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Music and Trauma. On the Relationship Between Music and Cultural Remembrance

Ring, Magnus LU (2024) 16th ESA "Tension, Trust, and Transformation" p.128-129
Abstract
This paper address the role of music in relation to what
here is defined as cultural trauma. The text takes its starting point in Jeremy Eichler’s (2023) project on the music of remembrance, in which he shows how music bears witness to history and carries the memory of the past, using the cases of composers that lived through the 2nd WW and the Holocaust, the paper establishes a
case of how music may work as a cultural memory carrying forward the meaning of a more or less distant past. As cultural trauma may persist over generations (e.g., the Holocaust or slavery) the living memory of these events fades, which leads to questions regarding how these memories still may persists and be addressed through cultural means of various... (More)
This paper address the role of music in relation to what
here is defined as cultural trauma. The text takes its starting point in Jeremy Eichler’s (2023) project on the music of remembrance, in which he shows how music bears witness to history and carries the memory of the past, using the cases of composers that lived through the 2nd WW and the Holocaust, the paper establishes a
case of how music may work as a cultural memory carrying forward the meaning of a more or less distant past. As cultural trauma may persist over generations (e.g., the Holocaust or slavery) the living memory of these events fades, which leads to questions regarding how these memories still may persists and be addressed through cultural means of various kinds. The role of different forms of memorialization here becomes central. These events are not only memorialized in various institutional forms such as museums and/or monuments, but also by other means such as
literature and the arts. The paper elaborate Eicher’s sample of classic music by looking at cases of more recent forms of musical expressions that also relates to a troublesome and traumatic collective past. Using the theory of cultural trau-
ma (e.g., Alexander 2004, Eyerman et.al 2011 2023) and a range of exemplary musical expressions as cases, the paper shows how various generations may find their own forms and expressions in respect to how to deal with the cultural memory of a common traumatic past. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to conference
publication status
published
subject
pages
128 - 129
conference name
16th ESA "Tension, Trust, and Transformation"
conference location
Porto, Portugal
conference dates
2024-08-27 - 2024-08-30
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
52810123-ef8e-4c54-aef9-33d3cad6d216
date added to LUP
2025-10-27 16:35:42
date last changed
2025-10-28 12:48:54
@misc{52810123-ef8e-4c54-aef9-33d3cad6d216,
  abstract     = {{This paper address the role of music in relation to what<br/>here is defined as cultural trauma. The text takes its starting point in Jeremy Eichler’s (2023) project on the music of remembrance, in which he shows how music bears witness to history and carries the memory of the past, using the cases of composers that lived through the 2nd WW and the Holocaust, the paper establishes a<br/>case of how music may work as a cultural memory carrying forward the meaning of a more or less distant past. As cultural trauma may persist over generations (e.g., the Holocaust or slavery) the living memory of these events fades, which leads to questions regarding how these memories still may persists and be addressed through cultural means of various kinds. The role of different forms of memorialization here becomes central. These events are not only memorialized in various institutional forms such as museums and/or monuments, but also by other means such as<br/>literature and the arts. The paper elaborate Eicher’s sample of classic music by looking at cases of more recent forms of musical expressions that also relates to a troublesome and traumatic collective past. Using the theory of cultural trau-<br/>ma (e.g., Alexander 2004, Eyerman et.al 2011 2023) and a range of exemplary musical expressions as cases, the paper shows how various generations may find their own forms and expressions in respect to how to deal with the cultural memory of a common traumatic past.}},
  author       = {{Ring, Magnus}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{128--129}},
  title        = {{Music and Trauma. On the Relationship Between Music and Cultural Remembrance}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}