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Music that Divides: The Case of Russian Musical Diplomacy in the Baltic States

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International Relations, Music and Diplomacy

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Abstract

An expanded definition of diplomatic practice to include “citizen diplomacy” allows scholars to analyze musical performances, when they travel across international borders, as acts of diplomacy. Music can perform diplomatic functions, defined as representation and communication. As a social activity, embedded in a specific socio-political context, music is loaded with symbolic meaning which subsequently is interpreted by the receiving society. The case study shows how performers of Russian music on the stages of two Baltic States (Latvia and Lithuania) take on or are assigned the roles of representatives of Russia. Public media and influential opinion makers take on the task of interpreting the meanings of Russian music in the Baltic public spheres and thus shape the opinions of Baltic populations on Russia. Although the State is not a necessary actor in the practice of musical diplomacy, sometimes, especially when the symbolic value of music is made related to the issues of national security, it intervenes in controlling the meaning of private musical initiatives. Paying close attention to the socio-political contexts in which musical diplomacy occurs may help it to become a useful concept to better explain international relations.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Bertrand Badie and Marie-Claude Smouts, Le retournement du monde: sociologie de la scène internationale (Paris: Presses de la FNSP, Dalloz, 1992).

  2. 2.

    Christer Jönsson and Martin Hall, Essence of Diplomacy (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), p. 25.

  3. 3.

    Paul Sharp, “Making Sense of Citizen Diplomats,” in Diplomacy, ed. Christer Jönsson and Richard Langhorne (London: Sage Publications, 2004), Vol. III, pp. 343–361.

  4. 4.

    Sharp, “Making Sense of Citizen Diplomats,” p. 348.

  5. 5.

    Ole Jacob Sending, Vincent Pouliot and Iver B. Neumann (eds), Diplomacy and the Making of World Politics (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015), p. 6.

  6. 6.

    Many contributions in this volume provide evidences of this phenomenon. See for instance Chaps. 7, 8 and 9.

  7. 7.

    Jessica Gienow-Hecht, Sound Diplomacy: Music and Emotions in Transatlantic Relations, 1850–1920 (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2009).

  8. 8.

    Jessica Gienow-Hecht, Keynote address given at the conference “Sounds and Voices on the International Stage: Understanding Musical Diplomacies,” Paris, April 21–22, 2016.

  9. 9.

    Peter Schrijvers, The GI War Against Japan. American Soldiers in Asia and the Pacific During World War II (New York: New York University Press, 2002).

  10. 10.

    Merje Kuus, Geopolitics and Expertise. Knowledge and Authority in European Diplomacy (Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014).

  11. 11.

    For examples on American efforts to promote their national musical tradition, see Gienow-Hecht, Sound Diplomacy; on symbolism in diplomacy and its interpretation in high-context and low-context cultures, see Alisher Faizullaev, “Diplomacy and Symbolism,” The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, 8 (2013): 91–114.

  12. 12.

    Here we could also refer to discussions on autonomy of what is called high culture: its independence from societal, political and economic dynamics, as opposed to more popular forms of art. I am grateful for these insights to Eglė Rindzevičiūtė.

  13. 13.

    David Yearsley, “Bach in Palmyra: Russia’s Surprise Concert in the Ancient Syrian City,” Counterpunch, May 20, 2016, http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/05/20/bach-in-palmyra-russias-surprise-concert-in-the-ancient-syrian-city/ (accessed November 11, 2016).

  14. 14.

    Carolyn Humphrey cited by Kuus, Geopolitics and expertise…, p. 51.

  15. 15.

    See, for example, Lauri Malksoo, Illegal Annexation and State Continuity: The Case of the Incorporation of the Baltic States by the USSR: A Study of the Tension Between Normativity and Power in International Law (Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff, 2003).

  16. 16.

    See, for example, Maria Malksoo, The Politics of Becoming European. A study of Polish and Baltic post-Cold War Security Imaginaries (London: Routledge, 2010); Richard Mole, The Baltic States from the Soviet Union to the European Union: Identity, Discourse and Power in the Post-Communist Transition of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (New York: Earthscan, 2012); also Eglė Rindzevičiūtė, “The Geopolitics of Distinction: Negotiating Regional Spaces in the Baltic Museums,” in Performing Nordic Heritage. Everyday Practices and Institutional Culture, ed. Peter Aronsson and Lizette Gradén (Farnham: Ashgate, 2014), pp. 221–246.

  17. 17.

    Merje Kuus, Geopolitics reframed. Security and Identity in Europe’s Eastern Enlargement (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).

  18. 18.

    Cited in Victoria Panova, “Russia’s ‘Soft’ Policies towards the Baltic States,” in The different faces of “soft power”: The Baltic States and Eastern Neighborhood between Russia and the EU, ed. Toms Rostoks, Andris Spruds (Riga: Latvian Institute of International Affairs, 2015), p. 90.

  19. 19.

    Sven Gunnar Simonsen, “Compatriot Games: Explaining the ‘Diaspora Linkage’ in Russia’s Military Withdrawal from the Baltic States,” Europe-Asia Studies, 53(5) (2001): 771–791.

  20. 20.

    For a powerful illustration, see a study by a Lithuanian-born scholar Agnia Grigas, Beyond Crimea. The New Russian Empire (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016).

  21. 21.

    “Specialus tyrimas: Kremliaus organizacijos pinigai – į lietuviškas, latviškas ir estiškas kišenes” [Special report: the money of Kremlin’s organization goes to Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian pockets], www.15min.lt, June 8, 2015.

  22. 22.

    Tomas Jermalavičius and Merle Parmak, “Towards a resilient society or why Estonia does not need ‘psychological defence,’” ICDS Occasional Paper, September 2012.

  23. 23.

    Nerijus Maliukevičius, “Rusijos informacijos geopolitikos potencialas ir sklaida Lietuvoje” [The potential and spread of Russian information geopolitics in Lithuania] (PhD diss., Institute of International Relations and Political Science, Vilnius University, 2008).

  24. 24.

    Cited in Natalia Zverko, “A. Pugačiova Lietuvoje koncertuos vasario 16-ąją” [A. Pugacheva will give her concerts in Lithuania on February 16], www.delfi.lt, September 25, 2009.

  25. 25.

    Ramūnas Bogdanas, “Gastroliuojantys muzikantai ir sausio 13-oji” [Musicians on tour and January 13], www.delfi.lt, January 23, 2012.

  26. 26.

    Joana Šimanauskienė, “V. Gergijevas: tikslas – pristatyti elitinį meną platesnei publikai” [V. Gergiev: objective to introduce elite art to larger publics], Kauno diena, December 12, 2012.

  27. 27.

    Šimanauskienė, “V. Gergijevas…”.

  28. 28.

    E-mail exchange with a Lithuanian representative of entertainment industry, November 28, 2016.

  29. 29.

    Aurimas Navys, “Papuoškime Bilano koncertą nuotraukomis iš Genocido muziejaus” [Let’s decorate the concert of Bilan with pictures from the museum of Genocide], www.delfi.lt, October 13, 2015.

  30. 30.

    Mindaugas Jackevičius, “Rusiškos muzikos populiarumas – okupacijos pasekmė” [The popularity of Russian music – consequence of occupation], www.delfi.lt, February 20, 2011.

  31. 31.

    Ramūnas Zilnys, „Koncertų rengėjai: rusų atlikėjų vizitų Lietuvoje turėtų mažėti” [Concert organizers: the visits of Russian performers should become rarer], www.delfi.lt, January 26, 2016.

  32. 32.

    Panova, “Russia’s ‘Soft’ Policies”, p. 95.

  33. 33.

    Kevin F. M. Platt, “Russian Empire of Pop: Post-Socialist Nostalgia and Soviet Retro at the “New Wave” Competition,” The Russian Review, no. 72 (July 2013): 447–69.

  34. 34.

    Lukas Aubin, “Le tourisme russe à Jūrmala: L’appropriation territoriale de la périphérie balnéaire de Riga,” Regard sur l’Est, December 15, 2013.

  35. 35.

    Aubin, “Le tourisme russe à Jūrmala…”

  36. 36.

    BNS, “Most not bothered by departure of ‘New Wave,’” www.lsm.lv/en, July 22, 2015.

  37. 37.

    Latvian MFA, “Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs Makes the Decision to Include Some Russian Citizens on the List of Persons Not Allowed to Travel to Latvia,” July 21, 2014, www.mfa.gov.lv (accessed April 15, 2016).

  38. 38.

    Sergejs Pavlovs, “Hotels in Jūrmala reduce prices as New Wave festival passes by,” www.lsm.lv/en, July 6, 2015.

  39. 39.

    Anna Loshchikhina, “Where the “New Wave” Crashes,” www.russkiymir.ru, January 19, 2015.

  40. 40.

    BNS, “Most not bothered.”

  41. 41.

    Belsat, “Poles seeking cancellation of pro-Putin Alexandrov Ensemble’s concert,” www.belsat.eu, October 5, 2015.

  42. 42.

    Twitter, Lithuania in NATO @LitdelNATO, October 26, 2015: “#Lithuania demonstrated resilience to #Russian info warfare – Red Army choir fails to find venue for performance. http://goo.gl/JmA0Rv.”

  43. 43.

    RFERL, “Latvian FM Says Russian Army Choir Concert ‘Not Wanted’,” http://www.rferl.org, November 2, 2015.

  44. 44.

    “Transcript: Putin says Russia will protect the rights of Russians abroad,” The Washington Post, March 18, 2014.

  45. 45.

    On securitization see Copenhagen school of security studies, especially Barry Buzan, Ole Wæver, and Jaap de Wilde, Security. A New Framework for Analysis (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1998).

  46. 46.

    BNS, “Rusų repriui Timati neleista rengti koncerto “Compensa” koncertų salėje” [Russian rapper Timati is not allowed to give his concert at the “Compensa” hall], www.alfa.lt, July 1, 2016.

  47. 47.

    BNS, “Rusų repriui Timati neleista rengti koncerto.”

  48. 48.

    Lita Juberte, “Soft Power Resource Sport in Latvian-Russian Relations: Case Study of KHL Latvian Club Dinamo Riga” (paper presented at Yale Baltic-Scandinavian Studies Conference, New Haven, Connecticut, March 13–15, 2014).

  49. 49.

    Harold Nicolson, Diplomacy (Washington, DC: Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, 1988) p. 50.

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  1. Center for International Studies (CERI), Sciences Po, Paris, France

    Emilija Pundziūtė-Gallois

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  1. Center for International Studies (CERI), Sciences Po, Paris, France

    Frédéric Ramel

  2. Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3, Paris, France

    Cécile Prévost-Thomas

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Pundziūtė-Gallois, E. (2018). Music that Divides: The Case of Russian Musical Diplomacy in the Baltic States. In: Ramel, F., Prévost-Thomas, C. (eds) International Relations, Music and Diplomacy . The Sciences Po Series in International Relations and Political Economy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63163-9_11

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