Daniela Stavělová
Institute of Ethnology of the Czech Academy of Sciences
Music, dance and festivities as a vehicle how to build the public space and local identity
(abstract)
The presentation will focus on different types of festivities in urban space which have their origins in the culture of the traditional rural society, their present form, however, is shaped by the current needs of local communities. We will be interested in how events are modified by the current pressure of external influence and authorities which handle and adapt their content to current requirements. These include the negotiation of cultural ownership, commodification, the process of hybridization and other phenomena associated with the representation and symbolic expression in the mirror of contemporary imagination. The contribution is based on the repeated qualitative research based on ethnographic data. The crucial starting point is the observation of the festivities by means of ethnochoreology and ethnomusicology, where the study of music and dance meanings contribute to understanding the implicit social relations of the local community that handles the cultural heritage or cultural memory in terms of its needs.