The Unholy Trinity
Symposium on Discourses and Practices in the Framing of “American Music
Prof. Dr. Britta Sweers, Mat Callahan, Dr. Franz Andres Morrissey
Datum: 10.–11. Februar 2023
Ort: Universität Bern, Mittelstrasse
This symposium critically examined the historical and musical record, focused on American music as it has come to be recognised throughout the world, not only in relation to its formation as “American,” but also in relation to its influence on musical and social practices within and outside the United States. As was argued here, three institutions, the academy, the music industry and journalism, have promulgated an image of what American music is, where it came from and its relation to the project of nation-building, so essential to the United States. Although this image is largely a fiction, it has successfully obscured both the motives for its creation and the actual music and musicians it has displaced. The symposium was aimed at documenting the mechanisms by which this was accomplished while bringing to light many examples of the music that was buried in the process.
