Abstracts

StubickeToplice
Croatia

13-17 April, 2011

at the invitation of

Institut za etnologiju i folkloristiku

Mojca Kovačič,
Ljubljana, Slovenija
mkovacic@zrc-sazu.si

No laughter without bellows (Brez meha ni smeha) or accordion in Slovenia today

The pop-folk phenomenon made accordion as a national instrument in Slovenia and contributed to the establishment of Slovenian (music) identity from the second half of the 20th century onwards. The diatonic button accordion is one of the rare so called folk instruments, which came under the institutional framework and is now taught in music schools. Also, it is the most popular musical instrument in the Slovenian territory and constitutive element of the majority of Slovenian parties. The instrument's popularity is connected to the social structure of population, such as age, gender and type of settlement. It is difficult to label the accordion as urban or rural instrument, but because of its use in traditional and pop-folk music (where its corporate image – audible and visual – must be considered) the perception of accordion as rural instrument prevailed.

The paper focuses on today's role of the accordion in different musical genres and emphasises its use in Slovenian popular music (the example of last year's eurovision song contest, Slovenian turbofolk). The latter also contributed to the popularisation of accordion and exceeding of previous stereotypes in urban areas and mostly among younger generations.