Analysing contrasting representations of folklore in the Czech Republic through the lens of participatory movements of traditional music

This paper combines theoretical questions with empirical research to bring to light the vitality of folk processes in the urban modern world. The fieldwork focuses on participatory forms of traditional music. With the help of the interviews I conducted, this paper seeks (to explain) the participants' motivations for their enactment of folklore. We analyse the musicians' motivations, as well as the functions their practice of folklore fulfils, while putting the emphasis on the living dynamic and transformative creative processes of tradition. We concentrate more on the functions and forms of their enactment of folklore rather than on the aesthetic material or folklore itself. What needs do participatory forms of folklore express, especially in our urban modern world? KEYWORDS: Folklore, ethnomusicology, anthropology of music, tradition, authenticit