IMS Musicological Brainfood 2, No. 2 (2018)

IMS Musicological Brainfood2, no. 2 (2018) In the last issue ofIMS Musicological Brainfood tion of “Babel” looms large. Our vice president, wediscussedtheideaofaglobalmusicology.But Andrea Lindmayr-Brandl, has some provocative how should this be done in practice? The ques‐ thoughts for us to consider. Andrea Lindmayr-Brandl What blessed times they were when all people As an Austrian musicologist, my mother still understood each other, “and the whole earth tongue is German—and more precisely, Austrian, was of one language, and of one speech” (Gene‐ whichisadialectofGerman.Thosewhoarewell- sis 11:1). The Biblical story of the Tower of Babel acquainted with the German language immedi‐ is one about the hubris of man who, in pursuit ately spot the difference in the speech melody, of absolute knowledge, erected a tower that as Austrians are said to speak much softer and wouldmakehimreachtheheavensandresemble more “musically,” aside from significant varia‐ God. But God descended upon the earth to tions in the lexicon. Hence, differentiating our‐ thwart man’s aspirations by confounding his selves from our national neighbors is important language. It was the birth of a multilingual soci‐ to us, both in terms of cultural and professional ety which put humankind back into place, or so identity. However, when it comes to scholarly the tale goes. Where would we stand today, one writing, Austrian musicologists find themselves might wonder, if we could still communicate in the same boat with their German colleagues— freely across all linguistic barriers? strandedonaGermanophoneislandinthemidst But such speculations are futile, for history of a vast sea of anglophone research. tookadifferentcourse.Needlesstosay,wespeak Whereas generations of German-speaking myriad different languages today. And this lin‐ musicologists took it for granted to publish in guistic diversity is testimony to a wealth of cul‐ their mother tongue, this situation has changed tural and creative expression, each language be‐ dramatically in the past years. In the sciences, ing vessel for a distinct literary, artistic, and English has long been established as standard musical tradition—and to the various academic language of academia, but this newlingua franca traditions dedicated to their study. The impor‐ has recently also found its way into the arts and tance of language as a means of communication humanities. The field of musicology is no excep‐ is particularly evident in the fields of language tion: If a scholar today wants to gain interna‐ and literature, as these are disciplines in which tional resonance, he or she must write and language is thesole means of communication, present in English—there seems to be no way being mode and object of study at one and the around this fact. same time. But is multilingualism necessarily a The reasons for this development—which one by-product of multidisciplinarity? may or may not endorse—are historical, eco‐ 3 IMS Musicological Brainfood2, no. 2 (2018) nomic, and political, and form part of a larger impacts onwhat is being said,itmustremainthe globalizing trend I cannot engage with more primary concern of academia to circulate ideas deeply in this context. It suffices to say that the in the most effective and democratic manner. latter is paralleled by a long academic history in Writing an excellent musicological text is after which certain educational systems proved to be all an “art of the idea” before it is an “art of lan‐ more successful than others; it is not a mere co‐ guage.” incidence that anglophone institutions occupy We might further remind those colleagues thetoppositionsinalluniversityrankings.More‐ mourning the loss of their expressive acuity that over, English is today the third most spoken lan‐ even literary texts can be translated into other guage in the world (after Chinese and Spanish). languages without major cutbacks in linguistic It is taught in most schools as a second or third intricacy—granted one finds a good translator. language,aswellasbeingomnipresentinthedig‐ Itiscertainlyalsoworthwhiletobeongoodterms ital universe. German’s hegemony as a second with English native-speaking colleagues. And language—wherever this was the case—is long thosewhocannotresorttoqualifiedfamilymem‐ broken. bers(likeadaughterstudyingabroadwhohelped The resulting globalization of the academic translate this text, and a partner with excellent world can be sensed daily. Musicology has ac‐ English) will need to consult professional trans‐ cordingly been transformed from a national into lators. In this respect, university administrations a global field. What does this mean for our ev‐ should provide increased financial and profes‐ eryday academic lives? On the one hand, it en‐ sional assistance. Today, support and funds for tails an enormous expansion of our horizon, as translation remain very limited despite the fact conversations can be held across continents and thatpublishinginternationallyhasbecomeofut‐ there seems to be no new trend we cannot be a most importance. part of. Those who formerly were members of a Native speakers of English undoubtedly have small and locally circumscribed discipline sud‐ a major head start in this situation. But is there denly feel part of a vast international commu- much point in lamenting this fact? Over decades nity of experts in which language barriers are German-speaking musicologists were leading no longer obstacles for global interconnection. the field and all others had to bend to their (lin‐ Might we have finally reached pre-Babel condi‐ guistic) rules of the game. This has always been tions of linguistic unison? And might English be the case for the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hun‐ the corner stone of a new tower, the once-lost- gary, or the Netherlands—to name but a few but-now-found common tongue that will allow countries bordering on the German-speaking us to join forces in our earthly pursuit of knowl‐ world. Scholars of these nationalities have al‐ edge and understanding? ways been pressured to publish in a language At second glance, things certainly appear other than their own if they wanted their aca‐ more complex, since for us—the non-native demic reception to reach beyond the confines of speakers—this dream comes at a high price. their national borders. Do we—the German- Writing in English, we depend on help to pro‐ speakers—hence only reject a linguistic hege‐ duce texts of a high linguistic standard. We lose mony once it is no longer our own? theeaseandimmediacyofourexpression,which The alternative option would of course be to often constitutes our personal style of writing. retain all established European languages—En‐ And those who rely on a particularly ambitious glish, German, French, and Italian—in the major language to express musical complexities find academic traditions. But this appears to be a themselves fighting a losing battle. chimera, for who amongst us has such a high Whatcanbesaidagainstanyofthis?Despite command of all these languages that one can my own love for linguistic elegance, I must point fully comprehend even the most challenging out that at the end of the day, academic writing academic texts? We are merely deceiving our‐ serves a different purpose than creative writing. selves if we advocate for a quadrilingual aca‐ The balance between form and content is simply demic world. What is more, we cannot disregard not the same. And even ifhow one says things the fact that Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, and 4 IMS Musicological Brainfood2, no. 2 (2018) Chinese have by now also become global lan‐ main to speak German at regional events and guages. Who could still claim mastery in light of even produce German texts for publication with this linguistic proliferation? a very specific target audience. What is more, it Itthereforeseemsmuchmorereasonableand certainly would not be necessary to speak Eng‐ efficient to me to focus on English as a shared lish at a gathering with colleagues at which all vessel of communication and to improve one’s participants understand German. And when re‐ ownforeignlanguageskills.Likewise,technolog‐ ferring, for example, to a Schubert Lied, I would ical developments in the digital world give rise advocate for retaining the original title.Gretchen tosomehope:someEnglish-languageonlinejour‐ am Spinnrade after all sounds a lot better than nals already provide the option to publish a text Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel. both in the original language and in translation. Personally, I have made it my lifelong chal‐ Inthedistantfutureitisconceivablethatatrans‐ lenge to improve my linguistic competences in lation program will be able to provide a text in several foreign languages, and first and foremost anylanguageatanacceptablelinguisticstandard. in English. I have not stopped learning new vo‐ But until technology can do our work, there cabularyandidioms,andIbenefitfromeachand is not much point in resisting a trend that seems every proof-reading of my English texts. On an‐ unstoppable. We simply cannot afford turning other note, I am pleased to be able to read de‐ our field into a German-speaking bubble which manding English literature in its original lan‐ is both insulated against input from the outside, guage—as foreign languages always open doors and unable to share any of its findings with aca‐ to other worlds and modes of thought. Finally, demics in other fields or countries. It seems to working in English helps me progress profession‐ me much more prudent to confront our students ally: for what drives me as an academic is a lim‐ from the start with anglophone literature, habit‐ itless curiosity and the desire to exchange in‐ uate them to writing English abstracts of their sights with my colleagues. This is why I want to research papers, and promote study abroad ini‐ understand everything and be understood by ev‐ tiatives at English-speaking universities. eryone.LetusmakeBabelnotaprojectofhubris We can moreover be reassured that the tri‐ but one of inclusion and collaboration: and build umph of the English language in academia will a horizontal, not a vertical tower! not entail the linguistic demise of our own mother tongue. Enough opportunities will re‐ In gratitude to Flora L.

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