Matěj Kratochvíl
Matěj Kratochvíl
QUALIFICATIONS
2010 Ph.D., Ethnology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University Prague
2002 Mgr., Musicology, Palacký University Olomouc
1999 B.A., Musicology, Palacký University Olomouc
PRINCIPAL RESEARCH INTERESTS
Traditional Music, Folklore Revival, Music and Media, Music in Diaspora, Music Archives, Digitalization, Digital Humanities
RESEARCH PROFILE
My research has currently two main areas. In the first, I focus on contemporary developments and transformations of traditional music in the Czech Republic and beyond. I examine how the idea what is traditional changes and is reinvented by different groups of people, not only in Central Europe but also among Czech communities in the USA. During my field research I explored new and reinvented festivities and the ways the music is used in them, and how traditions from rural areas are recreated in the urban environment.
In the second area, I research archival materials related to the history of folk music collection to understand their social and political context. This includes politicization of folk music research during the era of building of Czechoslovakia, as well as during the communist regime, I also look for ways how to bring these historical materials to the contemporary public, how to find innovative ways of digitalization, analysis, and publication.
Books
2022 Vy havíři umouněný, co vy z toho máte... Výzkum hornických písní na Kladensku v letech 1953–1959 v kontextu dobové vědy a politiky [You grubby miners, what’s in it for you… Research on mining songs in Kladno in 1953-1959 in the context of contemporary science and politics]. Praha: Etnologický ústav AV ČR.
2021 Tíha a beztíže Folkloru. Folklorní hnutí druhé poloviny 20 století v českých zemích [The Weight and Weightlessness of Folklore. Folklore Revival Movement of the Second Half of the 20th Century in Czech Lands]. Praha: Academia. (co-authors Stavělová, Daniela (ed.) – Černíčková, Kateřina – Gremlicová, Dorota – Pavlicová, Martina – Skořepová, Zita – Uhlíková, Lucie – Vaněk, Miroslav – Vejvoda, Zdeněk – Zdrálek, Vít)
2009 Lidová hudba v Československu 1929-1937. Nahrávky Fonografické komise České akademie věd a umění [Folk Music in Czechoslovakia 1929–1937. Recordings of the Phonographic Commission of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Arts]. Praha: Etnologický ústav AV ČR.
2007 Masopustní koleda na Doudlebsku. Dobrkovská Lhotka [Masopust caroling in Doudlebsko region. Dobrkovská Lhotka]. Praha: Etnologický ústav AV ČR. (co-author Tyllner, Lubomír)
Journal Articles
2022 Music as an Adaptation Strategy: The Hruby Family’s Voyage from Cehnice to Cleveland. Journal of Austrian-American History 6(1): 1–13.
2017 Druhé životy lidové hudby. Folklorní hnutí jako pojítko mezi tradicí a individuální tvořivostí [The second life of folk music. The folklore movement as a link between traditions and individual creativity]. Hudební věda 54(4): 455–466.
2016 Od ne-hudby k hudbě. Hudební využití hluku ve 20. století [From non-music to music. Musical use of noise in the 20th century]. Slovo a smysl (13)26: 54–60.
2016 Inventing the Carnival: Contemporary Festivities, Tradition and Imaginaries.
Český lid 103(4): 569–595. (co-author Stavělová, Daniela)
2015 “Our Song!” Nationalism in Folk Music Research and Revival in Socialist Czechoslovakia. Studia Musicologica (56)4: 397–405.
Book Chapters
2022 Zvukový archiv Fonografické komise ČAVU [Sound Archive of the Phonographic Commission of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Arts]. In: Horová, Iva (ed.): Archiv, který nebyl. Sto let pokusů o národní zvukový archiv. Praha: Národní museum, pp. 12–23.
2022 Hudba ve veřejném prostoru – ohrožená, nebo ohrožující? [Music in the streets of Prague - Disturbing the peace?]. In: Kratochvíl, Petr (ed.): Veřejný prostor v ohrožení? Aktuální problémy městského veřejného prostoru z pohledu společensko-vědních disciplín. Praha: Artefactum, pp. 81–92.
2021 Presence and Absence of Minorities in Folk Music Research Projects in the 20th-Century Czech Lands. In: Jurková, Zuzana – Seidlová, Veronika (eds.): Music – Memory – Minorities: Between Archive and Activism. Praha: Karolinum Press, pp. 36–48
2018 “Formal or Informal? Folk Music, Folklore Revival and Music Education”. In: Stavělová, Daniela – Buckland, Theresa Jill (eds): Folklore Revival Movements in Europe post 1950. Shifting Contexts and Perspectives. Praha: Etnologický ústav AV ČR, Praha, pp. 165–182.
2017 Bubble Moving Through the Streets: Music at the Urban Carnival. In: Stepputat, K. (ed.): Dance, Senses, Urban Contexts: Dance and the Senses. Dancing and Dance Cultures in Urban Contexts. Aachen: Shaker Verlag, pp. 214–221.
Past Projects and Grants
2022–2024 Folklore revival in post-socialist countries: politics, memory, heritization and sustainability. GACR-ARRS, Weave Lead Agency Project (GF22-31474K). Researcher.
2021–2022 Folk music revival among Czech and Moravian communities in USA. Fulbright commission, hosted by Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, USA.
2018–2022 Lidové písně a tance českých zemí – digitální systém pro zpřístupnění a záchranu [Folk songs and dances of the Czech lands – digital system for presentation and preservation]. NAKI II - Program for the support of applied research and experimental development of national and cultural identity for the years 2016-2022, Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic (DG18P02OVV053). Principal investigator.
2017–2019 Tíha a beztíže folkloru: Folklorní hnutí druhé poloviny 20. století v českých zemích [Weight and Weightlessness of the Folklore: The Folklore Movement of the Second Half of the 20th Century in Czech Lands]. Czech Science Foundation Standard Project (GA17-26672S). Researcher.
Board Memberships
Ongoing AMU Press – the Publishing House of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Member of the Editorial Board
2023 Program Committee Co-Chair of the 4th Symposium of the International Council for Traditional Music and Dance Study Group on Music and Dance of the Slavic World.
2017–2018 Member of the Scientific Committee of the 15th biennial conference of the European Association of Social Anthropologists
External Reviewing
Project Evaluation: Faculty of Arts, Charles University
Journal Articles Manuscript Review: Český lid; Letonica; Lidé města/Urban People; Musicologica Brunensia; Muzikologické fórum; Národopisná Revue; Traditiones, Dance Context Journal
Doctoral Thesis Examination: Faculty of Humanities, Charles University; Faculty of Arts, Charles University
Invited Talks, Public Lectures or Roundtables
2024 November, 19. Music and Identity of Cleveland Czechs, Dialogo della musica lecture series, Institute of Art History of the CAS, Prague.
November, 6. Lze českost v hudbě shrnout do dat? Institute of Musicology, Charles University.
Teaching Experience
Since 2024 Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Institute of Musicology
2020, 2022 Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Department of Ethnology
Since 2013 New York University Prague
Since 2011 Faculty of humanities, Charles University
2006–2007 Faculty of Arts, Palacký University, Olomouc. Department of Musicology
Conference and Workshop Organisation
2024 November, 7. Databáze lidových písní jako pedagogický nástroj [Database of folk songs as an educational tool]. Prague, Institute of Ethnology of the CAS. (co-organisers Nuska, Petr – Vejvoda, Zdeněk)
2023 October, 5–7. 4th Symposium of the ICTM Study Group on Music and Dance of the Slavic World, Faculty of Music and Dance, Academy of Performing Arts, Prague. (co-organisers Skořepová, Zita – Hayashi, Lucie)
2022 November, 23. Music, Dance, and Urban Anthropology. Prague, Institute of Ethnology of the CAS. (co-organisers Stavělová, Daniela – Skořepová, Zita – Vejvoda, Zdeněk)
2022 November, 3. Lidové písně a tance českých zemí – digitální systém pro zpřístupnění a záchranu [Folk songs and dances of the Czech lands - a digital systém for access and preservation]. Workshop, Prague, Institute of Ethnology of the CAS. (co-organisers Vejvoda, Zdeněk – Höhn, Jří – Janata, Marek)
2022 October, 4–5. David Rothenberg on Music and Nature. Can music make a difference to nature? Faculty of Humanities, Charles University and Institute of Ethnology of the CAS, Prague. (co-organisers Stavělová, Daniela – Skořepová, Zita – Vejvoda, Zdeněk)
2017 October, 17–19. Folklore Revival Movement of the Second Half of the 20th Century in Shifting Social, Cultural and Political Contexts. Internal Symposium, Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. (co-organisers Stavělová, Daniela – Vejvoda, Zdeněk – Gremlicová, Dorota)
