Migrations of the Nationalization of Music: From Folk to Folk-Pop Music

The paper discusses folk and folk-pop music from the perspective of the development of their symbolic meaning for the immediate and wider community. The migration of ascribed meanings and moral and aesthetic values from one era to another, from one community to another, or from one social class to another is the focus of the observation of these two musical genres, which link a number of dichotomies. If folk music played one of the most important nationally representative roles in the 20th century, in recent decades, folk-pop music has begun to play this role alongside folk music, as state policies have begun to accept it as part of their agenda, thus legitimizing it as a symbol of national representation.
Keywords: folk music, folk-pop music, cultural nationalism, cultural policy, national identity

The paper raises some questions regarding the nationalization of folk and folk-pop music and their presentation as nationally recognizable symbols. In particular, it deals with the selection of elements as national attributes and the key emphases of academic and professional discourses on folk and folk-pop music from the end of the 19th century until today. Initially, nationalization processes proceeded from the top down. The nationalization of folk music occurred primarily through the intellectual center, which grounded nationality in language and culture, including folk songs, that conformed to notions of authenticity, antiquity, and difference from other nations.
The ideology of selection was not only characteristic of the late 19th and early 20th centuries but also strongly influenced musical-folkloristic thought for many decades thereafter. The Public Fund of the Republic of Slovenia for Cultural Activities is the central institution that continues to select and direct (in)appropriate representations of musical and dance heritage (including those steeped in folk music). This heritage receives financial and moral support from the state, while the functional “folk music” of everyday life has a very different dynamic.
The national meanings attributed to folk music a hundred years ago and folk-pop music today have many parallels and share the view that they come from and belong to the people/nation. The space of the nationally representative, formerly occupied by the so-called folklore (along with folk music), has also captured folk-pop music, especially in the decades since independence. Its contact with tradition, the success of Slovenian folk-pop music ensembles abroad, and its popularity have made it a legitimate component of state events, often politically motivated. The status of folk-pop music as an important segment of national culture has been strengthened by its inclusion in state events and by the awarding of state prizes to some of its authors. However, folk-pop music is not only recognized nationally within Slovenia but also outside of it, and it has great identity-forming significance in some Slovenian communities abroad, such as the United States and Argentina, where it accompanies many events, whether festive, everyday, or protocol.
While academic discourse has distanced itself from folk-pop music and perceived it as conservative, homespun, backward-looking cultural content, musical folkloristics have seen it primarily as a threat to displace folk music as authentic and more valuable cultural content. The professional and scientific fields, in general, still have a lot of thinking to do to overcome the subjective, ideological, and value barriers. Only then will it be possible to look critically and objectively at the intersection between folk and popular music and the processes of their nationalization.