The power of music to bring people across newly established national borders even during the ethnic conflict and dissolution of socialist Yugoslavia has been particularly appealing to scholars. Reflecting on the complex relationship between the affective, the aural, and the political, this issue points out the limits of existing interpretative discourses of music and memory in post-Yugoslav spaces, which underplay the lived intensity of the sensory experiences, emotional investment, and the affective technologies of remembering the past. The authors here argue that the emphasis on the social and political production of affect embedded in the experience of music might be beneficial for shedding new light on memory politics in a post-Yugoslav context. Examining why and how music matters for post-Yugoslav memory practices, the articles in this issue strive to fashion new readings that go beyond the dichotomies commonly drawn between political/nostalgic, commercial/engaged, and escapist/emancipatory. The issue thus argues that the sensorial politics of music can serve as a conceptual frame- work that provides an important base for new theorizations of Yugoslav cultural memories, which is done by focusing on the politics of sentimentalism and the politics of joy. Accordingly, the goal of this issue is to raise productive questions that resonate with a multiplicity of interpretational and theoretical dilemmas and gaps by mobilizing the tools of affect theory primarily to open a space and spur further criticism and theory.
C.03 Guest-associated editor
COBISS.SI-ID: 38937389With introductory plenary keynote presentation, the author presented some examples of artistic account with the past (with a song by Damir Avdić Brotherhood and Unity), importance of alternatives in the times of crisis, and the role of media in shaping of the structures of feeling. He gave some other music examples from the area of former Yugoslavia proving that music is still in important media of social criticism. He especially stressed permanent engagement of the youth in all important historical moments with reflection of social reality. After presentation and analysis of youth centres and alternative cultural venues, the author concluded the presentation with the importance of media, especially electronic. He gave some examples of permanent impact of radio to local experience of social reality.
B.04 Guest lecture
COBISS.SI-ID: 58872674Chairing and organisation of the panel session at the 12th congress of the International Society of ethnology and Folklore (SIEF) entitled Utopias, Realities, Heritages: Ethnographies for the 21st Century (Zagreb). Presenters presented various aspects in their encounter with utopian perspectives as expressed in popular music of former Yugoslavia. Contributions showed that idealism and utopianism should not be romanticised, but, in the contrary, critically evaluate the influence and social potential of both, commercial and non-commercial popular music from the area of former Yugoslavia.
B.01 Organiser of a scientific meeting
COBISS.SI-ID: 57946722