Sounds of the Borderland

Sounds of the Borderland
Author: Dr Catherine Baker
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2013-01-28
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1409494039

Sounds of the Borderland is the first book-length study of how popular music became a medium for political communication and contested identification during and after Croatia's war of independence from Yugoslavia. It extends existing cultural studies literature on music, politics and the state, which has largely been grounded in Western European and North American political systems. It also responds to an emerging fascination with the culture and politics of contemporary south-east Europe, expanding scholarship on the post-Yugoslav conflicts by going on to encompass significant social and political changes into the present day. The outbreak of war in 1991 saw almost every professional musician in Croatia take part in a wave of patriotic music-making and the powerful state television system strive to bring popular music under its control. As the political imperative shifted from securing national survival to consolidating a homogenous nation-state, the music industry responded with several strategies for creating a national popular music, producing messages about the nation and, in the ongoing debates over the origins of the folk music that inspired many songs, a way to define the nation by expressing what Croatia was not. The war on ethnic ambiguity which cut through individuals' social and creative lives played out across the airwaves, sales racks and gossip columns of a small country that imagined itself a historical and cultural borderland. These explicit and implicit narratives of nationhood connect many political phases: the months of fiercest fighting, the stabilised front, the uneasy post-war years when the symbolic frontline region of eastern Slavonia had still not returned to Croatian sovereignty, the euphoria and instability after the end of the Tudjman regime in 2000, and Croatia's fraught journey towards the European Union. Baker's book provides valuable insight into the role of music in a wartime and post-conflict society and will be essential reading for researchers and students interested in south-east Europe or the transformation of entertainment during and after conflict.

Playing It Dangerously

Playing It Dangerously
Author: Ian MacMillen
Publisher: Wesleyan University Press
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2019-10-01
Genre: Music
ISBN: 0819579017

A study of race, gender, religion, and affect in postwar Croatian music Playing It Dangerously questions what happens when feelings attached to popular music conflict with expressions of the dominant socio-cultural order, and how this tension enters into the politics of popular culture at various levels of human interaction. Tambura is a genre-crossing performance practice centered on an eponymous stringed instrument, part of the mandolin family, that Roma, Croats, and Serbs adopted from Ottoman forces. The acclamation that one "plays dangerously" connotes exceptional virtuosic improvisation and rapid finger technique and is the highest praise that a (typically male) musician can receive from his peers. The book considers tambura music as a site of both contestation and reconciliation since its propagation as Croatia's national instrument during the 1990s Yugoslav wars. New sensibilities of 'danger' and of race (for instance, 'Gypsiness') arose as Croatian bands reterritorialized musical milieus through the new state, reestablishing transnational performance networks with Croats abroad, and reclaiming demilitarized zones and churches as sites of patriotic performance after years of 'Yugoslavian control.' The study combines ethnographic fieldwork with archival research and music analysis to expound affective block: a theory of the dialectical dynamics between affective and discursive responses to differences in playing styles. A corrective to the scholarly stress on music scenes saturated with feeling, the book argues for affect's social regulation, showing how the blocking of dangerous intensities ultimately privileges constructions of tambura players as heroic male Croats, even as the music engenders diverse racial and gendered becomings.

World Music: Africa, Europe and the Middle East

World Music: Africa, Europe and the Middle East
Author: Simon Broughton
Publisher: Rough Guides
Total Pages: 792
Release: 1999
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9781858286358

First published in 1994 in one volume. An A-Z of the music, musicians and discs. 2006 edition available as an e-book.

Music, politics, and war

Music, politics, and war
Author: Institut za etnologiju i folkloristiku (Zagreb, Croatia)
Publisher:
Total Pages: 215
Release: 1998
Genre: Music
ISBN: 9789536020096

The Tamburitza Tradition

The Tamburitza Tradition
Author: Richard March
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Pres
Total Pages: 326
Release: 2013-11-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 0299296032

The Tamburitza Tradition is a lively and well-illustrated comprehensive introduction to a Balkan folk music that now also thrives in communities throughout Europe, the Americas, and Australia. Tamburitza features acoustic stringed instruments, ranging in size from tamburas as small as a ukulele to ones as large as a bass viol. Folklorist Richard March documents the centuries-old origins and development of the tradition, including its intertwining with nationalist and ethnic symbolism. The music survived the complex politics of nineteenth-century Europe but remains a point of contention today. In Croatia, tamburitza is strongly associated with national identity and supported by an artistic and educational infrastructure. Serbia is proud of its outstanding performers and composers who have influenced tamburitza bands on four continents. In the United States, tamburitza was brought by Balkan immigrants in the nineteenth century and has become a flourishing American ethnic music with its own set of representational politics. Combining historical research with in-depth interviews and extensive participant-observer description, The Tamburitza Tradition reveals a dynamic and expressive music tradition on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond, illuminating the cultures and societies from which it has emerged.

Croatia

Croatia
Author: Jonathan Bousfield
Publisher: Rough Guides
Total Pages: 502
Release: 2003
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 9781843530848

The Rough Guide to Croatia is the most comprehensive handbook to this spectacular destination. A 24 page full-colour section introduces Croatia's highlights, from the medieval city of Dubrovnik to the beaches of the Dalmatian coast. Throughout, there are discerning reviews of all the best places to stay, eat and drink - to suit any pocket. Finally, the Contexts section provides an authoritative background on Croatia's history, politics and culture.

A History of Baroque Music

A History of Baroque Music
Author: George J. Buelow
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Total Pages: 732
Release: 2004-11-23
Genre: Music
ISBN: 9780253343659

"A History of Baroque Music is a detailed treatment of the music of the Baroque era, with particular focus on the seventeenth century. The author's approach is a history of musical style with an emphasis on musical scores. The book is divided initially by time period into early and later Baroque (1600-1700 and 1700-1750 respectively), and secondarily by country and composer. An introductory chapter discusses stylistic continuity with the late Renaissance and examines the etymology of the term "Baroque." The concluding chapter on the composer Telemann addresses the stylistic shift that led to the end of the Baroque and the transition into the Classical period."--Jacket.

Croatia

Croatia
Author: Francis H. Eterovich
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Total Pages: 520
Release: 1964-12-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1487596766

This book represents a survey of the cultural and economic life of the Croatian people, who have long been noted for their significant contributions to the arts and the humanities. It contains a wealth of factual information on various aspects of one of the most interesting regions in Europe. The authors of the articles which make up this work are all specialists in their respective fields. They have compiled a scholarly review of many of the notable works by Croatian historians, political scientists, artists, and persons in other fields. There is also general information on various aspects of geography and demography, and statistics on population, ecology, religion, nationality and other important areas of Croatian life are included. Other important features are ten maps showing the administrative divisions of Yugoslavia and adjacent countries, and 32 pages of illustrations depicting folk arts, handicrafts, music, painting, sculpture and architecture. This reference work will be invaluable to libraries, and will be a useful source of information for historians, writers on Central European affairs, students of art and ethnic developments, and the layman interested in the Croatian people and their cultural history.

The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture

The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture
Author: Janet Sturman
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Total Pages: 2730
Release: 2019-02-26
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1483317749

The SAGE Encyclopedia of Music and Culture presents key concepts in the study of music in its cultural context and provides an introduction to the discipline of ethnomusicology, its methods, concerns, and its contributions to knowledge and understanding of the world's musical cultures, styles, and practices. The diverse voices of contributors to this encyclopedia confirm ethnomusicology's fundamental ethos of inclusion and respect for diversity. Combined, the multiplicity of topics and approaches are presented in an easy-to-search A-Z format and offer a fresh perspective on the field and the subject of music in culture. Key features include: Approximately 730 signed articles, authored by prominent scholars, are arranged A-to-Z and published in a choice of print or electronic editions Pedagogical elements include Further Readings and Cross References to conclude each article and a Reader’s Guide in the front matter organizing entries by broad topical or thematic areas Back matter includes an annotated Resource Guide to further research (journals, books, and associations), an appendix listing notable archives, libraries, and museums, and a detailed Index The Index, Reader’s Guide themes, and Cross References combine for thorough search-and-browse capabilities in the electronic edition

Culture and Customs of Croatia

Culture and Customs of Croatia
Author: Marilyn Cvitanic
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2010-12-16
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 031335118X

An expert guide to the present-day cultural life of Croatia and how it has been influenced by the nation's tumultuous past. Culture and Customs of Croatia offers an expert insider's look at a Balkan nation which, for the first time since the 12th century, is free to draw on its own traditions to determine its political, philosophical, and cultural identity. Culture and Customs of Croatia provides a comprehensive overview of Croatian art and culture with an emphasis on the historical factors contributing to contemporary Croatian life. An in-depth exploration of the country's past lays the groundwork for a discussion of a number of current issues, including progress towards EU membership, the expanding role of the Catholic Church, preservation of the country's World Heritage Sites, the growing popularity of the nation's Adriatic coastline as a beach vacation destination, and the complex, still reverberating legacy of the former Yugoslavia.