Musicians in exile in Shanghai 1938-1949

• Applicant: Dr. Sophie Fetthauer
• Subject Area: Musicology
• Term: from 2014 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 258975121

From 1938 onwards, about 18,000 refugees from Germany and Austria took refuge from the persecutions of the Nazi state in Shanghai. Most of them did not wish to go there specifically; they only headed for the Chinese seaport because the immigration formalities had been suspended there for some time. Among the refugees was a remarkably high proportion of more than 450 musicians. Many of them chose Shanghai as destination because the Jewish aid organizations had spread the news that there was a demand for musicians in East Asia and especially in Shanghai.A place of exile only until 1949, when the Communists came to power, Shanghai was a special case in political, cultural, linguistic, as well as hygienic terms. With its 3.5 million inhabitants this was predominantly a Chinese city, but the exterritorial settlements of the French, British and Americans and the presence of other groups of foreigners, including Japanese occupiers, Germans, so-called White Russians, and both a Sephardic-Bagdadic and an Ashkenazi-Russian Jewish community, were formative. In addition, from 1943 to 1945 the refugees were confronted with a ghetto-like situation and with warfare.Most of the musicians proved to be adaptable. On the one hand, they integrated well into the established concert and entertainment events, on the other hand, they built up an independent musical life. The Jewish cantors, in particular, persisted in their traditional culture, while musicians engaged in light music responded flexibly to the tastes of the public. For concert performers, the possibilities of work were limited, they often deviated into other areas, such as light music or pedagogy. It was above all the music educators who came into contact with the Chinese population and left a lasting impact through their pupils.It is the aim of this project to investigate the group of exiled musicians in Shanghai utilizing concepts of cultural entanglements. Thus it will engage with processes of identity preservation and foreclosure as well as acculturation and exchange. The structure of the planned monograph is based on the various musical fields of work. These include synagogue music, popular music events, concerts, musical theater and music mediation, each with different emphasis on institutions, persons, repertoires, and works. In addition, there are chapters that correspond to the beginning of the exile, that is to say the decision to move to Shanghai, and its end, i. e. the further migration and questions of compensation for the victims of the Nazis after the end of Second World War.The study is based on primary sources, for example Shanghai-related collections, personal papers, compensation records, memoirs, and the press. These sources are complemented by individual documents which have been be discovered through intensive research about the musicians.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants