Syllabus
Annotation Topics:
1) Introduction I. Studying social groups through their cultural representations. Minorities in the Study of Ethnomusicology.
2) Introduction II. Diverse Jewish soundscapes as parts of contemporary global and diasporic cultural flows
3) Ashkenazic Sacred Soundscapes I. Synagogues, Hazzanim and the Art of Nusah (Prague case).
4) Ashkenazic Sacred Soundscapes II. Negotiating the Identity through Ritual Sounds. (Boston and Prague case)
5) Ashkenazic Sacred Soundscapes III. Ritual Music and Social Memory (Prague case)
6) Sephardic Soundscapes (case of Syrian Jewish diaspora)
7) On Sephardic Pizmonim, Power and Gender
8) Falasha Sacred Soundscapes (Forced migration of Ethiopian Jews and its impact on their music)
9) Klezmer Soundscapes I. On Questions of Cultural Representations and Appropriation
10) Klezmer Soundscapes II. On Questions of Cultural Representations and Appropriation
11) Soundscapes of Holocaust (Terezín case)
12) On Zemirot and negotiating the political resistance in CSSR
13) Israeli dance- and soundscape in Prague Studijní literatura Mandatory: BOHLMAN, Ph. V., Composing the Cantorate: Westernizing Europe’s Other Within, in: G. Born - D. Hesmondhalgh (eds.), Western Music and Its Others: Difference, Representation, and Appropriation in Music. Berkeley 2000, s. 187-212. BOHLMAN, Ph. V., Jewish Music in Europe, in: T. Rice - J. Porter - Ch. Goertzen (eds.), The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: Europe (Vol.
8), New York - London 2000, s. 248-269. KAMINSKY, D. “Just Exotic Enough:” Swedish Chamber Klezmer as Postnational World Music and Mid-East Proxy. Ethnomusicology, 2014, Vol. 58, No. 2, pp. 254-277. NETTL, B.
2009. Minorities in the Study of Ethnomusicology: A Meditation on Experience in Three Cultures In Voices of the Weak: Music and Minorities, Zuzana Jurková & Lee Bidgood (eds.). Praha: Slovo 21 a Fakulta humanitních studií. SHELEMAY, K. K. Echoes from Beyond Europe: Music and the Beta Israel Transformation. In: Bohlman, Ph., Jewish Musical Modernism, Old and New. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2009, pp. 103-124. SHELEMAY, K. K., The Power of Silent Voices: Women in the Syrian Musical Tradition. In Music and the Play of Power in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia. Ed. Laudan Nooshin. United Kingdom: Ashgate Publishing Ltd., 2009, pp. 269-288. SHILOAH, A., Identity and Character of Jewish Music. In Jewish Musical Traditions. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1992, pp. 17-33. SUMMIT, J., A. The Lord’s Song In A Strange Land: Music And Identity In Contemporary Jewish Worship. Oxford University Press,
2000. Optional: GRUBER, R. E. Virtually Jewish: Reinventing Jewish Culture in Europe. Berkeley – Los Angeles – London: University of California Press,
2002. SEIDLOVÁ, V. – HLÁVKOVÁ, P. Mishpaha – Myth of Continuity? A Concert of Jewish Music in Prague. In The Central European City as a Space for Dialogue. Soukupová, B. - Jurková, Z., eds. Bratislava: Zing Print,
2006. SEIDLOVÁ, V. (ed.). The Forgotten Voice of the Jeruzalémská Synagogue in Prague: Cantor Ladislav Moshe Blum, Personal Recordings 1978 –
1983. Prague: Jewish Museum in Prague,
2008. SEIDLOVÁ, V. Music - Religiosity - Community: Jewish Community in Prague (Case Study) In Proceedings of the ICTM Study group Music and Minorities, Rosemary Statelova (ed.), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences,
2008. SLOBIN, M. Fiddler On The Move: Exploring The Klezmer World. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2000. ZAAGSMA, G. The Klezmorim Of Prague: About A Jewish Musicians‘ Guild. In East European Meetings In Ethnomusicology, 2000, 7th Volume, pp. 41-47.
Annotation
This course not only opens the door to the fascinating culture of the Jewish communities in Prague, but also to diverse
Jewish musics as parts of contemporary global cultural flows. Apart from the focus on relation of music, globalization and cultural appropriation, we will also look at the relation of music to politics of resistance towards totalitarian regimes. The role of music in the process of negotiation of ritual performance as a form of politics of identity will also be discussed as well as the relation of ritual music and social memory. The topic of social constructions of gender reflected in music making will also be included. The highlight of the course will surely be a lecture by a visiting scholar from Cambridge University, Prof. Ruth Davis.
Course Assignments
Students are expected to read the assigned readings on the day they are listed on the syllabus (all the required literature will be uploaded in Moodle), and send short annotations (a brief synthesis of the main points from the day’s readings and a “discussion question[s]” based on those readings, altogether approx. 400 words (max. 1 page per week). Your annotation and questions should be sent to the Moodle at least two hours before class.
If you are normally shy in class, I encourage you to speak up; if you are usually talkative, make sure to give others the opportunity to contribute to the discussion.
Till the end of the examination period, you will turn in a short essay [approx. 4-5 standard pages] summarizing and comparing arguments of at least two titles of your choice from the list of required readings, including a section with your own thoughts and reactions.
Attendance min. 70%.