Exploring klezmer through fragments of memory and identity

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study delves into the notion of klezmer as both a link in the chain of Jewish continuity and a mirror to the multifarious variations of Jewish identification. It explores the music in relation to various events within the last century of Jewish history, such as the Jewish enlightenment movement, migration from Eastern Europe and the Holocaust, and draws on various discourses of memory and identity to frame and elucidate the music. It also proposes the theory that klezmer could indeed be an archetype, comprised of mnemonic and archetypal musical devices, that resides deep within the Jewish collective unconscious and rouses nostalgic yearnings to reclaim a cherished yet imperilled heritage. Embracing this notion of klezmer as archetype sheds light on the contemporary klezmer scene, particularly in Germany, Poland and the United States of America, and the many social, cultural and moral sensibilities that define it. Paving the way for the various avenues of Jewish, and often non-Jewish, memory work and identification klezmer not only sounds the synthesis of cultural, social and religious boundaries, but also emerges as a bastion of Jewish continuity.