså sounds. ett museiföremål i princip inte värt något alls, site, as a strange mechanism, which allows us to practice eftersom det aldrig kommer ut på en marknad. och en plastbunke från 2000-talets IKEA är i det The cultural practice of unhearing is often uncon- unhearing.museologiska sammanhanget upphävt. As an ethnologist, I have rarely experienced a place Museiföremålscious but at the utgör same källmaterial time a very för active forskning. and important Vilka föremål som skulle kunna avvaras kan inte avgöras, whereCirka there 1% av have museernas been such föremålssamlingar clearly distinct brukar transitions vara part of our everyday life. Today, people in urban spaces utställda. Procenten ändrar visserligen innehåll vartefter eftersom vi inte vet vilka frågor som kommer att between the sound spaces as it is in Eminönü. There are are overwhelmed by sensory inputs such as images, basutställningar byggs om, föremål ställs ut i tillfälliga bli relevanta för framtida kulturhistorisk forskning. sounds and different experiences in their daily lives. severalutställningar extroverted eller lånas sound ut activities. till andra museersIn Eminönü, utställningar, there is Visserligen kan idag endast ett urval ur dagens a mencombination faktum kvarstårbetween attdense vid andvarje sparse givet soundögonblick spaces, är föremålshavWhen, where göras and in – what allt wayskan intedo people sparas apply – men unhear de - a detcombination en mycket of liten people’s del avways den of totala navigating, föremålsskatten gesticulat- tidigareing? How urval does som the föregångarna need for applying på museerna unhearing har gjortarise? ing,som being är tillgänglig heard, listening, i utställningsform. playing roles and Digitalt interacting ökar enWhat gång are måste the social respekteras, and cultural eftersom meanings de gjordes of applying med withtillgängligheten sound. successivt genom att föremålsfoton utgångspunktunhearing? How i den does tidens it affect vetenskapliga human interaction intressen. and 2 publicerasThe sound på många spaces museers of Istanbul hemsidor, are those men in närheten the me- Befintligathe use of museisamlingar public or urban måste spaces? hållas intakta för att kunna tropolisoch tillgången which, tillin museernasdifferent samlingarways, affect är ändå the begränsad conditions bilda Danishutgångspunkt physicist för Tormuseivetenskaplig Nørretranders forskning, calls the condet - för allmänheten, trots att ”tillgängliggörande” har högsta1 for listening, being heard, and communicating. In a villscious säga approach forskning to om information museer (inte selection bara på museer).“exformation” prioritet i museernas verksamhet. (in Danish: eksformation). The word first appeared in dense1 sound space, it becomes very difficult to receive Jag avser här professionella museer som finansieras med offentliga an article which Nørretranders wrote in 1992, where 1 medel och har utbildad personal, och bortser helt från allehanda FÖREMÅL SOM KULTURPRODUKTER Spaces of sound, or simply sound spaces, are empirically delimited privata eller kommersiella samlingar som kallar sin verksamhet he argues how effective communication depends on the entities: a soundscape may contain many such spaces (Eriksson-Aras Föremålen har i etnologisk mening sin betydelse som ”museum” men som i själva verket inte uppfyller de krav på shared knowledge between the persons communicating. 2017:professionell 159) “The museiverksamhet soundscape is anysom acoustic ställts upp field av denof study. internationella We may produkter av kultur. Detta innebär alltså att föremål eller speakmuseiorganisationen of a musical composition ICOM (International as a soundscape, Council or a radio of Museums). program andraThe pointfysiska of företeelser effective intecommunication i sig själva utgör is illustrated ”kultur”. by as2 a soundscape or an acoustic environment as a soundscape. We Se till exempel www.digitaltmuseum.se, där flera svenska museer FörNørretranders att förstå vad with som amenas story medabout detta the påstående famous måsteFrench can isolate an acoustic environment as a field of study just as we can visar delar av sina föremåls- och fotosamlingar. viauthor först Victorförsöka Hugo, förklara who kulturbegreppet. in late summer 1862 wrote to study the characteristics of a given landscape” (Schafer 1994: 7).

NätverketNätverket 2016:2020: 22:20: 63–682–7 ISSN:ISSN: 1651-0593 1651-0593 632 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/http://natverket.etnologi.uu.se # Unhearing as a cultural practice in urban sound spaces his publisher to ask how his most recent book, Les Mis- survival strategies in urban spaces. At the heart of its erables, was getting on. Hugo wrote “?” to the publisher movements, actions, behaviour, interaction, rather than and the publisher replied “!”. This was to indicate that perception and cognition. the book was selling well. This exchange of exclamations would be impossible for anyone outside Victor Hugos LITTLE FATIH and his publisher’s context to understand. The excla- While conducting fieldwork in Istanbul, in between re- mation was unique to the people who took part in this cording soundwalks, talking with people in the street shared context, and it is this shared context that Nørre- and discussing sound, there was one informant whose tranders calls exformation. experiences stood out. Exformation is perpendicular to information. Ex- In the middle of the stairs, near the Galata Bridge formation is what is rejected en route, before expression. in Istanbul, cornered at a white concrete wall on the Exformation is about the mental work we do in order to right side, there was a small street vendor named Fatih make what we want to say sayable. Exformation is the in the crowd. From his place on the stairs, one could discarded information, everything we do not actually say hear the busy Istanbul traffic, its cars, buses, boats and but have in our heads when or before we say anything at ferries, together with the pedestrians and the fishermen all. (Nørretranders 1999) standing on the bridge. Fatih, with his chequered bib Exformation is a term for the mental work it takes to sep- trousers and little red shoes, was five years old and sold arate the meaningful parts of all the information that peo- paper handkerchiefs, sitting all day long in the exhaust ple are showered with. Video audio engineer Klas Dykhoff fumes. My husband and I always stopped and talked to argues that this “screening process” is interesting in that we probably would go crazy if consciousness processed him, as we noticed that he got so excited about having all the auditory impressions the brain receives (Dykhoff a little company. Fatih would never take a penny in 2002:56). “It is only when we are drowning in rubbish that gratuity. Sometimes he would not charge at all. Once we realise that it has no value in itself ”, writes Nørretranders we asked him how long he was going to sit there on the (1999:132). stairs. He replied that his dad sold Simit (a bread roll) a If exformation is a term that explains the physical, little further away and they would go home together at mental work of separating the sounds into meaningful five. The clock had just passed seven and the stairs were parts of information, unhearing would (from my per- dark and cold. spective) be what describes the cultural practice itself. Fatih entertained himself this evening with a game Here, it is not primarily the explanation of exformation that was to investigate whether his leg could reach up as the discarded information that comes under scrutiny, to a small crack which could be seen on the wall of the but rather the social and cultural practices of unhearing stairs. He had strategically placed a bit of a chocolate that comes as a result of being in a dense sound space or wrapper into the crack and then stretched his leg as high an acoustic environment where there is too much sound. as he could to reach it. So, he took out the chocolate With social and cultural practices arise empirical expe- wrapper again, tinkered a bit, put it back and stretched riences from which the discussions of the meaning of his leg out again. He looked very concentrated. Several sound related issues could be expanded. times he repeated the same procedure. “Do you think By analogy, the term ‘unhearing’ refers to con- I can reach it with my legs?” he asked us. “We do not trolling hearing by refraining from paying attention to know, let’s see!” we responded happily. He showed en- anything else. Analytically, one can distinguish between thusiasm with his attempts to reach up with his little a more active form of unhearing/unseeing when one legs to the shiny chocolate wrapper and he managed to pays attention to something and actively “turns a blind do it. “I am the hero and I can win the glittery treasure”, eye to it”. In comparison with the concept of selective he explained and firmly pressed the chocolate wrapper listening, I assume that unhearing is a cultural practice a bit further into the slot. “Fjoom, fjoom, fjoom”, he ex- (ethnology), while selective listening is a listening tech- claimed, while he rhythmically tapped his finger on the nique that filters out words and sentences in language wrapper. “I have the power”, he said. (linguistics) to give the listener overall understanding of While playing this game, the sound space he was what is being said. The reasoning also leads to questions sitting in was full of noise, dense with lots of passers-by. about “coping”, about choice, opt-out, safeguards and The keynote of the Galata Bridge is traffic, withsound -

Nätverket 2020: 22: 63–68 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 64 Eriksson-Aras, K. # marks as the boat whistles with their strong, low pitch.2 what he showed us, what he did while all the sounds Suddenly, an ambulance passed by on the Galata Bridge. surrounding him happened at the same time. This was The honking and blaring sirens of the ambulance were his way of applying unhearing in this particular sound deafening from where we stood. Cars responded by space. honking and then slowing down. Fatih fidgeted with The ethnologists Billy Ehn and Orvar Löfgren the breast pocket of his dungarees and barely looked write about waiting, routines and daydreams in When up to see what was going on. “Fatih, isn’t there a lot of nothing special happens (2007). They ask themselves sound from where you sit?” we asked. He shrugged his what waiting can do with people, things and situations. shoulders. “The traffic is nothing special. Everyone just “What is going on when nothing seems to happen, passes me all the time. Vroom, vroom, vroom”, he said how do you learn to wait and how is waiting used for with his bright little voice and cranked somewhat bored pressure?” (2007:72) One of the paradoxes of waiting is with the left hand back and forth. “I do not remember that the consciousness for those who wait is fragmented. how it was before, when I was younger, I was probably The waiting occurs in a place physically, but mentally not as tough as I am now”, he said. He took down his happens somewhere else. Waiting is an ambivalent con- legs and stretched out over the treads and yawned. “I dition where active and passive rub against each other. can hear when someone stops with their feet. Everybody In the meantime, daydreams and fantasies are alive walks so close to me. Watch! My ears are so close to his (2007:74). foot”, said Fatih and pointed to a man who walked by Ehn and Löfgren refer to Orhan Pamuk, portraying with shoes that were newly polished. The man touched his daydreams as a kid (Pamuk 2003). Pamuk describes Fatih’s handkerchiefs and a package of handkerchiefs how he, as a six-year-old, entered a different world. Rapt fell down from the pile that Fatih had stacked. Footsteps in his daydreams, growing up in Istanbul, he used to sit were heard clearly at his level, as he sat so low. Fatih’s and dangle his legs until his grandmother told him to ears could almost touch the feet that were walking by; it stop (Pamuk 2003:29). Like Orhan Pamuk, little Fatih was usually so crowded in the staircase that sometimes is also a daydreamer in Istanbul. With his play with the people actually climbed over him. “I have to sit; other- chocolate wrapper in this busy soundscape of heavy wise, my legs will get too tired”, Fatih explained. traffic, Fatih exemplified the difference between focused and peripheral listening. Instead of listening to things he wasn’t interested in, he concentrated on what he really UNHEARING AND ANTICIPATION wanted to “hear” within his mind: a focus on his play, AS AN APPARENT INACTION his daydreams and the story that included him as a hero When Fatih sits on the stairs and waits for his dad, trying to reach the glittery treasure. He never followed nothing special seems to happen. He is in the midst of the signalling ambulance sound with his eyes, and he his play with a shiny chocolate wrapper and he is not rarely looked up when cars honked or when someone being interrupted by ambulances, congestion or car called out. He continued to play with great concen- horns. However, a lot is required of Fatih, even if he is tration. He was in opposition to the sound space’s au- not explicitly aware of it. Unhearing is something that thoritarian environment and went in to do something is going on actively, much like waiting. Daydreaming completely different than letting himself be influenced and playing while waiting for his dad, instead of getting by all the signalling sound. He selected his own, intro- stressed over the sound space, was a much better deal verted sound space within the extroverted sound space for Fatih to get through the day. This wasn’t anything that surrounded him. that Fatih reflected over or talked to us about. This was

2 INDIVIDUAL FORMS Keynote: “In music, keynote identifies the key or tonality of a par- ticular composition. It provides the fundamental tone around which OF APPLYING UNHEARING the composition may modulate but from which other tonalities take Not far from the staircase next to the Galata Bridge, on a special relationship. In soundscape studies, keynote sounds are those which are heard by a particular society continuously or I spoke to a German lady, around sixty years of age, frequently enough to form a background against which other sounds visiting as a tourist. She exemplified unheareing in a are perceived” (Schafer 1994: 272). Soundmark: “The term is derived completely different way than little Fatih. When I asked from a landmark to refer to a community sound which is unique or possesses qualities which make it specially regarded or noticed by her questions about how she perceived the sound en- the people in that community” (Schafer 1994:274). vironment, she replied with answers like: “it is lovely

Nätverket 2020: 22: 63–68 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 65 # Unhearing as a cultural practice in urban sound spaces with all the buzzing life here, such beautiful places to retranders 1999: 133). The art of listening and practising visit and so much food. It is refreshing to have a little unhearing is something that is shaped by the listener loudness sometimes.” During our conversation, a large and it has to do with earlier experiences and memories group of laughing ladies passed by. “Wow, what was so of sounds. The example of little Fatih’s unhearing shows funny?” she asked and looked curious. Shortly after that, that Fatih had explored a way of governing his capacity a man walked by, shouting: “Beautiful boat trip, depar- to localise in the noise (Augoyard & Torg 2005:28). He ture in fifteen minutes!” The German lady looked up and had not, in the same way as the German lady, felt the followed him with her eyes as he walked by. He quickly need to search for and identify the sounds around him. noticed that she seemed interested and stopped to ask “Been there, done that” would summarise the way Fatih if she would like to come along. “Maybe next time”, she perceived the sounds of the city and select what to listen answered. As our conversation continued, she listened to. to me by cupping her hand next to her right ear as she directed her hearing towards me. The cupped hand was MOVING IN SYNC WITH THE MUSIC not used by any of the locals that I had been talking to, Unhearing in a public space can be unfolded in many but it helped her to capture the sound (with an ampli- different ways. Compared to little Fatih’s way of being fying effect of 3-5 dB). She was likely in need of that, as able to focus on play and daydreaming, or with the she was not used to the active selection of sounds in the German lady following the sounds with her eyes, it same way as Fatih, who had to do so every day as a way could also look like someone who carries a headset in of “survival” in this dense sound space. She could choose order to identify and block out unwanted sounds and to to walk freely and unconditionally on Istanbul’s streets, be able to listen to selected music instead. The mobile taking in all the surrounding sounds of the moment phone allows people to stand outside and build their and enjoying them. She was on the move and would own scene. Michael Bull, a leading scholar in “Sound probably soon go somewhere else, and she took the op- studies”, explains how people set up their mobile players, portunity to pay attention and notice as much as she put on headphones, and create playlists that follow them could. Different sounds grabbed her attention, which in their daily lives (Bull 2016:76; see also Bull 2000). flickered in different directions all the while during our They are applying unhearing, by tuning out the conversation. Even so, for her there was also a certain sound spaces outside their portable players and priva- form of unhearing listening. She visually paid more at- tising their sound by wearing their music on the city tention to more sounds than Fatih. She searched with streets. her eyes to find the audio source, which was something Fatih didn’t do at all during our conversation. This could This new urban nomad is here and there at the same time, transported by the secret rhythm of his Walkman and in di- be explained with the sonic effect calledDeburau : rect contact with the place he’s walking through. The bounce With this effect, the listener’s attention searches for a sound in his step, the variations in his stride and the unexpected that is inaudible, such as the voice of a mute person. The change of his daily route explain at times his imaginary drift effect is named after Jean-Baptiste Deburau (1796-1846), but always brings him back to where he started. (Thibaud a famous mime whose trial attracted the whole of Paris, 2003:329) curious to hear his voice. By extension, this effect charac- terises the identification of a sound source followed by the The mobile music player is an urban technology that observation that once discovered, it is no longer of particular allows the body to move in sync with the music. The interest. (Augoyard & Torgue 2005:37; Chion 2003) public stage is transformed, and the listener gives a new personal tonality to the city streets. The privatised All the information transmitted to a listener is based rhythm makes a person able to be in two different places on a variety of previous experiences and memories. The at the same time. When a person disconnects the re- sound world is internalised and built up during an early dundant sounds with a mobile player, in order to follow stage in life in relation to shared social knowledge re- a personal playlist, their music works as a self-chosen positories (Ronström 1990:128-129). What we hear in accompaniment to a place or a room. our environment is determined by what we have heard before (Kapchan 2009:78). The recipient is expected to Some theorists have highlighted the portable music play- receive the information with the right kind of associa- er as an opportunity for people to stand outside the social theatre that is society. That is to say: those who can choose tions, which means giving meaning to something (Nør-

Nätverket 2020: 22: 63–68 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 66 Eriksson-Aras, K. #

their own sound can also build their own scene, shape their waiting, and it is a strategy to cope with everyday life in own universe and then take the role they want. (Mildner an excessively noisy sound space and a way to create his 2013:171) (My translation) own little sound space. The effects are similar to what When there are no mobile players and the sound space is happens with those who listen to a mobile player – in- tight and showered in sounds, as in little Fatih’s and the creased control of a limited part of the life-world and German lady’s cases, the senses are working at a higher reduced acoustic presence. gear to handle and dispose of the abundance of informa- The diversity of impressions that people in the city tion. According to musicologist Henrik Karlsson, it is are forced to deal with requires a change in perception difficult to imagine what the revolution of the electronic (Simmel 1995:196). To not be encumbered by impres- era has brought. The new audio techniques create many sions, urban people learn how to disconnect the emo- social and legal problems in our communities (Karlsson tional. As the city and urban environments are becoming 1995:7). The fact that some people cannot hear, for more and more attractive for people to live and work in, example, when a car approaches because of the use of this development poses major challenges. “Urban” could headsets has become a social problem in large parts of here be summarised in terms of “movement” and “cir- the technologically accelerating world. culation”, while “movement” can be understood both in concrete terms (as the flow of traffic and goods) and in LIMITED INFORMATION, a more abstract sense as the force that “pushes” the city. NECESSARY UNHEARING This perception of the city as movement, circulation and flows also leads to the idea that the city is not just an The stories of little Fatih, the German lady, and the dis- arena among others for human processes, but that the cussion of mobile players show the ways it is possible city itself is a driving force that changes human beings. to practice unhearing of the noises/sounds of the city The process of unhearing is conditional, for example, on by letting your imagination run wild, or by masking the infrastructure, such as public, urban environments, which sounds with other sounds. All of these examples are dif- also belong to the democratic core by being accessible or ferent ways of taking control (like concentrated reading inaccessible to citizens. With an increased population while on a bus, daydreaming in the middle of a square or in big cities, the need for sustainable solutions, includ- sitting at a restaurant next to a busy street whilst talking ing climate, energy, environment and demographics, as with two of your friends). well as social security and participation, good health and This is particularly highlighted in a sound space with education, is increasing. To these sustainable solutions, high loudness units and high density. While the ability the design of sound spaces has a crucial and important to inform is limited, the need to exform and practice factor in establishing an attractive city life. unhearing increases. Fatih combats boredom when he is

REFERENCES Augoyard, Jean François, Andra McCartney, Henry Torgue & David Paquette (eds) 2006. Sonic experience: a guide to everyday sounds. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press. Bull, Michael 2000. Sounding out the city. Personal stereos and the management of everyday life. Oxford: Berg. Bull, Michael 2016. Sounding out the city: an auditory epistemology of urban experience. In The auditory culture reader, 2nd edition. London: Bloomsbury Academic. Chion, Michael 2003. Un art sonore, le cinéma – The voice in Cinema. Dykhoff, Klas 2002.Ljudbild eller synvilla?: en bok om filmljud och ljuddesign, 1. uppl. Malmö: Liber ekonomi. Ehn, Billy & Orvar Löfgren 2007. När ingenting särskilt händer. Nya kulturanalyser. Stockholm: Brutus Östlings Bokförlag Symposium. Eriksson-Aras, Karin 2017. Ljudrum: en studie av ljud och lyssnande som kulturell praktik. Uppsala: Uppsala universitet. Diss. Kapchan, Deborah 2009. Learning to listen. The sound of Sufism in France.The World of Music, vol. 51, No:65-89. Berlin: Music for Being. Verlag für Wissenschaft und Bildung. Karlsson, Henrik 1995. – Hör oss Svea! – Va? Ljudlandskap i förändring. In Henrik Karlsson (ed.), Svenska ljudlandskap. Om hörseln, bullret och tystnaden. Stockholm: Musikaliska akademien i samarbete med Institutet för framtidsstudier.

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Mildner, Anders 2013. Koltrasten som trodde att den var en ambulans. En bok om ljud, ny utg. Stockholm: Månpocket. Nørretranders, Tor 1999. Märk världen. En bok om vetenskap och intuition, ny utg. Stockholm: Bonnier. Pamuk, Orhan 2003. Istanbul – minnen av en stad. Stockholm: Norstedts. Ronström, Owe (ed.) 1990. Musik och kultur. Lund: Studentlitteratur. Schafer, R. Murray 1994. The soundscape: our sonic environment and the tuning of the world, new ed. Rochester; Vt.: Destiny Books. Simmel, Georg 1995. Hur är samhället möjligt? Göteborg: Korpen. Stockfelt, Torbjörn 1997. Ljud och tystnader i dimensioner. Stockholm: Kungliga Musikaliska akademien. Thibaud, Jean-Paul 2003. The Sonic Composition of the City. In Michael Bull & Les Back (eds),The auditory culture reader. Oxford: Berg.

Karin Eriksson-Aras has a doctorate in ethnology. She works as a researcher at the Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology at Uppsala University and as a senior lecturer at Södertörn University. Karin’s research interests include phenomenology, the ethnology of the senses, music ethnology, sound spaces and devel- opment of ethnographic methods..

Nätverket 2020: 22: 63–68 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 68 “Love for the rich, porn for the people”? Popular music in theAtt Balkans forska omas a ting locus for negotiation of 1 belongingKatarina and social Ek-Nilsson distinction Vladislava Vladimirova, Uppsala University

FÖREMÅLEN I MUSEISAMLINGARNA För en utomstående kan detta tyckas märkligt, och abstract In contemporary scholarly discussions, similaribland styles väcks of music frågan, that vilketare popular har hänt in different från politikerhåll, parts of I museernas magasin trängs föremålen. Rader av om inte museernas samlingar kunde/borde avyttras, spinnrockar,the Balkans, vagnar, have beenmöbler, defined mangelbräden rhetorically as etc.“porn-nationalism”, är “deviant and violent activity”, “social ill”, and even sadism. This article discusses two such styles, the so närcalled nuturbofolk alla föremål in post-Yugoslavian ändå inte visas, spaces, för att and skapa chalga större prydligt sorterade på hyllor i jättelika utrymmen. resurser till verksamheten. Textilierin Bulgaria, ligger prydligt which haveinpackade similar i syrafriagenealogies silkespapper and social contexts and kinship links, but have not been studied och specialgjordacomparatively. syrafriaI will briefly kartonger. present Dyrbarheter the history ofsom the twoFrågan styles, kanrespectively tyckas inbåde the 1980sbefogad and ochthe earlyenkel 1990s, men är silver,in smycken, order to contextualize konstföremål, their men social också roots mer and triviala show the interplayi själva ofverket global komplicerad, and local music av models bland andandra tastes. följande I vardagsföremål,find this important skyddas inav allehandaorder to make säkerhetsåtgärder. an argument for1 theskäl: analytical Museet potentials har en of gång comparative tagit emot research. föremålen Further, som I briefly mention some of the dominant perspectives in donationerexisting research eller in somorder inköpto point från, to aspects, i de perspecflesta- fall, När etttives, föremål and factors – det må that vara have ett received ordinärt less vardagsföremål scholarly attention. privatpersoner. Finally, I suggest Man that får eventutgå frånanalysis, att ande evolvingsom skänkt som methodtidigare in haranthropology, hanterats can dagligen provide newi egenskap analytical av tools ellerand help sålt increaseföremålen, understanding liksom museets of the representanter, popularity and har bruksföremålsocial significance – blir ett of turbofolkmuseiföremål and chalga. så genomgår åsatt dem ett kulturhistoriskt värde. Museet har påtagit det samtidigt en metamorfos. Det blir inte längre sig ett ansvar att på bästa sätt bevara föremålen för möjligt att vidröra utan att man tar på sig särskilda framtiden, så långt det är möjligt, och det vore därför bomullsvantar och det får inte längre användas för INTRODUCTION oetiskt att avyttra dem. sitt ursprungliga ändamål. Vispen får inte mera vispa, Expectedly, this style of music has received many Emblematicmobiltelefonen among inte those längre phenomena sms:as med. that En gränsare char har- Omdefinitions, museerna but skulle here börja I will avyttra introduce sina föremål it, following så skulle the acteristicpasserats of i post-socialismföremålets livslopp, across enstate ny borders,status och is theen allmänhetensmusic historian förtroende Vesa Kurkela, för museerna as dance sannolikt music thatskadas. is a rapidsärskild spread magi of har a distinctiveladdat föremålet. genre ofFör popular en utomstående music in Museercomplex gör hybrid inga of ekonomiska various styles värderingar and traditions, av föremål, includ - allkan Balkan det förefalla countries både and egendomligt beyond. Even och though komiskt each att föring attpop, inte folk bidra and ethnictill marknadsmässiga music, from Serbian, bedömningar Macedo - och spekulationer, och kan därför inte gå in i en countrydet som has nyss a distinctive hörde till name exempelvis for it (and en familjsin some högst cases nian, Greek, and Turkish popular music, older Bulgarian vanliga köksutrustning plötsligt måste behandlas med försäljningsverksamhet. Museiföremåls värde är helt och more than one) in this article I will use predominantly pop songs, Balkan Romani music, Western pop, rock, största varsamhet för att den förvärvats av ett museum. hållet kulturhistoriska, inte ekonomiska. Ekonomiskt techno, and rap, and even the currents of Afro-Cuban theSkillnaden terms turbofolk mellan (from en porslinsurna post-Yugoslavian från regions) 1700-talet and är alltså ett museiföremål i princip inte värt något alls, chalgaoch en (from plastbunke Bulgaria), från as these 2000-talets have become IKEA generic är i detfor eftersommusic. At det its aldrigstylistic kommer core, some ut på chalga en marknad. features distin- 2 guishable rhythmic patterns also recognizably linked to themuseologiska main geographical sammanhanget foci of this upphävt. study. Museiföremål utgör källmaterial för forskning. Vilka “oriental” or belly dance. These characteristics can be as- Cirka 1% av museernas föremålssamlingar brukar vara föremål som skulle kunna avvaras kan inte avgöras, sociated with an imagined “East” reminding of dance 1 utställda. Procenten ändrar visserligen innehåll vartefter eftersom vi inte vet vilka frågor som kommer att This is a paraphrase of a famous commentary by the rapper Rambo music styles found throughout the eastern Mediterra- Amadeusbasutställningar published in byggs the electronic om, föremål news site ställs Express. ut iBelow tillfälliga is bli relevanta för framtida kulturhistorisk forskning. a utställningartranslation by the eller author lånas of uta quote till andra from themuseers interview: utställningar, “Again, Visserligennean (Kurkela, kan 2007:144). idag endast Because ett urvalof this, ur it dagensis often pumpingmen faktum nationalism, kvarstår insists atton partition vid varje ... People givet with ögonblick income up är föremålshavpresented in görasnational – alltofficial kan inte discourse sparas and– men academic de todet 300 eneuros mycket per month liten are del the targetav den of nationalism.totala föremålsskatten It is served tidigarepublications urval insom opposition föregångarna to high på museerna culture harand gjort good to them. When someone is payed over 500 euros per month, then en gång måste respekteras, eftersom de gjordes med onesom starts är talking tillgänglig about their i utställningsform. wardrobe and cafes. When Digitalt the income ökar taste (Šentevska 2014; Statelova 2005).The music and comestillgängligheten to more than a thousand,successivt then genom the top themeatt föremålsfoton is healthy food, utgångspunkt i den tidens vetenskapliga intressen. 2 dancing feature distinctive performative, plastic, and theirpubliceras plans for påthe mångasummer museersand winter hemsidor, vacation; when men income närheten reach- Befintligaexpressive museisamlingar aesthetic. In the måste time hållas immediately intakta för attfollowing kunna esoch more tillgången than three tillthousand, museernas then all samlingar the evasion är ceases. ändå begränsadPeople then bildathe democratization utgångspunkt för of museivetenskaplig socialist countries forskning, (early 1990s) det talkför about allmänheten, weather forecasts trots attand ”tillgängliggörande” love. However, most people har högstahere have an average salary of 300 to 500 euros (if they even receive a villit could säga forskningbe conceived om alsomuseer as “freedom” (inte bara frompå museer). false social - salary).”prioritet (Mitrović, i museernas 2015) verksamhet. 1 ist morality that took its basis in disparaging any signs 2 Jag avser här professionella museer som finansieras med offentliga The term “turbofolk” is popularly attributed to the Montenegrian medel och har utbildad personal, och bortser helt från allehanda FÖREMÅLof eroticism as partSOM of KULTURPRODUKTERthe de-individualization process rapper Rambo Amadeus, who coined it to capture the emotional dy- privata eller kommersiella samlingar som kallar sin verksamhet Föremålenof totalitarian har regimes i etnologisk (Kon mening& Riordan sin betydelse1993; Kourtova som namics”museum” of the men music. som “Chalga”, i själva according verket inteto the uppfyller Bulgarian de Musico krav -på logistprofessionell Rosemary museiverksamhet Statelova is a word som of ställts older upp origin, av den describing internationella urban produkter2013). av kultur. Detta innebär alltså att föremål eller entertainmentmuseiorganisationen music from ICOM the 19c.(International performed Councilby ethnically of Museums). mixed andraAs fysiska East företeelserEuropean inteimaginaries i sig själva of utgör freedom ”kultur”. were instrumental bands. The term was revived in the 1990s to denote a 2 Se till exempel www.digitaltmuseum.se, där flera svenska museer För att förstå vad som menas med detta påstående måste somewhat different music and social phenomenon (Statelova, 2005; strongly associated with the West, Western popular visar delar av sina föremåls- och fotosamlingar. Valchinova-Chendova, 2000). vimusic först with försöka its imagery förklara and kulturbegreppet. aesthetic served as a source

NätverketNätverket 2016:2020: 22:20: 69–862–7 ISSN:ISSN: 1651-0593 1651-0593 692 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/http://natverket.etnologi.uu.se # “Love for the rich, porn for the people?” Popular music in the Balkans as a locus for negotiation of belonging and social distinction for chalga and turbofolk too. Soon after its inception, spheres did not attract as much research attention, however, chalga started being attacked and condemned. perhaps because they did not show such strong associ- In addition to the intelligentsia, in Bulgaria, for example, ations with chalga and the latter could not be used as a the socialist popular music celebrities, who abruptly marker in such straightforward way. Studies of turbo- lost their state-promoted privileges, and popularity in folk provide contradictory or ambiguous ideas of how the competition with new chalga stars, announced it the taste for it intersects with social class, profession- as of lower quality and vulgar. Internationally, analysts al groups, political views, and level of education. Little pointed to turbofolk lyrics’, stage performances’ and research has been based in quantitative or ethnograph- clothing’s resemblance to pornography (Monroe 2000). ic data, so many publications reiterate generalized or Thus, throughout the 1990s, simultaneously with the biased impressions or beliefs shared widely in society rapid spread of chalga and turbofolk among vast groups or by other researchers. It should be acknowledged that of the population in the Balkans, they were denigrated different aspects of identity intersect in complex ways, as signs of bad taste, low education, low culture and and highlighting certain aspects essentializes certain social class, and rural origin. identities in misleading simplifications. Negative attitudes to turbofolk have received a One area where both turbofolk and chalga are per- good deal of discussion in the literature through the sistently seen as instrumental, are the fields of national application of the critical framework of Said’s orien- or Balkan identities, and nationalism. The strong tradi- talism (Said 1978; Šentevska 2014) and the concept of tion of research that translates turbofolk and by analogy balkanism. Balkanism expands some of Saids’ insights in later years chalga, into nationalism, is grounded in onto the Balkan Peninsula as Europe’s internal pe- turbofolk political mobilization in the Kosovo conflict. I riphery and its internal “other”: “in it, but not really of think it is a result of the less or more distant relationship it. They are Europe’s dark shadow, its inherent Other, of the genre with folklore, but also the strong academic and possibly, its very own internal Orient” (Buchanan, devotion to the topics of ethnicity and nationalism in 2007:xviii; Razsa & Lindstrom 2004:633). The concept the Eastern Balkans. The preoccupation with nationa- of balkanism problematizes the dichotomy between the lism has produced interesting and useful insights and West and the Balkans as a center and a periphery, as a perhaps contributed to the field of musicology studying West against East, North against South, and civilized the interface between popular music and nationalism. against barbaric (Todorova 1997). The exclusive focus on nationalism, however, is reduc- All studies of turbofolk and chalga emphasize the tionist and political in itself. genres’ role in identity formation and expression in the Balkans. Varied theoretical perspectives have been used Within this conceptual tradition, the cultural to discuss the imposition, performing, communicat- theorist Alexei Monroe in an analytically sound but ing, and negotiating of identities. Along these, scholars rhetorically loaded article from the year 2000 argues have paid attention to music as emotionally, politically, that turbofolk is maintaining the nationalist order and symbolically, and economically loaded social landscape agenda of Serbia as a militant culture (Monroe 2000). (Dragicevic-Sesic 1994; Ibroscheva 2014; Ivanova 2000; Employing Noam Chomsky’s insights about popular Kourtova 2013; Kronja 2004; Ranova 2006; Sotirova culture as integral to the construction of consent to 2012). Still, it is interesting to ask why post-socialist dominant ideology, Monroe shows how turbofolk is scholars attributed such a role to chalga and turbofolk, a quintessentially post-modern product. It utilizes and not to other music and entertainment fields. While Western techniques such as the proliferation of exces- I do not offer a straightforward answer to this question sive consumption, of the spectacular and of deliberate here, my discussion is suggestive: scholars have a stake sensory overload (op. cit.). What is distinctive about it, at the construction of these phenomena, both nationally however, Monroe argues, following the famous Slovene and internationally. philosopher Slavoj Žižek, is the packaging of consump- In the 1990s, some scholars applied binary models tion in a nationalist form: “while in the West, the spec- in studying chalga as a reference that marks identity. The tacle is the speed and glamour of consumption itself, in following oppositions have been identified: urban-rural, Serbia the spectacle is the consumption, in its fullest educated/intellectual-non-educated, Western-Orien- sense, of the nation” (op. cit.). Monroe characterizes this tal, good taste-vulgar, moral/modest-immoral. Other phenomenon which he calls porn-nationalism as:

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…almost every permitted representation in the dominant qualities; and finally, first-person articulations of rela- Serbian media strategy is lurid, vulgar and excessive. Taken tionships to the music. as a totality, the signals of the media involved can be read as a type of national pornography. The actual (and extremely In this programmatic paper, I suggest that we can lurid) pornography in the Serbian infosphere is dwarfed by study anthropologically turbofolk and chalga, applying a a unrelenting pornography of the national that (re)produces classical approach, i.e., event analysis. While this is not constant arousal and constant gratification, making every- a detailed ethnographic study, my purpose is to discuss thing remotely national explicit and, for many in Serbia and some significant aspects of this music field both in the beyond, obscene. (Monroe 2000) realm of discourse and practice and to illustrate some of In a much recent and more nuanced study of turbofolk, its generative potentials. In this sense, I will not present Atanasovski suggests that nothing points to the state a comprehensive picture of chalga or turbofolk. Rather, intentionally constructing turbofolk music as a channel I offer some observations and analyses, in order to of Serbian nationalism. Before, during, and after the pinpoint chalga’s and turbofolk’s multiple potentialities conflict in Kosovo, turbofolk together with other styles as fields of individual and group agency, in navigating in of popular music and a wide range of propaganda media a complex field of meanings and practices. I adopt the have been used by the regime to mobilize people (Ata- strategy of questioning the exclusive association of these nasovski 2015). genres with identity and nationalism, and state imposi- Turbofolk as the engine of porn-nationalism, tion of knowledge and power. In addition, I will apply Monroe claims, both questions and reproduces images an intersectional approach in order to show how diverse of the Balkans as peripheral, un-cultured, and “Other”. and multiple meanings can be attributed simultaneous- The concept of porn-nationalism might reveal a hidden ly to these musical and performance genres through state agenda in relation to turbofolk, but it poses both symbolism and other associations, and how these are political and analytical problems. It contributes to bal- employed for economic profit, marketing, consumption, kanism by reducing the complex engagements that local and imposition of power, on the one hand, but also for consumers of turbofolk have, and the multiple meanings everyday communication and negotiation of identity, that are attributed to and communicated in the music. emotion, and aesthetic, or finding psychological refuge Finally, like other research of turbofolk and chalga that from life stress and anxieties. In this study, the intersec- focuses on nationalism and identity exclusively, it does tional perspective is taken to be a method that seeks to not explain the longevity of the music, its increasing explain social outcomes, such as gender discrimination, audiences across ethnic boundaries throughout Bosnia, as produced not independently, but in interaction with Croatia and Slovenia (Čvoro 2014), its ability to create other factors, such as social class, professional groups, and new synergies with other styles and to change and ac- ethnicity, which reinforce each other (Cho, Crenshaw commodate new forms, images, messages, symbols. & McCall 2013; Crenshaw 1991, 2004; Yuval-Davis According to another dominant trend in the study 2011). Intersectional analysis can provide critical optics of turbofolk and chalga, the phenomena are part of for the study of the politics and economy in relation to transforming identity work among Balkan nations, music and gender. where the main axis are Ottoman heritage and oriental In the study, I employ personal observations and backwardness, on the one hand, and European moder- experiences of the growth of chalga in Bulgaria since nity, on the other. Analyses along this axis within the the 1980s. I identify this method as autoethnography, fields of Cultural Studies, Linguistic Anthropology and following Jones, Adams, and Ellis who define autoeth- Folklore Studies, have produced sophisticated under- nography as the use of personal experience to analyze standings of how such synergetic music genres are also and critique culture. Autoethnography has the following fields of anxiety, mediation, re-negotiation of the nation’s characteristics: 1) it provides relevant and sometimes position in relation to the targeted European moderni- critical comments of current cultural practices; 2) it is ty and civilization (Georgiev 2012; Livni 2014). While engaging and contributing to existing research; 3) it such approach addresses the ambivalence and contra- embraces vulnerability; 4) it strives to engage audiences dictions within the music genres, it accommodates to a in reciprocal relationship ( Jones, Adams, & Ellis 2016). lesser extent other equally important characteristics: the My experience of chalga has evolved alongside my dynamic transformation and diversity within turbofolk shifting position in society, determined largely by my and chalga; emotional and affective qualities; festivity personal affinities and dispositions, and my age, edu-

Nätverket 2020: 22: 69–86 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 71 # “Love for the rich, porn for the people?” Popular music in the Balkans as a locus for negotiation of belonging and social distinction cational, social and material environment. As I explain and situations that are part of my personal history and below, I have expressed opposition to chalga in my are emotionally loaded for me, (which I have strived identity building work, and even ignored it. As theo- to escape previously through my professional engage- rists show, in autoethnography, “members’” orientations ment with other areas of the world). My vulnerability and interpretations are significantly influenced by role increases by the act of publicly presenting my personal expectations related to specific member roles (Anderson experience and analyzing it. As theorists of autoethnog- 2006). Chalga, as I discuss here, has become a field where raphy point out, researchers have to “make choices about social fissures find expression, fissures within all kinds which selves and experiences to share as a way of miti- of social formations, such as families, friendship groups, gating vulnerability and potential exposure to criticism” professional groups, or larger communities. Few people ( Jones et al. 2016:24). This reflection is a continuation have remained unaffected by it. In order to understand of my identity work and self-representation within both its role and power, and provoked by one-sided analysis of academic and more private environments. “The choice it, I use my experience and self-analysis here to question to make a self vulnerable is often made with the hope and add to previous research of chalga. I take inspiration that audiences will engage with and respond to our work from classical anthropological rendering of the method in constructive, meaningful—even vulnerable—ways” as a way to contest and complement powerful academic (op. cit.:25). discourses including insiders’ portrayals of themselves In the following section, I mention some ideas from and their culture (Buzard 2003). Simultaneously, I hope the field of event anthropology that I believe can offer a this work will deepen my developing self-critical re- more nuanced understanding of the role and meaning of flection on my personal relation to chalga and Balkan popular music. After this, I introduce briefly the history society. As Anderson notices, “autoethnographic inter- of turbofolk and chalga since the 1980s. I review some rogation of self and other may transform the researcher’s of the binary oppositions that are marked in existing own beliefs, actions, and sense of self ” (Anderson 2006). research as meaningful in identity formation processes In line with autoethnography’s ambition to engage audi- in which such music is the field. Finally, I discuss some ences in reciprocal relationship, I also strive to contrib- of the potentialities that event analysis can have when ute to people’s awareness of the complexity of the social applied to turbofolk and chalga. phenomena pertaining to chalga, and turbofolk, both in academia and wider. EVENTS AS GENERATIVE LOCI While I borrow a definition from the so called “evocative” autoethnographic tradition, that emphasizes In an earlier publication I have questioned the popular the descriptive, literary qualities of research and invokes interpretation of festivals primarily as sites for securing the epistemology of emotion, this paper is grounded in popular support and building up legitimacy for the elites the tradition of analytical autoethography too. In order or for state power among local population in Russia to increase the critical and analytical value of the work, I (Vladimirova 2017). I show that such a framework draw on the memories, stories and reflections that three focuses on an analytically pre-constructed function of relatives and three acquaintances of mine shared during such events by singling out assumed intentions of one the Christmas holidays of 2017. The majority of such group of stakeholders and obscuring a range of other narratives come from people who more or less like and experiences that different participants might have. Such listen to chalga and whom I informed about my inten- analysis takes for granted that certain ideas and values tion to write about the subject. These conversations were are leading in a society where all members perceive the not recorded but I took notes after the events, so a few same symbols in a predictable way which shapes their accurate quotations have been possible to use in this text. experiences (Handelman 1998). In my search for the- The age of the informants ranges from 27 to 80. Finally, oretical insights that are conducive to a more nuanced in order to reveal and reflect on my bias in the following analysis of festivals as one expression of popular culture, analysis, I engage as much as possible the existing litera- I came across the recent re-articulation of the Man- ture and published ethnography on chalga. I extensively chester School of anthropological thought and Max use published materials in my account of turbofolk as Gluckman, who offered an innovative approach for well as information and comments I got from colleagues research of social change. Events in this anthropological and friends in Sweden who come from the region. tradition were seen as critical junctures of change, rather This paper is a first attempt to reflect on places than examples of social structure, norm, and pattern

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(Gluckma 1956; Mitchell 1956). Max Gluckman and his sums up such diverse and sometimes antithetical under- followers combined influences from structural function- standings of turbofolk: fake folklore, kitsch, “Oriental alist thought and Marxism to focus on processes seen as howling”, mass culture, subculture, “camouflage of the unfolding in situations and not predetermined by norms harsh social reality through compulsive entertainment”, and rules, or the laws of progress and history (Evens & a way to legitimize the aggressive class of nouveau Handelman 2006). The most renowned methodologi- riches, tool of Serbian nationalism, voice of the winners, cal contribution of the school, the extended case study, or respectively of the losers of post socialism, authentic known also as situational or event analysis, established Serbian pop-music, uniting factor of all Balkan nations new ethnographic praxis focusing on empirical cases (Šentevska 2014). Below I will add some variances of rather than selecting material to support theoretical ar- these definitions plus discuss understandings of chalga guments. These served as the foundation of theorizing that can perhaps be extended to turbofolk. As Šentevska and analysis of diverse interests and incommensurable and few other scholars observe, most of these definitions and incoherent dimensions of human agency within exclude the opinions and attitudes of those people who lived situations. Event analysis takes into account the like, listen to, and create turbofolk and chalga. constant flux of social relations and causalities between Event analysis looks at these genres of popular actors and contexts at local and global levels (Glaeser music in a less deterministic way and provides space for 2006; Handelman 2006; Kapferer 2006). the analysis of a broader diversity of meanings, inten- In combination with post-structuralist thought, tions, and emotions projected on them. I suggest that Bruce Kapferer adapts ideas from the philosophy of we take as an event both the rapid spread of chalga and Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, to argue for the event turbofolk in the early 1990s, as well as individual per- as a creative and generative nexus of novel social pos- formances and the ongoing re-creation of the genres. sibilities. He replaces a focus on controlled agency and The breakthrough that event analysis can achieve is patterned relations for lived practice and experience as to reveal the contradictions and incoherence existing unfolding and opening up for “multiplicity of sensory in the fields of chalga and turbofolk, and in the ways and cognitive processes which permits all kinds of different stakeholders experience them. I also explore agency and effects”. The event, then is the “critical site the ways that these are instrumental in negotiating of emergence, manifesting the singularity of a particular existing relations and meanings and in propelling the multiplicity within tensional space and opening toward emergence of new ones. At the same time, as Kapferer new horizons of potential” (Kapferer 2015:15). It can stresses, a vision of the event as “creative and generative be studied and known through its “actualizations” or nexus,” which breaks with essentialist and deterministic “realizations” rather than as predetermined by histori- thinking, does not disclaim entirely the importance of cal, social, psychological, or cultural processes. The event more systematic or controlled processes, of past events, is then “a creative crucible of new, hitherto unrealized or of psychology (Kapferer 2015:15). Further, festivals potential” rather than a mirror of the world and a result accommodate intentions, ideas, models, and symbols of the past (ibid.). It is not premised on the past and that are grounded in a complex of different traditions is not pre-determining the future, or constitutes a link and systems of meaning, often in multiethnic urban en- from a repetitive, regulated, predictable system. Rather, vironments (Apostolov 2008). Such multiplicity cannot a radical empirical approach to the study of the event is easily be subjected to any strict limitation and control, “to explore the novel potentiality of a becoming that is prediction and channeling, either in space or in time. As always not yet” (op. cit.:16). Such approach resonates with contemporary an- empirical observation shows, it provides creative spaces thropological interest in phenomenology and ethics for multiple (re-) interpretations and re-presentations (Mattingly 2018). Without exaggerating these method- post-factum that can be used and re-used to support ology and theoretical insights as universal in the study endless new projects and political agendas. of festivals and popular culture, I think that they can help produce interesting and deeper analysis of chalga BALKAN HERITAGE and turbofolk in the Balkans. Scholarship on turbofolk AND INTERCULTURALITY shows many attempts to analyze the multiple dimen- The majority of turbofolk studies are exclusively dealing sions of this phenomenon (in contrast to somewhat with Serbia and other post-Yugoslavian countries and weaker academic interest to chalga). Irena Šentevska only some mention that similar phenomena exist in

Nätverket 2020: 22: 69–86 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 73 # “Love for the rich, porn for the people?” Popular music in the Balkans as a locus for negotiation of belonging and social distinction neighboring Balkan states. More recent scholarship of popularity are hard to identify at this point of research has started to see into the phenomenon some traces of and time. common Balkan identity that goes beyond balkanism, The female singer Lepa Brena deserves to be men- i.e., the shared inferiority complex or ascribed margin- tioned here as extremely popular and beloved in Bulgaria ality, and some musicologists have even suggested a new in the 1980s. Her video clips and music records were joint research agenda (Ceribašić, Hofman & Rasmussen not officially sold by the single socialist music company, 2008). Studies on chalga, on the other hand, look for Balkanton. As part of a well-established network of its local roots, or claim it is a borrowing from neigh- informal (black) marketing, audio cassettes with her boring Yugoslavia, Turkey, or Roma culture (Rice 2002). songs were imported from Serbia privately, and then But each of these traditions only represent a part of reproduced for personal use or black marketing. Even more complex cultural and social processes. In order to though not everyone listened to her music, most people analyze these processes more broadly, I believe it can be knew of her and could recognize her songs. helpful to study the origins of both styles in their respec- Another genre that musicologists name as direct tive contexts, but also in their mutual connections. Such predecessor of chalga is wedding music (Ranova, 2006). analyses have been initiated within the edited volume by The beginning of this style is also traced to the 1980s Buchanan (2007). Connections between Balkan popular (Silverman 2007). While the older generation of my music are complex, they are legacies of the Ottoman informants know the songs mentioned in the literature Empire heritage in the second half of 19th century, so- on wedding music, they do not recognize them by the cialism in 20th c. and its following dissolution and crises, same name, but refer to them as “music for the table”, as well as global capitalism, politics, and ideas. or “for after a few drinks”. Many more emic names can Musicologists have pointed out to chalga’s similar- be listed, if broader ethnographic research is conducted. ities with urban popular music in Bulgaria of the early “Table music” according to some of my interviews, is 1920s (Buchanan 2007; Statelova 2005). The music “unofficial” folk music, i.e. songs that professionalized might point out to such origins of chalga, but if we folklore of socialist time has not recognized or censors look into the social continuity and people’s narratives, have pointed to as unacceptable, because of their associa- chalga’s beginnings should be traced to the early 1980s tion with an unprivileged ethnic group, as inappropriate, and the huge popularity of what was called in Bulgaria or obscene. Such music has been ignored as non-existent “Serbian” or “Yugoslavian” music. Experts name this by the authorities, and yet performed and enjoyed on a kind of music “Newly Composed Folk Music” (NCFM) mass scale, in diverse circles of society. Together with the and connect it to important political transformations varieties of village folklore that did not pass censorship of Yugoslavian state regime in the 1970s. While many but were still remembered, it can perhaps be defined as associate NCFM with growing consumerism and mar- cultural intimacy, to borrow Michael Herzfeld’s term ketization, others point to its dissident character (Ras- (Herzfeld 1997). mussen 2013). According to informants’ descriptions, In Yugoslavia, the origins of turbofolk are also from for Bulgarians “Serbian” music of the time combined the the early 1980s. In the context of socialist countries, Yu- sense of Western dance music and visions with sounds, goslavia has the aura of a “Western ally”, much higher rhythms, and emotions that are more “native” to the standard, consumption, and finally, relative freedom. region. While there are perhaps some regional differen- Many activities and freedoms that in Bulgaria would be ces, the part of Bulgaria I have grown up in, i.e. the capital defined by the official adjective “debasement” (i.e. im- and the South-West, was not far from the Yugoslavian morality) were not condemned in neighboring Yugosla- borders, and many people during my childhood had via. At the same time, Yugoslavia was more accessible strong interest in NCFM music. If I try to reconstruct for Bulgarians in comparison to other Western and even by memory the social characteristics of this audience, I socialist countries, because of similarities in language, see some very loose demarcation lines, perhaps mostly shared ethnic minorities, and similar historical heritage. in education and job identity. For example, in order to The historical context that eventually brought up mark belonging to intelligentsia, a person would deny turbofolk can be followed to 1948, with Josip Broz listening to “Serbian” music. This said, I like to point out Tito’s break up with Stalin, his Resolution and so-called that many were perhaps also more passive listeners than self-managed socialism. Under this regime, all enter- active ones, i.e. would enjoy it if someone else plays it, or prises were given to the management of workers. The at least tolerate it. Unfortunately, more accurate statistics breakup with Stalin harmed the country’s economic

Nätverket 2020: 22: 69–86 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 74 Vladimirova, V. # balance since Russia and its satellites enforced an backward people. This set it in opposition to the Yugoslav embargo. That made Tito turn to Western powers, state that actively sought to promote and project an image of a progressive liberal society through openness to Western mostly the USA from where he received considerable influences. (Čvoro 2014:10) financial and other help. This resulted in a period of lib- eralization in every aspect of life and the appearance of As Čvoro writes, in this period, popular music is one of a consumer society. Yugoslavia tried to portray itself as a the areas in which cultural identity and difference were state where socialism had a more human face. Western articulated and communicated. While this is first termed influence was also used as a way to navigate nationa- as taste, soon the objections to NCFM focused around lism within the country. It fostered Western influenced one particular aspect: its “oriental” sound, i.e. richly-or- popular music, first in the form of jazz and Italian pop namented melodies with various trill patterns. This style and afterwards rock-and-roll, despite its expressions of is symbolically associated with Turkish cultural domi- sexual freedom that did not fully follow state imposed nance under the centuries-long Ottoman rule in the norms of morality (Atanasovski 2015). region, and is thus marginalized both on the basis of As scholars argue, NCFM is a product of this “otherness” and on a civilization scale (Čvoro 2014; Ras- economic and political predicament of 1970s and 1980s, mussen 2013). Thus, from its accession, NCFM com- and those who look for its earlier roots are mostly prises a contradiction in popular symbolic attribution of contributing to its mythology (Čvoro 2014). NCFM meaning and identification: on the one hand it is seen started as experimenting to apply pop music idioms as folk and traditional, and egalitarian, coming from the such as song structure and lyrical themes dealing with sources of folklore, on the other – as foreign, as “other”, contemporary life on popular folk music, such as village as Oriental, an identity against which Balkan national singing or ritual instrumental music. NCFM combined identities are constructed. This is only one axis of unre- pop elements with “regional codes”, such as a distinc- solved contradictions. Such contradictions resort around tive rhythmic pattern, a melodic sequence and an in- the oppositions cosmopolitan–primitive, rural–urban strumental or textual motif associated with local iden- and European–Balkan. Scholars attribute these to the tities (Rasmussen 2013). The resulting music quickly complex political, historical and economic conditions in acquired recognizable stable features and themes, such the Balkans, both at the inception of NCFM and later. as love, regional belonging, family and everyday life Self-management policy in Yugoslavia introduced (Čvoro 2014). The combination between quintessential a shift to a market-based economy, which enabled the folk instruments, such as accordion, tapan and darabuka growth of the entertainment industry and development drums, and electric guitar, bass, keyboards and electronic of popular culture. However, because of its idiosyncratic drums is one of these features. Thus, materially and sym- economic, political and cultural position, popular culture bolically folk music and spirit is upgraded to the present, that developed also had a distinctive and peculiar cha- modern, and high status (Čvoro 2014:9). The process of racter. This ambiguity enabled the growth and flourish- updating folk life, sensibilities and identity to modern ing of the music industry, while also ensuring that the ones was explicitly or implicitly addressed in the music music remained at the margins of the official system itself, sometimes in joking or even ironic ways, through of values. At particular moments of “socialist devel- lyrics and performers’ stage behavior. opment” – in the 1970s and 1980s – NCFM was dis- Scholars point out to broader global momentum cussed through the frame of cultural values (the charge marked by the emergence of so-called “world music”, of of music as harmful kitsch) and ethnic identity (in the which NCFM seems to be contemporary. In Yugosla- orientalization debates). These highly charged ideolog- via and beyond, folk music was being transformed by ical frames became key points around which collective a number of rock and jazz musicians who began to in- identity was articulated. The cultural signifiers of “kitsch” corporate elements of folk as a way to experiment and and “oriental” were not only crucial in the formation expand their sound. Within this global process of at- of cultural self-perception in Yugoslavia, but continue tributing new status and value to folk music, local di- to frame debates about NCFM and turbofolk in the versities and contradictions deserve research attention. present (Čvoro 2014). According to some scholars, in contrast to jazz and rock, It is hard to evaluate retrospectively using ethno- NCFM was graphic methods to what extent debates and catego- ries inherent in Yugoslavian NCFM were followed in the antithesis to progressive modern Yugoslavia. It was seen as the domain of the uncultured, uneducated and generally Bulgaria. The generation of informants that I inter-

Nätverket 2020: 22: 69–86 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 75 # “Love for the rich, porn for the people?” Popular music in the Balkans as a locus for negotiation of belonging and social distinction viewed, who were in their 20s in the late 1970s and music served as a specific “window” to the West and a 1980s, mostly iterate the attraction of the music for sign of the level of liberalization and democratization partying, the emotions it evokes, the associations with (Hofman 2017). In the later part of the 1980s and in traditional village folk music, and the sexual appeal of the 1990s, a number of younger female and male singers the female singers. Finally, that they felt it closer than gained popularity within pop folk music. other imported styles, because they could understand Scholars discuss the war in Kosovo as a key event the language. As illegally imported quasi-Western in the rearticulation of turbofolk music as a container product, “Serbian music” was seen at the time by many of predominantly nationalist messages and ideology as pointing to a higher status than the officially estab- (Monroe 2000). I am not able to verify empirically what lished, approved, and distributed Bulgarian folk music. broader audiences think of such a cuasal relation. Within In some ways, informants point out, “Serbian music” these events, particularly the image of Lepa Brena got could be interpreted as subversion of the official pro- transformed, despite the fact that it is another folk star, hibition and censure of Western popular music. In its Ceca, that got married to Željko Ražnatović (Arkan). subversive role, it is similar to uncensored Bulgarian folk Arkan was the founder of a paramilitary group (Serb music, dying out in peripheral villages together with its Volunteer Guard) involved in the genocide in Croatia last bearers and to the above mentioned wedding music. and Bosnia and Herzegovina and later sentenced for I base this statement not solely on my personal crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the memories of growing up in the capital of Bulgaria in Geneva Convention. Within some of her songs, Lepa the1980s, but in evidence from other interviewees. On Brena announced to the world (not much unlike others), official public level, “Serbian music“ was ignored as that she supports Yugoslavia, which she identifies with non-existent, so official debate about it and those who the drive to modernization and upward social mobility, listen to it could not appear until the 1990s. Neither any multiculturalism, social equality and economic wellbe- of the people I talked to discerns so much Yugoslavian ing. Because of Milošević pressure on her to entertain or Serbian nationalist messages in it, at least in its Bul- and motivate the army during the military events she garian context. One of the interviewees even remem- continues to be associated with Serbian nationalism in bered that Lepa Brena, whom many scholars associate media and research even today. Lepa Brena was picked with long-lasting “true” Yugoslavian ideology, identity up as one of the main tabloid targets in the 1990s on and values, was actually born and grew up in a small unproved allegations that she intensely denied, such Bosnian urban community, in a working-class Muslim as speaking with a Serbian accent, being married to a family. The same informant shared with me links to Serbian celebrity (tennis player), and converting from YouTube records where she performs more syncretic Islam to Orthodoxy, thus betraying her native culture, music, including rock, samba and tango. According to people and place. This is mostly an example where eth- scholars, Lepa Brena is the first truly market economy nicity is constructed in a post-imperial (post-Yugoslav) music star, whose career was shaped in a way similar to situation. the way other central state supported genres, like rock- Few other singers have been reported in the lite- and-roll, and jazz. At the same time, with her person- rature to perform blatant Serbian nationalism, such as ality, Western star appearance, and stage performance, Mirko Pajčin, known as Baja Mali Knindža, and openly she managed to mobilize wider audiences. Her huge sympathizing with Serbian paramilitary. Nevertheless, concerts were organized accordingly and in contrast to as Atanasovski argues, it is perhaps not accurate to claim previous folk performances. As scholars observe, she that Milošević produced or supported the rise of turbo- was popular in other Balkan countries too, for example folk in order to destroy the cultural alternatives to the na- in 1984, her concert in Timisoara, Romania, exceeded tionalistic project (Gordy 2010). The process is perhaps all expectations and instead of the anticipated 30.000, much more complex and can be connected to the history 60.000 fans attending. She ended her tour in Bulgaria in of the genre, the effects of the economic crises and the 1990 with the concert in the Levski Stadium in Sofia, in imposition of market economy (Ðurkovid 2001). The front of 100.000 people – the biggest musical event in loss of cultural alternatives described by Gordy resulted the Balkans for its time. This show was not only seen as mostly from the withdrawal of state support, the social just extraordinary music performance but also a political and economic crises which affected Western-influenced event par excellence. In these countries, Brena and her music genres, incapable of sustaining their activities. The

Nätverket 2020: 22: 69–86 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 76 Vladimirova, V. # radical nationalistic examples of turbofolk, although In order to provide some logical structure of the presen- representative of the ideological system, could only exist tation, I arrange the section around some of the dicho- within the context of the genre’s extreme popularity tomies that have been most commonly presented as axis and appeal (Atanasovski 2015:90-91). In some instan- of meaning in turbofolk and chalga. ces, of course, nationalism in a context of radicalization can also transform the music and shape audiences. The LOCALISM AND SOCIAL CONTEXT multiple potentialities of the genre can develop in both Chalga originary story directions. At this point, it is interesting to compare turbofolk Numerous Bulgarian publications about chalga mention with evolving chalga in the 1990s, in the slightly diffe- its kinship with Serbian turbofolk, together with the rent context of economic and political liberalization in genre similarities with Turkish arabesk and Romanian Bulgaria. Lepa Brena and other older and new folk ce- manele. The enormous popularity of NCFM on Bulgar- lebrities preserved some of their popularity and the alle- ian ground is however more rarely stressed as the direct gation for Serbian nationalism did not follow it or raise predecessor and stimulus to chalga, as well as the source public debate in Bulgaria. Since the 1990s, however, such of its content, aesthetic, and imagery. Instead, chalga is stars remained more and more in the shade of a quickly traced back to the 1980s and the mythologized figure of growing number of local chalga singers. Like in neigh- the Hisara Preast (Statelova 2005:15). Dimitar Andonov, bouring countries, business interests were a major driver as his real name is, is a self-educated singer and per- of the process of evolving taste for the music and edu- former, who according to his myth, is either a rebel who cating audiences. One of the emblematic names for this escaped from his socialist family, or a monk who escaped industry and the birth nest of multiplying chalga stars from the monastery, to travel and perform contemporary is Payner Studio. Payner Studio was created in the early folk songs that had been banned by the regime because 1990s in a small provincial town in Southern Bulgaria, of their lyrics. According to more verifiable data, in the but is at present situated in a big building in the centre 1980s, he was making illegal records of his songs, that of the capital. Its ascendance in space is revealing about were sold via the black marketing networks privately or the development of market economy, consumption, taste on agricultural markets, together with other goods, most and values in post-socialist Bulgaria. often illegally imported by tourists and travelers from Despite all assertions in the literature, it is hard to neighboring Yugoslavia (Peycheva & Dimov 1994). The determine a single hearth origin of chalga, a phenome- second key event that historians of chalga keep repeat- non that quickly became so broad and diverse, borrowing ing is Krystal Orkestra that gained popularity in the from a variety of sources, imports, and inspirations. The transition to the 1990s and post-socialism. multiplicity of functions ascribed to and projected on it In their turn, some Western scholars, analyze also contribute to the complexity of the phenomenon. chalga as borrowing from neighboring post-Yugosla- Chalga has been described as an expression of the moral vian nations, and even as an imported post-Ottoman digression of the transition, where moral norms and heritage (Rice 2002). Both attitudes are puzzling, and political values “crashed”, and gave ground to criminal- I can only explain them within the framework of a par- ization, mercantilism and consumerism, vulgarization, ticular discourse. Within such discourse, there exist ex- pornography, and kitsch. It promises escape from the clusive national borders based in clearly-defined ethnic “confusing and depressing reality” (Agoston-Nikolova groups and territories. Within such fictive construction, 2008:12). It is irrational in that it helps negate old values Bulgaria is outside the realm of Ottoman heritage and in order to face insecure and unpredictable reality and its creation and reproduction, and its genres of folk cre- restructure it, including by humour and parody (Rice ativity are clearly defined and distinct from those of all 2002). The search for a particular temporal, spatial, and other Balkan national/ethnic groups. This fictive picture cultural origin is perhaps also part of a political project, has strong political connotations, which have been an attempt to construct chalga in a particular way, which utilized in many political agendas, with diverse purposes. is resonant with political, economic or social agenda. The example of mobilizing turbofolk in military conflict For the purposes of more nuanced scholarly analysis, is a good example of the inherent risk. In Bulgarian as I suggest in the following section, are illustrations of context, attempts to mobilize the nation through chalga diversity and non-resolute meanings attached to music. have been observed too, particularly in the activity of

Nätverket 2020: 22: 69–86 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 77 # “Love for the rich, porn for the people?” Popular music in the Balkans as a locus for negotiation of belonging and social distinction the popular TV show star Slavi Trifonov whose music from the last twenty years, where the scholar is expected and television productions purposefully create an image to take the position of, and listen to and present local of the nation and sell that image as an inconspicuous voices, and finally respect them and fight for their inter- element of popular music culture (Kourtova 2012). ests (Robbins 2013)? The position “I do not like chalga” The historical context of the Balkans can perhaps is unacceptable for an anthropologist aspiring to the help explain the bias of this specific historical construc- discipline’s ethical norms, by projecting the attitude one tion. The relatively recent origin of most Balkan states has to the music by default to those that listen to it and in the second half of 19c and their preceding politi- like it. “I am not like them”. i.e. I am better, is the hidden cal history under the Ottoman Empire are the back- message. Even more important than ethical concerns, is ground against which such intensive efforts of building the positionality of this statement, and its dismissal of up a nation and national identity can be analyzed. The the validity and value of the perspectives of those who drawing of borders between these states, not so rarely listen to or like the music (Livni 2014). Interviews and under the dictate of random circumstances like wars observations with such people are noticeably missing in between the European powers, Russia and the Ottoman published research, even in studies that provide careful Empire, then the complex ethnic origin of such a mixed analysis of the attractions that the music has, as well as and long-lived empire like the Ottoman, has contri- its transgressive, revolutionary, emancipatory roles in buted to strong nationalist movements within each of society (Atanasovski 2015; Čvoro 2014; Kourtova 2013). these countries. Finally, such movements have been The trend of negation and criticism in the analysis strongly shaped following a model and support from of turbofolk is predominant since early 1990s, and the European nations (Livni 2014). Such nationalisms often attributed to its connections with the criminaliza- often involve as a referent neighboring Balkan states, tion and militant nationalism in Serbia (Gordy 2010; constructed as others, despite strong ethnic, linguistic, Kronja 2004). Simultaneously, Dragičević-Šešić sees in cultural and historical kinship ties (Todorova 2004). I turbofolk “a form of escapism built on kitsch, nationa- have no space to go in any detail about this complex lism, retrograde patriarchy, traditionalism and cultural research terrain, but I only suggest that it is in it that provincial backwardness” (Dragićević-Šešić 1994). This we can find the grounds for understanding some of the study established the critical paradigm for understand- specificities of the power of chalga and turbofolk. ing turbofolk not just as music, but as a broader cultural construct, reflective of the nationalist and criminal pa- Chalga and turbofolk as identity markers thologies of the 1990s (Čvoro 2014). Its high point was Even though I felt provoked to write this paper by a state campaign purging turbofolk from all state televi- scholarship that I thought was unfairly reducing turbo- sion channels in the mid-1990s. Paradoxically, the state’s folk to porn nationalism, I do not listen to chalga by my activism against turbofolk had the effect of distancing own choice! I want to write the preceding statement, it from Milošević and contributed to its growing pop- and I have wanted to repeat it frequently in encounters ularity. with Bulgarians. What am I trying to say or achieve As Statelova writes, among interested scholars, with this statement? The interplay between notions of two attitudes to chalga predominate: in the minority cultural taste also included the creation of a rift between group are those who try to tolerate and sympathize folk and rock as two key axes of sociocultural identity, with it, because it is “intertwined in the local landscape” encapsulated in the (still present) question, “what music (Statelova 2005:17). In the majority, whom she rep- do you listen to?”. In Yugoslavia, enjoying a particular resents and calls “hard core culturologists”, the “essential song or performer is not a culturally inconsequential cultural phenomenon associated with ethnic pop music choice; it is an indication of musical preference that is is the disgust felt for it” (op. cit.) It is this disgust and tied to cultural affinity (Čvoro 2014). What do other repulsion that is the basis of research interest. Statelova analysists of chalga aim by continuously pointing out takes a semiotic framework of culture and uses Mikhail that they do not listen to or like the music but study Bakhtin’s notion of the “carnivalesque”. In Bakhtin’s it as a persistent (negative) social phenomenon (Čvoro view, the carnival is a communicative event, or rather an 2014; Georgiev 2012; Statelova 2005)? How is such anti-authority communicative event. Carnival’s themes a position compatible with anthropological research normally achieve inversion, ambivalence, and excess. ethics and predominant interest in the “suffering slot” The human body, and particularly its disreputable or

Nätverket 2020: 22: 69–86 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 78 Vladimirova, V. #

“lower strata” parts, are often used to symbolize the di- category, and Gordy similarly highlights that it is not chotomies between “high” or “low”. The high and low an “aesthetic” category, but a construction derived from dichotomy is particularly relevant in communication, as other basic social oppositions. It is precisely the rep- certain language is considered high, while other is low. resentational and conceptual fluidity of turbofolk that Within such framework, much popular communica- allows it to be framed as a cultural mediator. tion including television shows, books, and movies fall In the next section, I will discuss some of the in- into high and low culture categories (Bakhtin 1984). tersections of identity that chalga has been pointed As Ivanova well illustrates, in this structuralist trend to create and reproduce. In any of these intersections, of analysis, chalga is a ritual with its specific temporal chalga is a tentative marker that lacks stable and definite (night), spatial (the pub), and symbolic characteristics, meaning. that all point out to its carnivalesque role. To borrow an Urban-rural example, one of the most scandalous chalga singers of the 1990s, Sashka Vaseva, the Madonna from Dupnica, This binary opposition has been actualized by mo- is interpreted as the ultimate symbol of the “bottom” – dernization projects in 20th century. As modernity has Dupnitsa as semantically close to the Bulgarian word become associated with urbanization, rural and peasant for bottom (dupe), but also a symbol for the small, rural, have been often constructed in opposition to modern. non-modern town from the periphery. Then, Madonna, Thus, one of the cultural lines of demarcation, includ- with her image as an erotic pop star, her foreignness, ing via popular music, is the urban, cosmopolitan, and that in the Balkan picture of the world stands for the rural, village, local and primitive. Turbofolk and chalga ultimate chthonic source (Ivanova 2000:40). audiences have been generally described as lower or This analysis, however interesting and valid, has its working class families with limited education, and the limitations. Among those who are interested in chalga, rock/punk/new wave audiences that were perceived Sashka Vaseva has often been referred to with irony as the culturally sophisticated middle class (Spasenić and mockingly, as someone who is building a career by 2018). Such idea perhaps evolves from the common taking some elements from the imagery of chalga to belief that NCFM was in the taste of the countryside an extreme, i.e. eroticism. All my informants refuse to and those who have most recently migrated to the city link her with the chalga music that they like. Chalga, (Archer 2012). While there is no statistics about the re- if we take seriously the views of its fans, should not be sidency of the music audience, considering the present reduced to one or a few artists and events, but seen as a demographic picture of Bulgaria, for example, it is more broader and more hybrid range of choices. This is why likely that a big part of chalga audience is urban. The I believe that a Bakhtinian structuralism captures only group of people whom I interviewed for this study some aspects of this complex social phenomenon that have also diverse origin along this divide. The prede- are at the interface of chalga. cessor styles from the beginning of 20th century were A communication framework is also commonly also urban. The topics of most songs, the accompanying applied to the study of turbofolk and its history (Ras- videos, all refer to urban environments too. In terms of mussen 2013). Čvoro agrees that turbofolk has been its symbolic geography, of course this hypothetical de- perceived through a series of cultural oppositions mographic distribution of chalga fans is hardly of such (urban–rural and rock–folk) that shifted over time: in importance. Among the people I interviewed, members the 1970s, central was the question of taste and kitsch; of the younger generation point out to the urban themes in the 1980s, of the “oriental” threat to national identity; and aesthetics of the songs. While they could point out in the 1990s, a split between good Europeanism (urban to people that think of chalga aesthetic as un-cultured, opposition to Milošević) and bad Serb nationalism (pro- they do not self-identify with this position. At the same vincialism) became actualized; and in the 2000s, turbo- time, in more intimate environments, i.e. among friends folk became a signifier for transnational “Balkanness”, a and other chalga fans, people can make jokes that hint regional identity that stands opposed to the neoliberal to chalga as a symbol of lower culture and a definition of global capital. Čvoro explores how turbofolk mediates a “peasant”. This has been pointed to as one of the am- between daily politics and perceptions of national biguities of chalga. The concept of cultural intimacy can identity through culture (Čvoro 2014). Baker suggests help to better understand this phenomenon. Herzfeld that turbofolk should be understood as a conceptual introduced this concept in order to grasp the diversity of

Nätverket 2020: 22: 69–86 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 79 # “Love for the rich, porn for the people?” Popular music in the Balkans as a locus for negotiation of belonging and social distinction interpretations and moral qualities attributed to cultural emulate the celebrity lifestyles of Western pop music forms, as well as the ways they are employed in commu- and Hollywood divas and adopt similar stage names, nication and social process (Herzfeld 1997; Light 2008). but that sound Bulgarian and sometimes folk, such as Within the group of chalga fans, it can also be part of Anelia, Tsvetelina, Malina, etc. cultural intimacy to call a fellow fan “peasant” without Pop-folk divas appear in fashion magazines, gossip aiming to insult. Thus, chalga, as well as turbofolk needs columns, talk shows and other media to discuss their to be seen as a field of knowledge and practice that is fashion tastes, diets, relationships and house furnishing. open to diverse contextual interpretations and endless The lyrics of songs are also characterized as simplistic, semiotic combinations. As such, and as every other field pornographic, dirty and vulgar. The topics they deal with of social activity, it has huge potential to be employed are currency, capital, and conspicuous consumption, the in directing agency according to different purposes, in markers of capitalist success. A recurring theme is the fulfillment of different agendas. role of personal profit to “real” love, romantic and sexual relations. In some renderings, money is translated into Cultured-uncivilized successful sexual relations and love affairs, in others, it is The urban-rural opposition is in complex intersection opposed to “true” love. Such ambiguities reflect and are with other dichotomies, one of which goes along the part of a tense public debate. Some scholars interpret axis of culture and civilization. The imagery and poetics chalga lyrics as a symbol of the cultural and economic of both chalga and turbofolk have often been described corruption shattering society since 1990 (Kourtova as trite, low-brow and kitsch. They employ sensual and 2013). sexual postures and messages, nudity and sometimes Đurković and Gordy suggest that turbofolk oriental imagery such as belly dance. This imagery pours emerged in the void created by the withdrawal of state from album covers, billboards, announcements, adver- support for pop and rock music, and by the deregulation tising, music videos, concerts and performances, and all of the entertainment industry. In many of the debates kinds of media. What is popular in the visual style of about the moral qualities of turbofolk scholars detect stars is open shirts and gold chains for men, and tight remnants from the “cosmopolitan socialist elite’s” detes- revealing outfits, highlighting the bodies of women tation to the culture of the working class and peasants. (Kourtova 2013; Kronja 2004). Art historian Branislav Dimitrijević came with the term The quoted research discusses these representations “cultural racism” to describe such systemic elitism and critically as instances of un-cultured and un-civilized hatred towards turbofolk, to which all atrocities of the behavior and bad taste. There is no detailed empirical transition are ascribed (Čvoro 2014). study, however, of transforming societal values and ideas In many academic accounts of chalga and turbo- of what is cultured, and its oppositions. Postsocialist folk, a primary importance is ascribed to the mediation moralities in Bulgaria or Post-Yugoslavian space, have of cultural belonging between the Oriental and the not yet received the research attention they deserve. The European, with all their symbolic expressions. In Balkan present norms, values, and models of cultured behavior historical context, European modernity is the model against which chalga and turbofolk are judged remained and sign for high culture, and the Orient is opposed to abstract and unclear, largely assumed. This is a research it, and consequently designates low culture (Georgiev question of its own and one of great complexity, especial- 2012; Livni 2014). I have no space to discuss here in ly if one takes a processual and phenomenology-inspired more detail the intersections between the symbolic ge- perspective on morality. More specific connections that ography of the Balkans and the civilizational charac- the existing literature make is the judgement of taste teristics of popular music, even though I acknowledge against the increasing value of consumption, capital, its importance. Nevertheless, I believe that it should and its accumulation; i.e. materialist and corporal per- not obscure other aspects of popular music that have spectives that are presented in opposition to socialist received less attention because of the exclusive focus on humanist, spiritual and romantic moral ideology (Kronja identity vis a vis modernity. While many scholars have 2004). Scholars associate turbofolk and chalga’s imagery used these intersections to criticize extensively chalga with a commercial and materialistic lifestyle that per- and turbofolk as marginal and debilitating, others point formers display both on and off stage (Agoston-Ni- out to extreme employment of Oriental elements as a kolova 2008). For example, Bulgarian female stars who revolt. Several scholars have also revealed the potential

Nätverket 2020: 22: 69–86 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 80 Vladimirova, V. # of turbofolk and chalga to resist elitism, subvert it, and based on true emotions, such as friendship and love, oppose to it the values of pluralism and multiculturalism the aesthetic shows affinity to material luxury and ex- (Kourtova 2013). uberance. In this sense, chalga appeals both to nouveau Most of the people I interviewed for this study, riches and to those who imitate them in an attempt to however, do not identify chalga with oriental dance or an imaginary virtual escape from their lower economic music exclusively. Oriental elements are conceived of as status. It is because of this duality that some scholars intrinsic and “normal” for chalga style, in the same way have pointed to turbofolk as a way of escapism (Čvoro they are incorporated in other pop music productions. 2014:12). An informant reminded me of a popular western song The representations of affluence and conspicuous that uses an interlude of Bulgarian folklore song. “This consumption and the dual ambivalent relation to them, does not make it a folk song or Bulgarian. And who are hardly unique to chalga and turbofolk. Many other cares nowadays, anyway? It is a party.” popular styles of music play with such universal imagery The understanding of such complex intersections, I and symbolic oppositions, for example pop music. Also, believe, can benefit further from event analysis based on by this point of time, the diversity in the genres of chalga extensive empirical methodology and more first person and turbofolk is so huge, that to posit unified symbol- accounts, which can serve as the ground for research ism and values as the ground of a general argument questions and agendas instead of top-down approaches. about the genres, is not a rewarding scholarly enterprise. Even though some scholars seem to think of turbofolk Social stratification as a “unifying project” (Grujić 2009), I believe that its The level of culture and civilization debated within economic organization contradicts such perception. In the field of chalga and turbofolk further intersects with creating a music product, most economic actors behind notions of affluence and social class. Already NCFM turbofolk and chalga, are creative in designing a diver- has been treated in the literature as the expression of sity that can attract as many consumers as possible. The marginal identities and cultural degeneration that orig- diversity and dynamic development in the genre have inated from the poor, underprivileged, uneducated and been noticed in the literature, even though not studied rural backgrounds of most singers. The perceived aes- in much detail (Kourtova 2013). This diversification thetic inferiority of NCFM is expressive of a sociocul- contributes to the increasing popularity of the genre, tural differentiation between the working class and the and its attraction to a larger audience that embodies cultural intelligentsia in Yugoslavia (Čvoro 2014). Such more values, identities and group belongings than pre- distinction can perhaps be projected to socialist Bulgaria viously assumed. As one of my younger informants too, with one interesting peculiarity based in the “idio- (28 years old) recounts, her favorite female performer, syncratic economic, political and cultural position of Yu- Anelia, made her name as a starting singer with more goslavia”, where popular culture “was located between “main stream” chalga. Later however, she developed an a divergent and often contradictory network of influ- individual performance style around musical elements ences: between the historical roots in Eastern tradition and imagery that border on pop and rock music. Others, (Ottoman and Byzantine) and Westward leanings” like for example the above mentioned Slavi Trifonov (Čvoro 2014). Thus “Serbian” music even if low culture, and singers that started their careers in his shows, found have been ascribed certain status on the basis that it is their way into audience hearts by creating chalga that imported from a country closer to the West. is closer to professionally performed folk music and Chalga, on the other hand, has been generally seen aesthetics. The diversification of chalga since the 2000s as expressive form within the taste of the masses. Social- in my experience provided space for it among social ist cultural elites have made strong effort to dissociate groups that would previously distinguish themselves from it. A detailed empirical study will perhaps show from it. My examples here are some scholar colleagues that economic affluence as well as level of culture have and their families. This process can hardly be interpreted rather complex and sometimes ambivalent relations to as the sole result of the aggressive imposition of chalga music taste. As many authors point out, turbofolk and in public spaces and leisure time places, such as busses, chalga use symbols of conspicuous consumption and restaurants, discos, hotels, and resorts. According to the ascribe status to material affluence. Even in songs where account of a colleague scholar, she would not listen to lyrics appeal to anti-market moral norms and relations chalga music, and used to despise it in the past. Recently,

Nätverket 2020: 22: 69–86 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 81 # “Love for the rich, porn for the people?” Popular music in the Balkans as a locus for negotiation of belonging and social distinction however, she has stopped to be agitated when they play the rapidly growing new (materialist and consumer- it, and she would even dance. “Chalga has changed and ist) values and morality, social relations, hierarchies, it is only a party music anyway”. and aesthetics. Turbofolk is also seen as an “ideological Other female informants from the younger genera- shorthand in the processes of social re-structuring and tion explain that what they like in their favorite singers re-stratification in changing economic and political cir- are beauty and the combination of purity and eroticism cumstances, playing an active role in their politicization” that they embody and express with their personal styles (Čvoro 2014). As examples, the same author mentions and songs. They do not recognize chalga as excessive ad- the perception of turbofolk as a “Balkan ghost”, “a vertising of consumerism, not more than other media symbolic attribute that designates a position of mindless and popular culture. Neither conceive of chalga as an and excessive enjoyment” (p.4); the mobilization of indicator of social class divisions. It is played every- music by the Milošević regime in 1990s; or as “reverse where, and at all kinds of parties, both at expensive and nationalism” that celebrates the exotic authenticity and cheaper places. In this way, chalga is egalitarian. Turbo- lust for life of the Balkans, in contrast to the “inhibited folk, according to research, is also popular in diaspora anemic and emasculated Western Europeans” (Čvoro post-Yugoslavian population. In this sense it is perhaps 2014:5). more egalitarian than its predecessors. More empirical As a term turbofolk can have a range of meanings, research is needed in order to analyze this phenomenon, including parody (it was coined by rap musician Rambo and event analysis can be a good theoretical framework Amadeus as a parody of folk in Yugoslavia), derision (it of such study. It can accommodate the wider array of is used as a negative label that suggests backwardness, meanings, instrumentalities, and articulations that are rural primitivism and nationalism) and value judge- enacted within the discursive and practical fields of ment (it suggests kitsch, the nouveau riche and general- chalga and turbofolk. ly low culture). However, it can also refer to intentional Scholars have pointed to the non-engaging sim- self-exoticization as a marker of imagined Balkan tem- plicity and superficiality of chalga, which provides an perament and mentality, where spontaneity, passion and easy way to relax and forget about problems, to feel free emotion have positive connotations (Čvoro 2014:20). and get into the party mood (Sotirova 2012). It creates Such analytical insights point to the ambiguities of tur- positive emotions, according to fans’ opinions, gives bofolk and chalga. However, further research is needed energy, provides space for spontaneity and sociality. It to understand the diversity, multi-vocality, intertextuali- can be appealing and provocative, but it is within the ty and dialogical character of turbofolk and chalga. agency of the audience to make their own meanings, If we see chalga and turbofolk through the lens of read the messages they want, and construct their own event anthropology, as critical junctures of change, we messages to others. It is within one’s power to construct need to look at them as processes that evolve within a a personal and group relation to it. Other adjectives that larger context. This context is equally part of the evolving informants attached to chalga are “hot”, “party”, “cool”, and developing music genres, rather than mere back- “liberating”, “youthful”. It can further be associated with ground. Looking at it from a macro perspective, music hedonism and ludic experience. Event analysis can help is part of a larger event, rather than only provide space incorporate these qualities and experiences of chalga for communication, identity formation, or power impo- and turbofolk on an equal basis with the music’s role in sition via ideology and knowledge. What is the role of ethnic, national, class, and cultural identity formation. these genres in the way transformations evolved, in the sphere of economy, morality, politics? How are they part CONCLUSIONS of the contemporary world, locally as well as globally? As While the study of turbofolk is predominantly focused I hinted in the beginning of this paper, turbofolk plays a on nationalism, the literature on chalga operationaliz- role in Western accusatory and condemnatory narratives es the notion of identity. Scholars accentuate different of Serbian nationalism, and becomes a political tool for aspects of identity, but predominantly elaborate trans- constructing dominant accounts about it globally. forming ideas and relations to the complex history of the Many fans perhaps do not reflect on Ottoman region and the tension between Oriental and European heritage, multiculturalism, or Balkan unity when they influences and ideas. Chalga and turbofolk are studied are listening to turbofolk or chalga. Nor do they perhaps as fields of re-conceptualized socialist heritage within ponder messages and contradictions around ethnic,

Nätverket 2020: 22: 69–86 https://www.antro.uu.se/natverket-etnologisk-tidskrift/ 82 Vladimirova, V. # educational, regional, economic, or political positions. Looking at individual chalga and turbofolk events, Nevertheless, as many scholars and informants quoted like concerts and performances, can provide further in this paper persuasively show, the genres have the insights into the microprocesses of the unfolding reality. potential to raise messages and awareness about such Such research shows that potentialities can produce issues. They contain also certain codes that are accessi- patterns and norms that shape processes, but do not ble to broader audiences, and sometimes part of cultural foreclose unexpected turns, personal ambitions and intimacy, that enhance the communication and negoti- other chance circumstances. Research about the contra- ation around a number of social issues. Some of these dictory turbofolk star Ceca, whom I mentioned above, I discussed above. I believe that more explicit public provides clues here (Volčič & Erjavec 2010). Event discussion, including scholarly positions, is needed in analysis can show how different and sometimes incom- order to raise popular interest and provide tools for more mensurable interests and processes underlie turbofolk (self )reflection on chalga and turbofolk. Scholarly po- and chalga, and the ways these coexist or clash and sitions, however, need to be better grounded in diverse transform. Event analysis reveals the incoherent dimen- emic views and present them in less one-sided and more sions of human agency within lived situations as well as pluralistic manner. Few scholars have started unveiling takes into account the constant flux of social relations such realms of reflection within chalga. Apostolov, for and causalities between actors and contexts at local and example, employs ethnographic methods among youth global levels. to analyze their perceptions of and attitudes toward Finally, as Kapferer argues, events are creative and multicultural values inherent in chalga. He states that generative nexus of novel social possibilities. They can participants in the chalga scene, are part of the produc- provide a clue to the ways lived practice and experi- tion of “new multicultural experiences or realities, which ence as unfolding and opening up for “multiplicity of are informed by their own subjective constructions of sensory and cognitive processes which permits all kinds ethnicity and inter-ethnic culture. It is the constant give- of agency and effects” (Kapferer 2015). In this frame- and-take of different cultural messages, which facilitates work, analysis of events is also a site of multiple inter- the evolution of such subjective constructions” (Apos- pretations that have the potential to influence and trans- tolov 2008). It will be interesting to explore further, how form reality. If we take for example the numerous critical such new constructions interact with long established studies on chalga and turbofolk, they also reveal political racial ideas and social evolution-informed hierarchy in and economic intentions and structures that are situated society. This area could eventually slowly start problema- in particular historical junctures. Critical analysis reveals tizing existing ethnic stereotypes and nationalistic ideo- the structures of the social stratification inherited from logies in the Balkans. socialism, where intelligentsia has a privileged position. Kourtova, Ibroshcheva, and Jelača delve into tur- Post-socialist transformations shattered such arrange- bofolk and chalga experimentations with transsexual ments and new configurations of social, political and imagery to question dominant gender roles and disposi- economic reality questioned and undermined many such tions in society and the political actors that employ them privileges. In this sense, criticism of chalga from the to gain power (Ibroscheva 2014; Jelača 2015; Kourtova position of cultural elitism is not unbiased and neutral; 2013). Finally, a common plot in many chalga and it realizes political and economic agency of a social turofolk songs, the beautiful woman who is searching group that desperately fights to retrieve its previous po- for a successful husband in order to achieve rapid social sitions in society. Research of chalga and turbofolk in mobility, has been interpreted as an emancipatory model the context of power relations, then, needs to keep open that deploys new kinds of female agency and values the horizons of interpretation (Kapferer 2014) and focus ( Jelača 2015). As such studies indicate, chalga and tur- on its own political stances too. bofolk not only reflect or reproduce societal change, but are also part of it and have the potential to give shape and new direction to such processes. It is such potentials that attract politicians and intellectuals to try use the music and navigate its messages and seek audiences in order to gain power, or other kinds of capital.

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Vladislava Vladimirova is Associate Professor at the Institute of Russian and Eurasian Studies and the De- partment of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology, Uppsala University. She has conducted research in post-so- cialist contexts on topics related to land-use, law and ethnicity, intangible heritage and festivals, gender and nature conservation.

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