Page 16 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2017. Glasbene migracije: stičišče evropske glasbene raznolikosti - Musical Migrations: Crossroads of European Musical Diversity. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 1
P. 16
glasbene migracije: stičišče evropske glasbene raznolikosti
pulsion and attraction – are not, of course, exclusively connected to musical
causes. There are almost always other causes as well. The term migration is,
in fact, not limited to immigration or emigration, but instead is frequently
used – not always appropriately – as a synonym for all types of mobility. In
the field of musical history, too, we often use it as a generalised description
for various shorter journeys and other forms of mobility.
Even at the level of basic sociological studies in connection with mi-
grations it is possible to observe a considerable degree of inconsistency and
contradiction in the categorizing apparatus and methodological approa-
ches. Differences and disagreements exist not only between individual
authors but also between the humanities and social science disciplines that
deal with migrations. It is almost as though this interdisciplinary fragmen-
tation has meant that migration studies today have reached a point where
wherever we look we see only migrations.
On the other hand it seems reasonable to ask ourselves, particularly
when researching multicultural, multinational entities such as the Habs-
burg Monarchy, when we can actually talk about migrations, if at all. It is
clear that not every journey made by a musician within the former com-
mon state – for concerts and other performances – is a migration in the
true sense of the word. The musicians themselves, who were frequently mo-
bile, often had no intention of remaining in the places they visited. The fun-
damental question that thus raises itself is the following: from what cultu-
ral, geographical and, last but not least, temporal distance can we actually
begin talking about migration?
Even questions of national identity, which are always closely tied up
with migrations, prove to be an elusive category in this case, since an indivi-
dual society and its culture (understood in the broadest sense of the word),
appears to be far less closed unto itself than one might conclude from con-
ceptions marked by national entities. The latter only began to develop in
Europe towards the end of the eighteenth century and are characterised by
social homogeneity, ethnic foundation and intercultural demarcation. The-
re is no need to point out that these conceptions of compact social wholes
– tied to the image of an inwardly homogeneous and outwardly clearly di-
stinguishable nation – have stubbornly persisted up to the present day. At
the same time, however, countless examples from history and the present
remind us time and again of the discrepancy between the conceptual world
and the real world. They remind us that specifically different and clearly
demarcated national cultures live above all within national ideologies and
imaginaries and far less within real social environments.
14
pulsion and attraction – are not, of course, exclusively connected to musical
causes. There are almost always other causes as well. The term migration is,
in fact, not limited to immigration or emigration, but instead is frequently
used – not always appropriately – as a synonym for all types of mobility. In
the field of musical history, too, we often use it as a generalised description
for various shorter journeys and other forms of mobility.
Even at the level of basic sociological studies in connection with mi-
grations it is possible to observe a considerable degree of inconsistency and
contradiction in the categorizing apparatus and methodological approa-
ches. Differences and disagreements exist not only between individual
authors but also between the humanities and social science disciplines that
deal with migrations. It is almost as though this interdisciplinary fragmen-
tation has meant that migration studies today have reached a point where
wherever we look we see only migrations.
On the other hand it seems reasonable to ask ourselves, particularly
when researching multicultural, multinational entities such as the Habs-
burg Monarchy, when we can actually talk about migrations, if at all. It is
clear that not every journey made by a musician within the former com-
mon state – for concerts and other performances – is a migration in the
true sense of the word. The musicians themselves, who were frequently mo-
bile, often had no intention of remaining in the places they visited. The fun-
damental question that thus raises itself is the following: from what cultu-
ral, geographical and, last but not least, temporal distance can we actually
begin talking about migration?
Even questions of national identity, which are always closely tied up
with migrations, prove to be an elusive category in this case, since an indivi-
dual society and its culture (understood in the broadest sense of the word),
appears to be far less closed unto itself than one might conclude from con-
ceptions marked by national entities. The latter only began to develop in
Europe towards the end of the eighteenth century and are characterised by
social homogeneity, ethnic foundation and intercultural demarcation. The-
re is no need to point out that these conceptions of compact social wholes
– tied to the image of an inwardly homogeneous and outwardly clearly di-
stinguishable nation – have stubbornly persisted up to the present day. At
the same time, however, countless examples from history and the present
remind us time and again of the discrepancy between the conceptual world
and the real world. They remind us that specifically different and clearly
demarcated national cultures live above all within national ideologies and
imaginaries and far less within real social environments.
14
