Prerequisits:

There are no specific prerequisites. However, prior knowledge of basic theories and research methods in ethnology, anthropology, folklore studies, cultural heritage studies, or related fields—is recommended.

Content (Syllabus outline):

The course focuses on the critical analysis of the processes through which folk music (at the instrumental, vocal, textual, and functional levels) has been heritagized in both historical and contemporary contexts. Its point of departure is the historiography of the conceptualization of folk music as heritage and its entanglement in broader social, political, and ideological processes. Special attention will be pai to canonization, institutionalization, and folklorization, as well as to diverse modalities of music- and song-heritagization.

The following topics will be addressed:

• processes of canonization and standardization, and the formation of a representative repertoire;
• relations between authorized (institutionally validated) and unauthorized (local) heritage practices;
• the instrumentalization of musical heritage for identity-based, national, commercial, or touristic purposes;
• the positioning of heritage practices within global heritage discourses (e.g., UNESCO classifications and statuses);
• the dynamics of musical transformation within ritual and everyday practices, examined through the lenses of folklorism, heritagization, cultural policy, and popular culture;
• critical analysis of key theoretical paradigms in Slovenian ethnomusicology and folklore studies (concepts of regions, cultural nationalism, postcolonial perspectives, selection of tradition, dissemination);
• and, in selected case studies of heritagization, historical perspectives that take into account contemporary identity, national, ideological, and doctrinal tendencies.

The practical component of the course will be based on working with diverse sound, written, and audiovisual sources. Students will develop critical interpretations of specific examples of song and musical heritage and analyze the dynamic relationships between research, heritage governance, and everyday practice. In order to contextualize the presented modalities more thoroughly and demonstrate their broader applicability, comparative examples of heritagization beyond folk music (e.g., in Slovenska popevka, punk, folk pop, and art music) will also be discussed.

Readings:

• Anttonen, P. J. 2005. Tradition through Modernity: Postmodernism and the Nation-State in Folklore Scholarship. Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society.

• Bendix, R. F. 2018. Culture and Value: Tourism, Heritage, and Property. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
• Ben-Amos, D. 2023. Between Intangible Cultural Heritage and Folklore. Folklor/Edebiyat 29 (2): 347–387. https://doi.org/10.22559/folklor.2459.
• Kovačič, M. 2015. Glasbena podoba ljudske pesmi v rokopisnih, tiskanih in zvočnih virih v prvih desetletjih 20. stoletja. Ljubljana: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete.
• Kumer, Z. 1983. Ljudska glasbila in godci na Slovenskem. Ljubljana: Slovenska matica.
• Kumer, Z. 2002. Slovenska ljudska pesem. Ljubljana: Slovenska matica.
• Pisk, M. 2012. Nacionalizacija ljudske pesemske tradicije Goriških brd. Slavistična revija 60 (3): 483–498.
• Ramnarine, T. K. 2003. Ilmatar’s Inspirations: Nationalism, Globalization, and the Changing Soundscapes of Finnish Folk Music. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Revill, G. 2005. Vernacular Culture and the Place of Folk Music. Social & Cultural Geography 6 (5): 693–706. https://doi.org/10.1080/14649360500258302
• Šivic, U. 2016. The Influence of Institutionalized Standards on the Transformation of Traditional Singing. Translingual Discourse in Ethnomusicology 2: 63–81. https://doi.org/10.3986/traditio2007360202
• Testa, A. and C. Isnart. 2020. Reconfiguring Tradition(s) in Europe: An Introduction to the Special Issue. Ethnologia Europaea 50 (1). https://doi.org/10.16995/ee.1917
• Waterton, E., L. Smith, and G. Campbell. 2006. The Utility of Discourse Analysis to Heritage Studies: The Burra Charter and Social Inclusion. International Journal of Heritage Studies 12 (4): 339–355. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527250600727000

Objectives and competences:

The primary aim of the course is to develop an understanding of folk music and song as a process of heritagization, one that is always embedded within broader social, political, and cultural contexts. Students learn how music has been constructed as heritage in different historical periods, and they come to view heritagization as a dynamic process in which established canons continually reshape content. They gain an understanding of the connections between music, national narratives, and identity politics, and at a more advanced level they reflect on the paradoxes of heritagization—such as the tensions between local practices and global discourses, preservation and transformation, and authenticity and instrumentalization.

General Competences acquired by students:

• the ability for critical thinking and argumentation,
• independent research using diverse research sources,
• skills in academic expression and writing, and
• the capacity to reflect on social constructs.

Subject-Specific Competences:

• the ability to distinguish and analyze processes of canonization, folklorization, and standardization,
• the capacity to understand inter-genre interconnections,
• comprehension of the differences between authorized and unauthorized heritage practices, and
• the application of appropriate methodologies when working with sound, visual, and written sources.

Intended learning outcomes:

Students identify appropriate sources for the critical analysis of a selected heritagization process. They analyze and interpret the chosen cases from a comparative perspective, situate them within relevant scholarly discourse, write an academic research paper, and present their findings publicly.

Learning and teaching methods:

Types of learning/teaching:

• Frontal teaching
• Work in smaller groups or pair work
• Independent students work
• e-learning

Teaching methods:

• Explanation
• Conversation/discussion/debate
• Work with texts
• Case studies
• Different presentation
• Solving exercises
• Field work (e.g. company visits)
• Inviting guests from companies

Assessment:

• Long written assignments 60 %
• Presentations 40 %

Lecturer’s references:

• Pisk, M. 2023. Folkloristika in kritično preučevanje dediščine. Svetovi 1 (1): 82-96. https://journals.uni-lj.si/svetovi-worlds/article/view/11405/11943
• Pisk, M. 2020. Language switching in (folk) songs along the Slovenian-Italian border. Tautosakos darbai 60: 79-93.
• Pisk, M. in Ledinek Lozej, Š. 2023. Cross-border landscape as heritage?: insights from Slovenian borderlands. V: Pettenati, G. (ur.). Landscape as heritage: international critical perspectives. London; New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 136-147.