ONLINE SEVDAH: GLOBAL USE OF LOCAL MUSIC HERITAGE THROUGH THE INTERNET

Abstract

During its “long term”, sevdalinka proved to be very flexible folklore creation, given the fact that it successfully resisted various social, cultural, political and other influences it has been exposed to. As one of the consequences of the accelerated development of information and communication technologies, at the end of the 20th and at the beginning of the 21st century, emerged a new medium, the Internet, through which sevdalinka today mostly finds its way to its audience. Because this medium is standing in a direct connection with the process of globalization, here we will try to examine sevdalinka from the angle of this complex socio-cultural phenomenon. Special attention will be dedicated to sevdalinka as an “engaged” cultural heritage, that is “used” tradition, and besides the legal ones, there will be also taken into account the illegal means of this cultural consumerism, or more precisely, musical piracy. The paper argues that only those creations of culture that actively participate in the life of a certain community get their full sense; in other words, they are confirmed through this community, because they represent bearers of its historical memory, value system, identity, etc. This also applies to sevdalinka, which in the Internet environment gets far more opportunities for cultural “consumption”, not only by those who build their ethnic, national or cultural identity through it, but also by all other users of the worldwide network interested in this music genre. The aim of this work is to show how a local music tradition, depriving itself of by its own exclusivity, through the Internet, becomes a global cultural asset, giving itself greater chances to survive in contemporary conditions.