Muzyczne rytuały w czasach zarazy

Abstract

The pandemic of coronavirus was followed by numerous restrictions, bans, lockdowns and quarantines. This changed almost all spheres of our social and cultural life. Previous lifestyles, routines, our assessment and perception of the world are all being suspended or even turned upside-down. Are we going through a liminal stage of the rite of passage? Are we waiting for a new social reality to be incorporated into? Since I am a music anthropologist I decided to look at some of the elements of the pandemic through the prism of music. By analysing different musical actions, statements of musicians and music itself I decided to focus on three fundamental questions: the ambiguous role of the mediated musical events, the need of authentic relations and the sense of community expressed in music and, the desire for a retrieval of agency. Following the idea of Christopher Small I assume that every kind of involvement in a musical performance can be seen as a ritual, where participants experience and articulate shared ideas, worldviews and an imagined, ideal humanity.