F-B Mocnik presents about mutual influences of material and immaterial flows at the example of tradition at the “Spaces and Flows” conference. Feel welcome to join on 26 October at 10:20 am.
Space and time both shape how we disseminate information in the context of tradition. As a result of incorporating knowledge, ideas, and points of view of other people into our own lifes, information is passed on and traditions emerge. This process is strongly influenced by the context of society and the environment. Society has undergone major changes in the last three centuries. Urbanization has changed both rural and urban life. Trade networks have diversified, from classical trade routes to individualized transport in the 21st century. The humankind strives to overcome the limitations and restraints that are imposed by the environment. These changes manifest themselves in the way tradition is shaped. We discuss how physical flows, foremost trade networks and trips of individual people, have facilitated the dissemination of information at the example of Swedish folk music and its relation to folk music in other parts of Europe. While tradition can be explained in terms of society and the environment, influences on musical traditions are often the result of individuals, who trade and communicate. The entanglement of physical movement in space and time and the propagation of information can, at least in some cases, be traced on the individual level, which opens the possibility to uncover some of the principles that guide the emergende and persistence of tradition in the geographical context. The presentation discusses such principles, aligned with examples of mutual influences of material and immaterial flows within Swedish folk music and accross European folk music traditions.