A political history of Romanian <italic>colinde</italic> (carols).

Based on ethnographic fieldwork and archival study in Romania, my dissertation documents the controversial political history of Romanian winter solstice and Christmas songs (colinde) during the Cold War (1945-89) and after the revolution of 1989. Previous studies of colinde tend to exclude consideration of the socio-political contexts in which the music is performed and do not discuss the national politics frequently involved in the research process. Aiming to address this neglected area of research, my dissertation examines the relationships between colinde and debates on the construction of Romanian national identity, from the appropriation of carols as socialist propaganda during the Cold War to the incorporation of foreign musical influences, such as salsa, hip-hop, and rap in the escalating market for carols since 1989. By engaging the interplay between musical performance, social context, and political policy, my work contributes to a more comprehensive perspective on the function of colinde as a source of musical expression as well as a vehicle for social and political change.Ph.D.Communication and the ArtsCultural anthropologyEuropean historyMusicSocial SciencesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/126540/2/3253385.pd