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Expats and the "Wall of Czechness": An Ethnography of Expat Spaces in Prague
Turek, Veronika ; Verbuč, David (advisor) ; Jurková, Zuzana (referee)
This research project explores the notion of spaces and place-making of expat women living in Prague. Using the metaphor of a "wall of Czechness", this paper identifies why perceptions of living in a given space matter, as these perceptions affect how one interacts with the spaces around them. This metaphorical "wall" thus identifies why expat women find and create their own expat communities for socialization in Prague. As such, online platforms, such as Facebook, aid in creating designated women-only spaces, that facilitate both online and offline interactions. This helps in the creation of place-belongingness, especially for expat women who move to Prague on their own account. This work calls attention to the importance of various spaces associated with place-making in this context: safe spaces, private and public spaces, counter-public spaces and gendered spaces. It also highlights the importance of community- creation, and how communities can be understood and created for these expat women living abroad. The term "expat" itself has specific connotations, and whilst they fall under the category of migrants, the two terms hold very different meanings. This paper adds to existing research on expatriates, as a migrant group, to better understand how they create places, and places of belonging, in...
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Remembering Terezín Through Music
Toperczerová, Eliška ; Jurková, Zuzana (advisor) ; Seidlová, Veronika (referee)
Summary: This thesis focuses on a theme of musical remembrance of Terezín. It is an empirical, ethnomusicological field research. At its centre is František Tichý, headmaster of the Gymnázium Přírodní škola. I focuse on an analysis of his pedagogical, literary and dramatic activities, which I examine in the context of musical remembrance of Terezín. The aim of this research is to describe, analyze and to interpret by means of participating observation and semi-structured interviews: 1) How does the negotiation and production of performances take place, where František Tichý acts as a playwrighter, dramatist, director and musical dramatist in cooperation with his colleagues and pupils? 2) How does Frantisek Tichý contextualize and use music in the school projects of Gymnázium Přírodní škola? 3) How do these projects affect the construction of ideas about Terezín's history? Is there an alternative narrative generated by the use of artworks by Terezín authors, in which (above all) music becomes a means of remembering? In this research, I primarily follow the ethnomusicologist Zuzana Jurková, who focuses on remembrance as part of her research at the Faculty of Humanities. Key words: Ethnomusicology, Přírodní škola, František Tichý, remembrance, Terezín
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Jewish Community and Religious Practice in Prague Synagogues from the mid-19th Century until the Shoah
Stellmacher, Martha ; Jurková, Zuzana (advisor) ; Seidlová, Veronika (referee) ; Ross, Sarah M. (referee)
Jewish Community and Religious Practice in Prague Synagogues from the mid-19th Century until the Shoah This historical ethnographic study examines the Prague Jewish community and its c. 30 synagogue congregations in the second half of the 19th century until the shoah through the prism of their musical-liturgical practices. This research constitutes an in-depth investigation of liturgical and religious phenomena and developments which have hitherto been neglected in research on Czech- German-Jewish history of Prague and in accounts of the music history of the Czech Lands. The central question is, which forms and meanings Jews gave to their praying and acting in Prague synagogues in that period. The study is based mainly on archival research and analysis of written sources like community and official records, periodicals and written music collections as well as material sources and oral history. Three main aspects cross through the entire study: the organization aspects, the actors and the practice frame. The focus of the first part of the study is based on the structural situation of the Prague Israelite (later Jewish) Community as the umbrella organization and the largely autonomous, and therefore religiously manifold, individual synagogue congregations. Furthermore, the tasks and roles of the actors of the...
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Soundscape of Prague Psychedelic Guitar Rock Scene
Poděbradský, Oldřich ; Jurková, Zuzana (advisor) ; Stavělová, Daniela (referee) ; Kratochvíl, Matěj (referee)
Since its beginnings in the 1960s, psychedelic rock music and "psychedelic sound" sound has become an integral part of rock and Western popular music. This scope of this PhD thesis covers the performance of psychedelic rock music in Prague, Czech Republic, i.e. Prague's psychedelic soundscape (Shelemay 2006). The structure of the thesis is loosely inspired by the scapes concepts as defined by Arjun Appadurai (1996). First, it summarizes the development of the "psychedelic sound" and employs ethnographic research in order to elucidate what this sound means to its agents within the studied soundscape. Subsequently, it proceeds to discover who the agents of this scene are, how the roles of the performers and the audience blend together, how the agents understand their music within the multi-genre context of the scene, and what the phenomenon of psychedelic rock music means to the agents - both in terms of its sonic elements and the "ritual" (Turner 1969) aspect of live performances, often associated with the use of mind-altering substances. The aim of the thesis is to describe the psychedelic soundscape of Prague as a large organic network based on reciprocal friendship and support, rather than as a mere set of music groups that refer to themselves or are referred to as psychedelic. Key words:...
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Five Minute Fame of One Song
Merta, Vladimír ; Jurková, Zuzana (advisor) ; Benyovszky, Ladislav (referee) ; Stavělová, Daniela (referee)
My essay deals with phenomenon of Czech folk. Emic part traces chronologically influencing aspects involving my artistic development from the viewpoint of author, listener and repressive organs. Urban music developed from the folk revival into the subversive protest song movement. Auto-ethnographic research of myself as concerned participant merges with temporary comments, opinions, photographic documentation of generational shift of sensibility. Commercialisation leads folk movement into the mainstream pop culture. Role of gens and mems, dreams, subconscious helped folk musicians survive totality regime. Czech folk is not dead. Emerges at the edge of new subgenres, exposed to commodifications of cultural industry.
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