Ethical considerations regarding playing folk music
In a project with folk music as a main topic, questions of cultural appropriation, identity, and ownership of cultural expressions naturally arises. Especially considering that I am playing music from Norway as a Swede, I feel that I should acknowledge that I come to all of this as a little bit of an outsider. Also when playing traditional music from Sweden I do not necessarily feel that it is «my» music as I do not have a folk music background.
To understand the ethical implications of this, one should look at the power dynamics between the different involved actors. For example, I believe that I should acknowledge my position as a paid researcher representing an institution in my meeting with this music. I also would like to be mindful of how I represent this music and my history with it for an audience that is not familiar with it. Furthermore, I also have to consider who has been allowed to have a voice and an opinion on these matters historically and for what reasons.
Although I do not feel a strong ownership of folk music, at the same time I feel a responsibility to represent this music. Because if I do not, there are political forces in society, which I do not agree with, that will exploit this opportunity to define what folk music is and who it is for.
As Sara Parkman writes in a recent opinion piece on the topic in Expressen:
"Att använda folkmusiken för att illustrera sin egen ideologi har gjorts i alla tider – Anders Zorn gjorde det, proggen, Sverigedemokraterna, tysk-sympatisörerna på 30-talet, kommunisterna, så även jag i min politiska ungdom där fäboden fick vara min feministiska utopi. Det finns inget bättre än att hävda att man har folkets musik på sin sida om kampen." (Parkman 2024)
I believe that one has to realize the inherent political potential of folk music. Something that I want to highlight is that folk music, in my view, is not something static, but ever-evolving and can adapt to changes in society. One example of this is the practice of same-sex dancing which has become more common in recent years (see Karin Erikssons phd here).
To me there is not necessarily a conflict between caring for the tradition and preserving all its intricate details and trying new stuff as I am doing with this project. I am not trying to outcompete the traditional way of playing. Rather my aim is to complement it with approaching folk music from a different angle which I hope can serve to highlight all the beautiful and intricate details which I care deeply about. In turn I hope that this project may inspire others to care about them as well.
Having said this, it is important to point out that these aspirations of mine do not mean that my project is automatically not problematic. I want to remain very open to criticism especially from people who have folk music as an important part of their identity and life. My view on art in general is that every expression is in some sense a political act and thus has ethical consequences, which people can disagree with, and this if of course a good thing.
One criticism that I have gotten from my supervisor is that I was not presenting the tunes and where they are from during my concerts. I guess I did so because it is very much in the style of experimental electronic music to play continuously throughout the performance and not make any breaks for talking. I have since rectified this and it feels very good to tell the audience a little bit about the music and where it comes from. When I played at Norberg festival I got several people coming up to me after the concert complementing it for this.
(This text, should and will, be updated with more perspectives from other people. In particular people with a folk music background)
(next: process)