Performing democracy : Bulgarian music and musicians in transition
Based on fieldwork conducted between 1988 and 1996 with professional Bulgarian folk musicians, Donna A. Buchanan's Performing Democracy argues that the performances of traditional music groups may be interpreted not only as harbingers but as agents of Bulgaria's political transition. Many of the musicians in socialist Bulgaria's state folk ensembles served as official cultural emissaries for several decades. Through their reminiscences and repertoires, Buchanan reveals the evolution of Bulgarian musical life as it responded to and informed the political process. By modifying their art to accommodate changing political ideologies, these musicians literally played out regime change on the world's stages, performing their country's democratization musically at home and abroad. Performing Democracy and its accompanying CD-ROM, featuring traditional Bulgarian music, lyrics, notation, and photos, will fascinate any reader interested in the many ways art echoes and influences politics.--Publisher's description
CD-ROM
xxiv, 519 pages ; 24 cm + 1 audio disc (4 3/4 in.)
9780226078267, 9780226078274, 0226078264, 0226078272
60245604
Part I
Socialist Culture in Transition
1. Transits
2. "Going as Guests": Ethnography and Commensality under Socialism
3. From the Square to the Stage: Musical Life through the 1940s
4. The "Folkloric Philharmonia": Building Professional Ensembles and Orchestras
5. Writing Nationalism, Rewriting Tradition: Politics, Professionalism, and Music Composition
Part II
Nationalist Narratives: Marketing Bulgarian Identities through Folk Ensemble Tableaus
6. "Cutting the National Crystal": The "Koutev Line"
7. A Pirin Spectacle
8. Legendary Rodopa: Cradle of Orpheus
9. Thracian Tales
Part III
Ethnography and Antistructure
10. Balkana and Le mystère des voix bulgares
11. "Tell Me How a Pepper Is Planted": Song as Social History
12. Democracy or "Crazy-ocracy"? Musical Interpretations