We are pleased to announce the program of the final conference of the Swiss National Science Foundation-funded project “Claiming Folklore – Politics and Practices of ‘Volksmusik’ (Swiss Traditional Popular Music) on Swiss Television (1960s–1990s).”
The conference, titled “Media, modernity, and the transformation of tradition(s) – the role of audiovisual media from an international perspective,” will take place on September 8 and 9, 2025.
To facilitate planning, please register by August 31 via email to claimingfolklore@isek.uzh.ch. When registering, indicate whether you will attend both conference days or only one. Participation is free of charge.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2025
09:15 – 10:00 Block I: Opening / Introduction to the Topic
09:15 – 10:00 Bernhard Tschofen, Prof. Dr. (Zurich)
Introduction to the Final Conference
Sabine Eggmann, Dr. (Zurich) and Alexandra Neukomm, MA (Zurich)
“Claiming Folklore” – A Brief Overview and Contextual Framing:
The research project investigates how presenter Wysel Gyr and Swiss television shaped the landscape of “Volkskultur” (Swiss Traditional Popular Music) and ideas of Swiss cultural heritage from the 1960s to the 1990s. The archival basis consists of around 600 digitized broadcasts and musical inserts, as well as correspondence and production documents from the former Folklore and Heimat editorial department. In addition, interviews are conducted with musicians, (former) SRF employees, and viewers. Drawing on all these sources, the team explores the audiovisual production and reception of “Volksmusik” during the medium’s heyday, as well as the associated interests, expectations, and the roles of various actors. The project aims to uncover media- and music-related perspectives as well as identity and cultural-political concepts that ultimately shed light on the social meanings, functions, and effects of “Volkskultur” and other representations of “homeland cultures” on television. More information: https://fernsehfolklore.ch/and https://www.isek.uzh.ch/de/populärekulturen/forschung/projekte/drittmittelprojekte/claiming-folklore.html
10:00 – 10:30 Coffee Break
10:30 – 12:30 Block II: Sound and Image
10:30 – 11:10 Thomas Nußbaumer, Prof. Dr. (Innsbruck)
The Sound of the Alps – presenting folk music in Austrian and Bavarian media:
The lecture focuses on the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) television series ‘Klingendes Österreich’ [Sounding Austria] (1986–2020; presenter: Sepp Forcher, since 2021 ‘Österreich vom Feinsten’ [Austria at its finest]; presenter: Hans Knauß) and ‘Mei liabste Weis’ [My favourite tune] (since 1988; presenter: Franz Posch). While ‘Klingendes Österreich’ and ‘Österreich vom Feinsten’ pursue the idea of presenting rural regions of Austria, South Tyrol and occasionally Bavaria as (folk) cultural areas with their own history, architecture, cuisine and music, ‘Mei liabste Weis’ is a live folk music programme based on similarly conceived regional cultural ideas. Similar formats include the series ‘Servus Musikantenstammtisch’ [Servus musicians regulars’ table] (Servus TV) and ‘Wirtshausmusikanten beim Hirzinger’ [Tavern musicians at Hirzinger’s] and ‘Musikantentreffen’ [Musicians’ gathering] (Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation). The lecture attempts to examine these broadcast formats from the perspectives of national identity construction and their impact on musical practice.
11:10 – 11:50 Fabio Dick, MA (Würzburg)
The (Re-)Presentation of Folk Musicking via Bayerischer Rundfunk:
The conference contribution places central issues of the research project “Claiming Folklore. Politics and Practices of Traditional Popular Music in the Swiss Television (1960s–1990s)” within the broadcasting program of the Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR). With regard to different meanings, understandings, and (re-)presentations of folk music as of today, it focuses on television culture and reflects on the role of audiovisual content including social networks and media platforms. Combining a media-analytical approach and ethnographic-empirical data, this work-in-progress draws from an one year field research and the lived experience of musicians in Eastern Bavaria alike. Consequently, the production, distribution/transmission and evaluation of musical traditions, (self-)images and repertoires in particular as well as ideas of authenticity, cultural heritage and regional specificity are both reviewed and cross-examined. The talk identifies corresponding sociocultural characteristics and/or claims of the BR, but eventually also questions its concept of identity, belonging, and “Heimat”.
11:50 – 12:30 Brigitte Heck, M.A. (Karlsruhe)
Flickering homeland. Nature and Naturalness as strategy in the Heimatfilm "Schwarzwaldmädel (The Black Forest Girl)":
In 1950, Hans Deppe's ‘Schwarzwaldmädel’ attracted more viewers to German cinemas than any other film before it. The movie also established a whole new genre and triggered a wave of other sentimental regional films that followed. The storyline and the music were taken from the operetta of the same name by Léon Jessel (Berlin 1917). However, the commercial success can only partly be explained by aspects such as the modern merchandising, the skillful camera work or the sophisticated staging, because it was also fueled by the longing of a traumatised post-war society for an ideal world. In fact, “The Black Forest Girl” emblematically depicts the conservative and escapist strategies for coping with the challenging everyday life in the turmoil of the post-war period. The presentation therefore examines the specific way in which this natural idyll was constructed.
12:30 – 13:10 Lunch Break: Catering in the Atrium
13:10 – 14:30 Block III: Music in Audiovisual Media
13:10 – 13:50 Thomas Jaermann, Dr. (London)
Using Folklore – Soundtrack of an Empress: How Composer Anton Profes created time and space in the Sissi films:
During and after World War II, the historical drama film genre gained immense popularity. The film plots were often set during the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph, a reign which was typically portrayed as glorified and exaggerated. Anton Profes film music for the Sissi trilogy, directed by Ernst Marischka, contributed significantly to the success of this film series. He created a Hollywood-esque score that constructs the temporal and spatial settings, supports the opulent imagery, and even depicts a historical conflict. Upon closer listening, however, one realises that there is much more to this film score than a musical play on folkloristic clichés that contribute to the exaggeration of sentimental feelings. This presentation aims to highlight some musical elements in Profes’ score, demonstrating how the composer references and constructs a past era and the means he uses to geographically locate the film, by playing with our audio perception of time and space.
13:50 – 14:30 Bernhard Fuchs, Prof. Dr. (Wien):
European Musical Traditions in Indian Film-songs:
Musical traditions from all over the world inspire song and dance sequences in Indian cinema. This paper analyses adaptations of European heritage in popular Hindi-films. Sometimes European heritage is misrepresented or remains hidden: Rome is represented by Budapest in a movie from 1999 that even contains a scene with Hungarian folk dances. In 1975 the Greek Cypriot origin of the song “Mehbooba” has been unknown to the music director. Other examples (from 1964 to 2017) present European musical traditions as symbols of European cultures in touristic contexts. The songs are diegetically embedded in travel narratives that highlight attractive landscapes and cultural heritage. Often lyrics perform code switching between European languages and Hindi. Participation of the protagonists in local cultural practices is part of the touristic experience. These songs display engagement with (often hybrid) European heritage (e.g. Fado, Flamenco, Romani music).
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2025
09:00 – 11:00 Block IV: Tradition, Nostalgia, and Modernity
09:00 – 09:40 Spandita Das, MA (Dehli)
Folk Music of Bengal and Audiovisuality: Rural Vision, the Idea of “Folk”, and Ethnic Identity:
The village being seen as “the crucible of modernity” by the post-Independence Indian artists (Chaudhuri 2024,588), Bengali films like Thikadar, Subarnarekha, Nayika Sangbad, Hansaraj, Akaler Sandhane, made between 1940 and 1980, used folksongs envisioning various subordinated communities as “folk” by emphasizing their attachment to culture-specific or rural values against emergent urban practices. Folksongs in recent films like Bisarjan, Bijaya, and Rosogolla also invoke villages, albeit as a “remembered” world (Chakraborty 1996). However, locally produced music videos of folk-pop on digital platforms articulate political concerns, especially those related to their ethnic identities, by demonstrating “complex interaction(s) of modernization and traditionalization” (Cohen 1987,98), in ways different from the above-mentioned films. Citing some gramophone advertisements, record sleeves, select Bengali films, and music videos, I demonstrate that, besides embodying the ekphrastic aspect of folksongs, audiovisual mediums generate additional aesthetic effects that embolden ideological articulations by reinforcing or reinventing the notion of traditions at specific junctures of time.
09:40 – 10:20 Johannes Müske, Dr. (Freiburg i.Br.)
From 1970s folk schlager to living tradition: Singing folk songs and coping with modernity, heimat-loss, and age:
The paper explores folk song singing events (‘Volksliedersingenʼ) in southwest Germany as a preactice of place-making in a rapidly changing world. The ethnography is based on fieldwork with mostly elder people participating in folk song meetings in the Freiburg region. It analyses the cultural politics of regional identity and belonging to a home region (‘Heimatʼ) and asks how these are created performatively through so-called folk songs. The research asks (1) for repertoires and layers of mediatisation: The ‘folk songʼ repertoire largely is inspired by the popular schlager folk songs appearing in TV shows in the 1970s through the 1990s. (2) Resonating pasts: It is asked further what ‘resonatesʼ (Hartmut Rosa) in these performances. As informal communication and qualitative interviews show, while singing, my field partners do not only have fun but also think back to an idealised world relating to their youth and nostalgic heimat feelings.
10:20 – 11:00 Erol Ayhan, Prof. Dr. (Izmir)
Multiple Authenticities in Motion: The Alevi Musical Revival:
The Alevi ritual songs have been ontologically separated from the ceremonies together with the development of the recording industry and the state-run mass media in the 1950s. This religiously specific and contextually embedded musical tradition became an omnipresent product through the production and dissemination of its recordings in the 1990s. The Alevi musical revival in 1990s is a coming together, a convergence of various circumstances and personal motivations centering on the fascination and emulation of a tradition that has become culturally and historically distant from its rituals. In this paper, I will analyse these identifiable categories through the strategies of the revivalists by using the term “authenticity” as an analytical tool. Close readings of some commercially recordings illustrate how songs may imagine and embody multi-dimensional Alevi identities. The presentation will be accompanied by supporting audio and visual examples.
11:00 – 11:25 Coffee Break
11:25 – 12:45 Block V: Canonization & Curation of Music
11:25 – 12:05 Eleni Fanioudaki, MA (Athen)
Broadcasting Tradition: From Oral Culture to National Broadcast — Thracian Music on Television:
This presentation explores how television has reshaped traditional music from Thrace, Greece, through the figure of Chronis Aidonidis (1928–2023). As the most prominent performer of Thracian folk music, Aidonidis embodied both the oral tradition of his homeland and its transformation through mass media. The study focuses on two landmark televised appearances: the “2000 Today” global broadcast and the 2004 Athens Olympic Games closing ceremony. In both, Aidonidis was chosen to represent an aesthetically curated version of “Greekness” through traditional music. Based on fieldwork, archival material, and interviews, this study examines how television reframes traditional music—from oral performance to mediated spectacle. Engaging with theories of mediated tradition and performative authenticity, it considers how audiovisual media select and recontextualize cultural expressions for national and global audiences. Ultimately, media do not merely represent tradition but actively participate in redefining it, transforming both musical heritage and cultural memory.
12:05 – 12:45 Saskia Jaszoltowski, Assoz. Prof. Dr. (Graz)
Between tradition and modernity – the Eurovision Song Contest:
As one of the largest and longest running audiovisual media spectacles, the Eurovision Song Contest has shaped not only the perception of popular music in Europe and beyond. It has also developed its own tradition of a musical-performative repertoire that mirrorstechnological change as well as political and power-related conflicts. It functions as an archive and provides entertainment at the same time. In this presentation, I will discuss the sociocultural impact of the music contest throughout the years, highlight performances that integrate folkloristic heritage with popular idioms, and analyze the medially transmitted images of cultural diversity with its political implications. I will argue that the Eurovision Song Contest is a unique example for studying the relationship between music, media, and politics on an international level.
12:45 – 14:00 Individual Lunch Break
14:00 – 16:00 Block VI: Music & Heritage
14:00 – 14:40 Lea Hagmann, Dr. (Bern)
Beyond Tradition – How far “beyond”? A self-reflexive analysis:
The film title Beyond Tradition: Power of Natural Voices (Hagmann/von Gunten, 2023) promises to look behind the concept of ‘tradition’ from the perspective of three non-verbal vocal traditions: the Appenzell natural yodel, the Sami yoik and the Georgian samgherisi. But how far does this ethnomusicological documentary film really go in shattering an overly romanticised understanding of ‘tradition’ and in looking beyond folklore narratives? In a self-critical analysis, this paper reflects on the starting point, background and final result of the successful cinema and TV documentary film (RAI Ethnomusicology Film Award 2025). It highlights the conflicts of interest that had to be negotiated during the making of the film, particularly in view of scientific, artistic and commercial perspectives, and explores the extent to which folklore narratives had been successfully deconstructed and where they continue to exist. Following this paper, we will watch a lengthier extract of the film.
14:40 – 15:20 Hande Birkalan-Gedik, Prof. Dr. (Frankfurt a.M.)
Politics and Practices of Folklore Knowledge: Visual Media, Institutional Shifts, and Generic Canons in Turkey, 1950-1980:
My paper examines the emergence of “new” folklore knowledge in Turkey from the 1950s onwards, in response to key institutional and media transformations, with a specific focus on how visual media engaged with and reshaped the generic folklore canon in Turkey. Following the closure of the Turkish Folk Literature and Folklore Department (Ankara University) in 1948, folklore knowledge was claimed through new avenues for production and negotiation and emerged through various channels, including state-funded organizations, semi-scholarly journals, international folklore congresses, and NGOs (derneks). A major turning point came in 1952 with the advent of TV broadcasts, which significantly altered public engagement with folklore. Programming included Turkish folk music concerts and folk-dance performances—from internationally staged spectacles to high school competitions aired on television—offering new ways of codifying and performing folklore. This paper explores how different folklore milieus negotiated these transformations, emphasizing the role of visual media in shaping public reception.
15:20 – 16:00 Marie Kollek, Dr. (Jena)
Black Aesthetic Discourses in the popular cultural media ensemble across France, Belgium, and West Germany in the Long 1960s:
This contribution examines black aesthetic discourses in the popular cultural media ensemble of the long 1960s, focusing on France, francophone Belgium and West Germany. It examines elements of black culture a dynamic and multifaceted field of expression, emphasisingcultural transfers and counter-narratives. By analysing media, sound, power relations, bodies and space, the study shows how black culture challenged hegemonic narratives and reshaped cultural identities and the pop-cultural landscape of Western Europe during this period.
16:00 – 16:25 Coffee Break
16:25 – 17:05 Block VII: Closing Panel & Final Discussion
16:25 – 16:45 Simone Egger, Jun. Prof. (Saarbrücken)
Conference Reflection and Commentary
16:45 – 17:05 Team Project “Claiming Folklore”
Final Discussion
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