The Sevdalinka in Exile, Revisited: Young Bosnian Refugees’ Music-Making in Ljubljana in the 1990s (A Note on Applied Ethnomusicology)

Abstract

Scholars perceived the sevdalinka in exile as an evident expression of refugees’ Bosnian identity. Although this aspect might be important, we think that the identity dimension of the sevdalinka was overemphasised. That is why we point to the appearance of the sevdalinka in Slovenia as a complex process of experiencing uncertainty and trauma of forced migration on the one hand, and youth creativity or a search for expressive freedom on the other. Hence, we aim to move the focus from the refugees’ music life as collective experience to personal, highly individualised narratives. In addition, we argue that musical activities were organised in many aspects. An ethnomusicologist participated in these activities, therefore the work of applied ethnomusicology, together with its practice of strategic essentialisation of music, should be discussed as an integral part of the refugees’ music-making process.