“Exploring the Influences of Transfer and Transformation on Music and Culture: An Interdisciplinary Conference”

Changes in the history of music and culture are subject to causes and triggers that appear as diverse as they can be modified. These include social, individual, cultural and political initial moments, which need to be examined in terms of their form and reverberations.

The 19th and 20th centuries are the focus of attention as the first period in modern history, which can be characterized in particular by acceleration and upheavals similar to erosion. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Congress of Vienna was both a reactionary and a catalytic moment, but in this century the “transformation of the world” (Jürgen Osterhammel) is taking place, of which music and musical life are no exception. Mobilities, international exchange and acceptance and differentiation from the music world and the cultures of other countries are increasing. Even in the age of nation-states, these processes influence musical-artistic aesthetics. In the first half of the 20th century, other parameters took effect as a result of political system struggles, war, experiences in exile as well as flight and expulsion after the Second World War.

For the phenomena described, transfer and transformation must be considered as part of the change. The distinction between the two terms creates an internal differentiation between the processual nature of the transfer and the (provisional) closure of the transformation. In this sense, transfer (from “transferre”, transfer, translate) denotes the “absorption” of new ideas that are discussed through acceptance, assimilation, negation or modification, from which something original can arise. Transformation means the “restructuring of an existing system” (DWDS) towards a temporary endpoint of transformation. If these confrontations with the “other” take place largely on a self-sought, voluntary basis, the forced, involuntary confrontation with the “foreign” is another factor in the change.

The conference would like to discuss what both historical caesuras and change mean and mean for musical actors and music, when transfer and transformation can have both negative and positive connotations and entail corresponding consequences.

The conference is interdisciplinary and is aimed equally at musicologists, historians, political scientists or sociologists as well as young researchers in the disciplines. For a presentation proposal, please send an abstract (maximum 500 words) and a short CV to: yvonne.wasserloos@moz.ac.at by June 23, 2023.