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The Folk Song Cultural Heritage in the Context of Political Correctness: When hep, hep is not hop, hop
Uhlíková, Lucie ; Pavlicová, M.
The paper explores folk songs written down in what is present-day Czech Republic from roughly the beginning of the 19th century to the 1970s. It shows how song lyrics were treated in the past when they did not conform to the social conventions, aesthetics, ethical ideals, and patriotic goals of the time. When such songs were written down by collectors, their lyrics were often modified, some parts being omitted, others changed. This practice was followed from the early 19th century until the fall of the communist totalitarian regime in 1989. At present, these authentic folk song lyrics seem non-controversial by some performers, but many lyrics are far from it. One of the components of tradition is social memory, which is associated with cultural stereotypes—the generally fixed ideas that people have about themselves and members of different groups. These “Others” are usually members of a different ethnicity, religion, or social class. Their image in folklore involves certain ideas, ideological views, evaluative attitudes, and historical experience. Using the example of otherness, which in Czech folk songs is mainly associated with the negative image of members of the Jewish minority, the paper shows the possible results of misunderstanding the historical context: the anti-Semitic motifs of some older songs and dances resented in public may not be evident to those who perform them today.
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The Folk Song Cultural Heritagše in the Context of Political Correctness: When hep hep is not hop hop
Uhlíková, Lucie ; Pavlicová, M.
The paper explores folk songs written down in what is present-day Czech Republic from roughly the beginning of the 19th century to the 1970s. It shows how song lyrics were treated in the past when they did not conform to the social conventions, aesthetics, ethical ideals, and patriotic goals of the time. When such songs were written down by collectors, their lyrics were often modified, some parts being omitted, others changed. This practice was followed from the early 19th century until the fall of the communist totalitarian regime in 1989. At present, these authentic folk song lyrics seem non-controversial by some performers, but many lyrics are far from it. One of the components of tradition is social memory, which is associated with cultural stereotypes—the generally fixed ideas that people have about themselves and members of different groups. These “Others” are usually members of a different ethnicity, religion, or social class. Their image in folklore involves certain ideas, ideological views, evaluative attitudes, and historical experience. Using the example of otherness, which in Czech folk songs is mainly associated with the negative image of members of the Jewish minority, the paper shows the possible results of misunderstanding the historical context: the anti-Semitic motifs of some older songs and dances resented in public may not be evident to those who perform them today.
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From American Spirituals to Czech Folk Ballads: Spiritual Kvintet and the Sources of their Lyrics over Six Decades
Opekar, Aleš
The paper deals with the lyrical aspect of Spiritual Kvintet’s repertoire and the sources from which the Czech group has drawn over their 60-year-long career. Initially, they were interested in African American spirituals, which gave the group its name. Soon after they added the folk songs of European immigrants to the USA. Czech sources of Spiritual Kvintet’s repertoire include European Renaissance songs, transcribed from lute tablatures of the Rudolphine era, songs of the Czech national revival, traditional Czech folk ballads, and finally some original compositions by Czech authors. The wide range of genres was matched by the unifying character of the lyrics. Both the foreign and archaic songs required translation into Czech, so the local audience would understand. The new lyrics were supplied by the members and friends of the group (Jiří Tichota, František Novotný, Dušan Vančura, and Vlastimil Marhoul), and some were provided by the renowned lyricist Ivo Fischer. The authors often shifted the specific nuances of the original meaning in favour of keeping the rhythm and sonority of the Czech verses. Nevertheless, they managed to formulate the songs’ original social message in a way that evoked associations with the domestic social situation. The diversity of the texts was unified by the musical arrangements, based on multi-voiced singing accompanied by guitar, double bass, and other acoustic instruments.
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