The end of a war does not necessarily coincide with the signing of a peace treaty. This premise underlies the notion of the postwar transition, developed by historians over the past two decades. Contrary to traditional diplomatic history, research on postwar transition periods considers the restoration of peace as a dynamic and complex process involving different simultaneous temporalities. Traces of conflict continue to affect societies long after the negotiation of peace. These traces are explored from four angles: 1) the reopening of borders and the return of soldiers, prisoners, and exiles; 2) the reinterpretation of the image of the enemy; 3) memory of the conflicts; 4) ‘cultural demobilisation’. The latter concept provides an opportunity to explore the various paces within postwar transitions: the alleviation of physical and symbolic violence, the momentum produced by pacifist ideals, the rehabilitation of the enemy as well as mourning and grieving processes.
Although the role of art has been explored in recent work on the topic, music has yet to receive any attention. However, the transition from war to peace can be observed in the reconstruction of musical milieus and in musical production. Musical creation, practices, and sociability, the establishment of new repertories, and the resumption of symbolic works can facilitate—or delay—the process of cultural demobilization. The “Music and Postwar Transitions” conference presents an exceptional opportunity to fill this historiographical lacuna.
Transferring the set of questions examined in studies of postwar transitions to musicology opens a new area of inquiry, situated at the intersection of four fields recently explored by historians and musicologists: the relationships between music and war cultures; the monumentality of music and its commemorative dimension; issues of migration and exile; and the connections between music, cultural diplomacy, and propaganda. Much of the research on postwar transitions has focused on the two World Wars, because these conflicts entailed profound transformations on several continents. While the importance of these wars on music is undeniable and certainly merits further exploration, new studies exploring the American Civil War, the Vietnam War, or conflicts such as the Cold War are encouraged, as they promise to enrich our understanding of change and continuity in politics, the arts and culture during these historical periods.
Papers can examine any postwar transition period, from armed conflicts to cold wars, civil or international in dimension, as well as any genre of music (art music, popular music, folk, etc.). Research addressing specific musical works is particularly encouraged. Proposals can focus on one or more of the following themes:
Selected bibliography
- John Baily, War, Exile and the Music of Afghanistan: The Ethnographer’s Tale, London, Taylor & Francis, 2016.
- John Baily and Michael Collyer (ed.), Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, numéro spécial Music and Migration, 32/2, 2006.
- Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau, Esteban Buch, Myriam Chimènes and Georgie Durosoir (ed.), La Grande Guerre des musiciens, Lyon, Symétrie, coll. « Perpetuum mobile », 2009.
- Annette Becker, Voir la Grande Guerre. Un autre récit (1914-2014), Paris, Armand Colin, 2016.
- Annette Becker, Bénédicte Grailles, Anne-Sophie Leterrier and Patrice Marcilloux, Chefs-d’œuvre and circonstances, Dainville, Archives du Pas-de-Calais, 2000.
- John Bush, The Songs That Fought the War: Popular Music and the Home Front, 1939-1945, Lebanon, Brandeis University Press, 2006.
- Myriam Chimènes (ed.), La vie musicale sous Vichy, Bruxelles, Editions Complexe, 2001.
- Myriam Chimènes and Yannick Simon (ed.), La musique à Paris sous l’Occupation, Paris, Fayard, 2013.
- Michel Cullin and Primavera Driessen Gruber, Douce France: Musik-Exil in Frankreich 1933-1945 – Musiciens en exil en France 1933-1945, Vienne, Böhlau Verlag, 2008.
- Annegret Fauser, Sounds of War. Music in the United States during World War II, New York, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2013.
- Danielle Fosler-Lussier, Music in America’s Cold War Diplomacy, Oakland, California: University of California Press, 2015.
- Florence Gétreau (ed.), Entendre la guerre. Silence, musiques and sons en 14-18, Paris, Gallimard, 2014.
- Jessica Gienow-Hecht, Sound Diplomacy: Music and Emotions in Transatlantic Relations, 1850-1920, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 2009.
- Étienne Jardin (ed.), Music and War in Europe from the French Revolution to WWI, Turnhout, Brepols, 2016.
- Karine Le Bail, La musique au pas : Être musicien sous l’Occupation, Paris, CNRS éditions, 2016.
- Andreas Linsenmann, Musikalspolitischer Faktor: Konzepte, Intentionenund Praxis französischerUmerziehungs- undKulturpolitik in Deutschland 1945-1949/50, Tübingen, Narr, 2010.
- Alexander Rehding, Music and Monumentality: Commemoration and Wonderment in Nineteenth Century Germany, Oxford, New York, Oxford University Press, 2009.
- Lyn Spillman, Nation and Commemoration: Creating National Identities in the United States and Australia, New York, Cambridge University Press, 1997.
- Manuela Schwartz, “Exil und Remigrationim Wirken Heinrich Strobels”, in Stefan Drees, Andreas Jakob, Stefan Orgas (ed.), Musik. Transfer. Kultur (Festschriftfür Horst Weber), Hildesheim, Olms, 2009, 385-406.
- Thobie Thacker, Music after Hitler, 1945-1955, Aldershot, Ashgate, 2007.
- Yvonne Wasserloos and Sabine Mecking (ed.), Inklusion & Exklusion. „Deutsche“ Musik in Europa und Nordamerika 1848-1945, Göttingen, V&R unipress, 2016.
- William Weber, “The 1784 Handel Commemoration as Political Ritual”, Journal of British Studies 28/1, 1989, 43–69.
- Hon-Lun Yang, « Power, Politics, and Musical Commemoration: Western Musical Figures in the People’s Republic of China 1949-1964 », Music and Politics, 1/2, 2007.
- Sarah Zalfen and Sven Oliver Müller (ed.), Besatzungsmacht Musik. Zur Musik- und Emotionsgeschichteim Zeitalter der Weltkriege (1914-1949), Bielefeld, Transcript, 2012.