engleski

"Professionals": Croatian Gusle Players at the Turn of the Millennium

In the extensive book chapter the authors examine historical dimensions of Croatian gusle playing traditions and different aspects of music making among contemporary Croatian gusle musicians. First, they explore the centuries-old presence of oral epics and gusle instrument in Croatia and among Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and then they focus on the review of folkloristic, ethnomusicological and other related research from the 18th until the 20th centuries. Finally, they analyse contemporary Croatian gusle music. Even though the gusle is a traditional instrument of Croats, nowadays, the majority of people in Croatia do not consider the gusle and gusle playing as a positive part of their own national and cultural heritage and modern culture. Generally speaking, the gusle playing is underestimated and marginal genre in the context of entire Croatian music scene, even in the context of traditional music. Contemporary gusle players of Croatian ethnicity mostly live and, more importantly, perform in the Dalmatian hinterland area and in the neighbouring area in Herzegovina and southwest Bosnia. The first reason why gusle playing was not well preserved in Croatia is due to the process of rapid disappearance of older folklore forms due to continuous industrialization and urbanization from the 19th century until today. This process of disappearing included different forms of narrative poems, especially epic poems, which were considered outmoded and monotonous by younger generations. Another important component of unacceptability of gusle music is the question of the perception of the Dalmatian hinterland music by general public in Croatia. The “raw noise” of this music is usually linked to prevailing stereotypes about the population of the hinterland Dalmatia, which are known all over Croatia and dominate the public discourse. According to these stereotypes, the inhabitants of the Dalmatian hinterland are ill-mannered, rude, and aggressive. The stereotype about backwardness is in this case identified with the stereotype of the backwardness of their traditional music. Furthermore, in the eyes of most of contemporary Croats, the gusle are not a typical instrument of Croats and all-Croatian identity, contrary to the case of Serbs and Montenegrins, where the gusle music is much more respected. The authors applied historical-anthropological method in examining various changes in the music of Croatian gusle musicians from the creation of the first Yugoslav state in 1918 until the Croatian independence war in 1991. These changes were caused by turbulent political events, numerous upheavals and various ideologies. During the last war, modern gusle musicians appeared on Croatian public scene, thus confirming the thesis of some researchers that oral epic is renewed in the times of war and heightened political tensions. Contemporary Croatian gusle players are, first of all, chroniclers of the present who, in their new songs, seek to transmit very concrete political and social messages to Croatian, and very often to regional and world public. That is why, in this research, the authors discuss contemporary political discourse in Croatia and analyse the public and scholarly discourse of Croatian intellectuals about gusle musicians, i.e. how they are perceived in the “left” and “right”-oriented circles. The epic genre has often been instrumentalized politically by local, ethnic, national and religious elites. On the other hand, due to free speech policies, contemporary gusle epics is, compared to the past one, much more explicit in expressing political and ideological ideas. The second part of the paper titled “Professionals” is dedicated to ethnomusicological aspects of contemporary Croatian gusle music. The authors analyse different types of gusle musicians, their public performances on local fairs and various music stages, gusle performers’ musical skills, repertoire changes, as well as gusle musicians’ behaviour and image. Since recent Croatian discourse about the need of cultural escape from the Balkans placed the gusle in a very limited space of existence, in the conclusions the authors attempt to present the future of Croatian gusle musicians and music in the context of contemporary processes and trends within genres of traditional music, as well as within overall cultural politics in Croatia and among Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Croatia, gusle players, past and present

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