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SSStttooonnnyyy BBBrrrooooookkk UUUnnniiivvveeerrrsssiiitttyyy The official electronic file of this thesis or dissertation is maintained by the University Libraries on behalf of The Graduate School at Stony Brook University. ©©© AAAllllll RRRiiiggghhhtttsss RRReeessseeerrrvvveeeddd bbbyyy AAAuuuttthhhooorrr... Creating Light Music at the Festival of Song: Politics, Personhood, and Cultural Production in Tirana, Albania (1944-present) A Dissertation Presented by Nicholas Tochka to The Graduate School in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Music (Ethnomusicology) Stony Brook University December 2012 Copyright by Nicholas Tochka 2012 Stony Brook University The Graduate School Nicholas Tochka We, the dissertation committee for the above candidate for the Doctor of Philosophy degree, hereby recommend acceptance of this dissertation. Jane C. Sugarman – Dissertation Advisor Professor of Music, City University of New York Graduate Center Sarah Fuller – Dissertation Co-Advisor Professor, Department of Music Peter Winkler - Chairperson of Defense Professor, Department of Music Frederick Moehn Lecturer in Music, King’s College London Katherine Verdery Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, City University of New York Graduate Center This dissertation is accepted by the Graduate School Charles Taber Interim Dean of the Graduate School ii Abstract of the Dissertation Creating Light Music at the Festival of Song: Politics, Personhood, and Cultural Production in Tirana, Albania (1944-present) by Nicholas Tochka Doctor of Philosophy in Music (Ethnomusicology) Stony Brook University 2012 Though different orders organize subjects in audibly distinguishable ways, only rarely have ethnomusicologists theorized how musical practice articulates to practices of government. Through a diachronic case study of Tirana, Albania, this dissertation interrogates how the production of popular music has supported the production of popular consent to illiberal regimes both socialist (1944-1992) and capitalist (1992-present). While previous ethnomusicological and musicological studies of eastern bloc musical practice have focused (respectively) on professionalized folk music and concert music, my research examines the composition, performance, and reception of the popular genre “light music” (Alb. muzikë e lehtë) at an annual song competition the Festival of Song (Festivali i Këngës, 1962-present). An eclectic genre blending jazz, Anglo-American pop, Italian canzone, socialist realist concert music, and folkloric material, light music provided attractive visions of Albanian-ness—and an ideologically “correct” leisure activity—to socialist-era listeners isolated from the rest of the iii world. Since Albania's transition from socialism in 1992, a privatized music industry has decentralized light music's production, transforming musicians' and listeners' social space as it reinserts them into now-hegemonic “democratic” political projects. While socialism depended on transforming individuals' consciousness to create a “new person” for the “society of the future,” Albanian neoliberalism's “return to Europe” today depends on the molding of capitalist subjects. Through archival research and ethnographic fieldwork, I reconstruct a genealogy of Albanian popular music production in order to survey and link the aesthetic-cultural projects of state-funded music intellectuals to the political programs of governing elites. I argue that the musical and cultural projects through which elites have sought to inculcate in individuals successive forms of “modern” personhood, or modes by which one might recognize him- or herself as a national political subject, have functioned as strategies of governance under both socialist and capitalist orders. Linking notions of personhood to processes of state hegemony, this case study parses the relationship between musical practice and post-1945 political-economic structures by combining critical perspectives on governmentality, national cultural policy, and the postwar state. iv Dedication Page To Keri-Ann, Besnik, and Sotir. v Table of Contents List of Figures viii List of Abbreviations ix Pronunciation Guide for the Albanian Language x Note on Translations and Sources xi Acknowledgments xii CHAPTER ONE. CREATING LIGHT MUSIC 1 Culture and the Arts 4 Musicians and the State in Southeastern Europe 13 Personhood, Government, and Music 21 Researching Creators and Art-lovers 29 Chapters Overview 39 CHAPTER TWO. ADMINISTERING CULTURE 42 Liberation, 1942-48 46 Culture, Backwardness, and ‘the People’ 52 The Administration of ‘Culture and the Arts’ 60 Administration’s Limit 72 Cultural Production’s Margins 82 Conclusion: Tirana, the Center 93 CHAPTER THREE. INTERPRETING SONG 98 Moscow and Tirana 101 Interpreting the Festival of Song 106 The Cultural Field Transformed 126 The Creator 147 Conclusion: ‘A Curious Natural Selection’ 158 CHAPTER FOUR. RECOGNIZING LISTENERS 161 The Demands of the Youth 164 A ‘Modern’ Festival of Song 176 ‘Art in the Service of the People’ 186 Individuality and Composers’ Hierarchy 199 Conclusion: A Politics of Recognition 217 CHAPTER FIVE. SOUNDING TRANSITION 221 Challenging Socialism 226 Musical Signs of Transition 237 Sounding Democracy 253 Conclusion: Social Reproduction After Socialism 275 vi CHAPTER SIX. FINDING EUROPE 278 Capturing the Postsocialist Field 281 Knowing the Field 290 Navigating the Field 300 Composing a Song for Europe 312 Conclusion: Finding Albania 325 EPILOGUE: MUSIC AND GOVERNMENT 327 REFERENCES 332 APPENDIX A: A TYPICAL 1950S RADIO TIRANA PROGRAM (24 APRIL 1951) 362 vii List of Figures 2.1: The 1940s quantification of cultural progress 47 2.2: Excerpt, “On the cultural condition in the village in the past and present” 61 2.3: Excerpt, “On the realization of the 1949 Plan” 68 2.4: Arrangements of “Cuc e Radomirës” 69 2.5: Excerpts from the report “The Albanian Philharmonic” 70 3.1: Participants at the inaugural Festival of Song 107 3.2: “Lule të bukura sjell pranvera,” an example of the First Road 110 3.3: “Mos më qorto,” an example of the First Road 110 3.4: The Second Road 111 3.5: Excerpt from the verse of “Djaloshi dhe Shiu;” 119 3.6: Timeline of preparations for the Seventh Festival of Song 135 3.7: A “correct” tematika from the Seventh Festival of Song 137 3.8: “Jam një vajzë” opening riff figure 144 3.9: The revolutionary field 146 3.10: Form chart for “Mesnatë” 151 4.1: Socialism’s early demographic shifts 166 4.2: The introduction to “Me partinë” (1979) 204 4.3: A “national” vocal line with a pentatonic “melos” 207 4.4. Verse excerpt from “O moj shami shpalosura” 211 5.1: “Five Steps to Writing a Schematic Song” 226 6.1: Composer Klodian Qafoku in his studio, June 2010 301 6.2: Comparison of recent “ethnic” compositions at the Eurovision Song Contest 320 viii List of Abbreviations AKVP: National Ensemble of Folk Songs and Dances (Ansambli Kombëtar i Këngëve dhe Valleve) APL: Albania's Party of Labor (Partia e Punës e Shqipërisë) BPSH: The Albanian Professional Union (Bashkimi Profesionale Shqiptare) CAC: The Committee on Arts and Culture (Komiteti e Arteve dhe Kulturës) CC: Central Committee [of the People’s Republic of Albania] (Komiteti Qendror) EBU: European Broadcasting Union ESC: Eurovision Song Contest LAJM: The ‘Jordan Misja’ Performing Arts High School (Liceu Artistik ‘Jordan Misja’) LAWA: League of Writers and Artists of Albania (Lidhja e Shkrimtarëve dhe Artisteve e Shqipërisë) LNÇ: War of National Liberation (Lufta Nacional Çlirimtare) MTKRS: The Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth, and Sports (Ministria e Turizmit, Kulturës, Rinisë dhe Sporteve) PD: The Democratic Party (Partia Demokratike) PKSH: The Communist Party of Albania (Partia Komuniste e Shqipërisë) RTSH: Albanian Radio-Television (Radio-Televizioni Shqiptare) PS: The Socialist Party (Partia Socialiste) TOB: The State Theater of Opera and Ballet (Teatri i Operas dhe Baletit) ZiP: The Voice of the People newspaper (Zëri i Popullit) N.B. In several cases, authors writing about Albanian topics in English-language publications have standardized abbreviations for terms following common translations (e.g., APL for Albanian Party of Labor, rather than PPSH for Partia e Punës e Shqipërisë). In such cases, I have adopted these abbreviations, as outline above. In other cases, I have created abbreviations based on the original, non-translated Albanian-language term (e.g., LAJM for Liceu Artistik ‘Jordan Misja,’ rather than JMPAHS for the ‘Jordan Misja’ Performing Arts High School). ix Pronunciation Guide for the Albanian Language (Derived from Newmark et al. 1982:9-10) A a as in car B b as in bus C c as in rats Ç ç as in church D d as in driver Dh dh as in neither E e as in set Ë ë as in sofa F f as in family G g as in gone Gj gj as in George H h as in hide I i as in feet J j as in yell K k as in kick L l as in belief Ll ll as in hill M m as in monster N n as in not Nj nj as in canyon O o as in more P p as in pot Q q as in actually R r as in race Rr rr as in varroom S s as in sit Sh sh as in shot T t as in tin Th th as in ether U u as in poor V v as in vain X x as in adze Xh xh as in gorge Y y as in (Fr.) deux or (Ger.) ü Z z as in haze Zh zh as in measure or (Fr.) je x Note on Translations and Sources Throughout the text, all translations from Albanian to English are mine. Modern Albanian- speakers, and especially the urban, university-educated intelligentsia chronicled in this dissertation, have adopted and adapted a number of foreign terms in order to describe political, social, cultural, and aesthetic notions locally understood to be previously inexpressible. Where appropriate, I underline key foreign-borrowed words, usually taken from the English, Italian, or French languages, in order to highlight their adoption into elites’ political and cultural discourse. I indicate in the text the given and family names of speakers with whom I conducted formal interviews and the given name of acquaintances and other individuals with whom I had more informal interactions.