Beethoven or Debussy? The reception of German and French music in Japan from 1924 to 1945 – Studies on Cultural Transfer

• Applicant: Dr. Minari Bochmann
• Subject Area: Musicology
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 465147558

The history of reception of European music in Japan has so far been explored through institutional, organisational und (cultural) political studies as well as through work-immanent analyses and production timelines, while music periodicals have been studied only sporadically. The planned research project will work out identity-related attributions given to music from various European countries through a systematic review of music periodicals from the period between 1924 and 1945, in order to empirically describe the interlinkages between German and French music with that of Japan. It aims to illustrate how European music got into identity conflicts in the course of its transfer process, until it was finally appropriated by the Japanese. Following the cultural transfer theory of Michel Espagne and Michael Werner, the hermeneutic process of interpretation and appropriation to which a foreign cultural asset is subjected in the host culture is considered as essential for a successful cultural transfer for the purpose of this project.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants