The Significance of the Syrian Music Traditions for the Cultural Reconstruction of Syria

• Applicant: Daisam Jalo
• Subject Area: Musicology
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 538104398

Through considering the value of the Syrian music traditions as possible socio-cultural actor in the cultural reconstruction, I seek not only to contribute to the preserving of these endangered traditions in a way different from the now prevailing methods and projects aiming at safeguarding the Syrian intangible cultural heritage by keeping it the same as it was before. But also, I intend to contribute to the discussions about the needed change in the “Syrian” society and thought. My research, though not grounded on a fieldwork, is multi-layered. Focusing primarily on qualitative literature analysis, I start with scrutinizing the mostly Arabic literature on the Syrian music traditions. To complement this, I investigate the situation of the intangible cultural heritage since the 1950s through analyzing the efforts done mainly by the Syrian state, the UNESCO and the individual collectors. Thereafter, I shift my focus to the process of cultural reconstruction and examine the relevant experiences of France and Germany. While France provides an example of the scope of including all social actors in the process, I focus in the case of Germany on its relations to music. Having learned the necessary lessons, I go back again to the Syrian case and investigate the Syrian context from the late ottoman time to approximately 2011 mainly in terms of society and musical identity. Acknowledging three issues of the Syrian society, namely the nationalism, the sectarianism and the regionality, in their socio-cultural aspects, I suggest then -as an alternative to the today’s strictly divided society- the transcultural Society, where people no longer think of intangible cultural heritage and especially music traditions as an “exclusive property” of a group per se. But bringing this into practice is more vital than acknowledging its importance theoretically. Hence, I scrutinize finally the idea of experimenting with music traditions through transculturation and its possible role in smoothing the ways for a change in Syrian society.

• DFG Programme: Publication Grants