Page 245 - Weiss, Jernej, ur. 2017. Glasbene migracije: stičišče evropske glasbene raznolikosti - Musical Migrations: Crossroads of European Musical Diversity. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 1
P. 245
From “Baggage Culture” to Universally
Accepted Cultural Commitment:
the case of the musical life
of Austro-Hungarian Sarajevo
Lana Paćuka
Univerza v Sarajevu
University of Sarajevo
In the history of music in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), the year 1878
is considered as the reference point for starting any discussion of Western
European contexts of the musical culture in this region. The foundations
of social, cultural and musical trends set in this period are consumed even
today, while the Western European lifestyle is considered as a well-estab-
lished practice of the Bosnian and Herzegovinian society. Historical facts
confirm the above described, and therefore the answers to the questions as
to when Sarajevo and B&H entered the process of modernization and ur-
banization will all refer to the same starting point – the year of 1878, when
the Austro-Hungarian occupation of B&H began. It is irrefutable that Sa-
rajevo, as the main administrative center of the Austro-Hungarian govern-
ment, changed its face by being transformed into a Europe-oriented social
and cultural center, owing to the 40-year-long period of occupation.
However, what will happen if we view the historical facts from a some-
what different, critical perspective? What insights can we reach if we view
both the facts pertaining to the development of the Western European cul-
ture, and those which suggest that the reception of the same trends by local
population did not go as smoothly as it seems to have gone from the pres-
ent perspective? What will happen if we ask ourselves what is hidden be-
hind the phrase universally accepted cultural commitment, i.e. how and un-
der what circumstances the newly-arrived culture became accepted? In the
case of Sarajevo and B&H, can we speak about the winner’s culture, which
243
Accepted Cultural Commitment:
the case of the musical life
of Austro-Hungarian Sarajevo
Lana Paćuka
Univerza v Sarajevu
University of Sarajevo
In the history of music in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), the year 1878
is considered as the reference point for starting any discussion of Western
European contexts of the musical culture in this region. The foundations
of social, cultural and musical trends set in this period are consumed even
today, while the Western European lifestyle is considered as a well-estab-
lished practice of the Bosnian and Herzegovinian society. Historical facts
confirm the above described, and therefore the answers to the questions as
to when Sarajevo and B&H entered the process of modernization and ur-
banization will all refer to the same starting point – the year of 1878, when
the Austro-Hungarian occupation of B&H began. It is irrefutable that Sa-
rajevo, as the main administrative center of the Austro-Hungarian govern-
ment, changed its face by being transformed into a Europe-oriented social
and cultural center, owing to the 40-year-long period of occupation.
However, what will happen if we view the historical facts from a some-
what different, critical perspective? What insights can we reach if we view
both the facts pertaining to the development of the Western European cul-
ture, and those which suggest that the reception of the same trends by local
population did not go as smoothly as it seems to have gone from the pres-
ent perspective? What will happen if we ask ourselves what is hidden be-
hind the phrase universally accepted cultural commitment, i.e. how and un-
der what circumstances the newly-arrived culture became accepted? In the
case of Sarajevo and B&H, can we speak about the winner’s culture, which
243
