Ethnomusicological Research on Music and Minorities
by Ursula Hemetek
The minority focus of the Department of Folk Music Research and Ethnomusicology (formerly Department for Folk Music Research) was established in 1990, which at the time could be considered quite provocative against the background of the Austrian research landscape in the field of folk music research. It still exists today, but the socio-political framework, contents and scholarly approaches have changed. This focus and the associated international discourses have led to an expansion of the Department’s agendas and ultimately to its renaming in 2001: folk music research was joined by ethnomusicology.
The orientation of minority research in ethnomusicology functions is strongly influenced by the discourses within discipline itself and its development. Early minority research was either characterised by the search for the "exotic", such as field research on Native Americans (as early as 1889) and research on the music of the Roma in Europe (around 1900), or it arose from the nationalist-inspired approach, in which minorities outside one's own state borders were perceived as "threatened" representatives of one's own nation, e.g. in German Sprachinselforschung (from 1934) or in Croatian research among Burgenland Croats (as early as the end of the 19th century) >> essays Hemetek Ursula.
In the field of ethnomusicology from 1985 onwards, one can speak of the tentative beginning of an international establishment of a more modern research approach to minorities, which does not attempt to take an exotic or nationalistic approach. At that time, the Croatian ethnomusicologist Jerko Bezić organized the first international conference, which was entitled "Minorities/Ethnic Groups". (Pettan, Svanibor. 2012. Music and Minorities. An Ethnomusicological Vignette. In: New Unknown Music. Essays in Honour of Niksa Gligo, edited by Dalibor Davidovič and Nada Bezić. Zagreb: DAF, 447-456).
This is Ursula Hemetek’s point of departure in her dissertation from 1987, and with her person the minority theme also entered the Department. From 1990 onwards, she applied for a number of third-party funded projects that established the minority focus. The anchoring in teaching took place some years later.
Research Projects (1990-2020)
1990-1992: Traditional music of ethnic groups in Austrian- Roma and Burgenland Croats, research project FWF
1992-1993: Traditional Roma music in Austria, research project FWF
1993-1995: Roma music II, research project FWF
1996-1997: Signs of life of an endangered culture (Bosnians in Austria), research project Jubilee Fund of the Austrian National Bank, project collaborator: Sofija Bajrektarević
1998-2000: Bosnian music, research project Anniversary Fund of the Austrian National Bank, project collaborator: Sofija Bajrektarević
1999-2001: Field research in Southern Styria (Styrian Slovenes) together with the Styrian Folk Song Association
2003 Field research project with students on music of immigrants in Salzburg together with Ulrike Kammerhofer-Aggermann
2004: Field research project with students on music of minorities in Innsbruck/Tyrol together with Thomas Nußbaumer
2004-2006: Music and songs of Italian immigrants in Austria, research project, FWF Lise Meitner Post-Doc Program, Barbara Kostner and Paolo Vinati
2007-2009: Project partnership in "Embedded industries - immigrant cultural entrepreneurs in Vienna", research project WWTF, project management Andreas Gebesmair, Mediacult, collaboration Hande Sağlam. (Gebesmair, Andreas (Hg.). 2009. Randzonen der Kreativwirtschaft. Türkische, chinesische und südasiatische Kulturunternehmungen in Wien. LIT-Verlag Berlin/Wien)
2009/2010: "Bi-Musicality and intercultural dialogue" project collaborators Sağlam and Noraldine Bailer (in German)
2010 Field research project with students in the Burgenland Croatian community Stinatz
2016-17 Bi-/multimusicality in the context of Changing mdw, WeiYa Lin
2016 -2018 Musical identification of young refugees, Marko Kölbl
2017- Field research projects on the Afghan music scene in Vienna, Marko Kölbl
The ongoing development and changes in research perspectives over the years can be seen from even if you only look at the project titles, the "traditional" became "the music" and successively the focus is more and more on the meaning that music has for people. The concept of minorities is broadening, and the socio-political relevance of the research, which has been fundamental from the beginning, continues to come to the fore.
The international professional networking has been very successful and led to the foundation of a study group within the World Organization of Ethnomusicology, the ICTM, in 1997. Until she was appointed Secretary General of the ICTM in 2017, Ursula Hemetek chaired the study group "Music and Minorities" from the beginning. Since 2017 Svanibor Pettan has chaired the study group, secretary is Hande Sağlam. The Study Group has over 200 members from all continents. Specialist conferences with international participation are organised every 2 years.
The collection of AV documents from field research in the minority area since the 1990s represents an important store of knowledge for research projects but also for the communities themselves. Digitisation and indexing of the recordings is carried out on an ongoing basis within the framework of Archivis Pro.
By awarding the Wittgenstein Prize 2018 to Ursula Hemetek, the national and international reputation of ethnomusicological minority research has been considerably enhanced. A lasting institutional anchoring was achieved by the founding of the Music and Minorities Research Center, which works closely with the Department.