Music as a means to accomplish ideological tasks: Pula (Istria, Croatia) in the formative years of Yugoslav socialism (1947–1955)

Duraković, Lada (2017) Music as a means to accomplish ideological tasks: Pula (Istria, Croatia) in the formative years of Yugoslav socialism (1947–1955). Studia Musicologica, 58 (3-4). pp. 431-452. ISSN 1788-6244

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Abstract

After the signing of the Paris Peace Treaty in September 1947, Pula, a town in the south of the Istrian peninsula in Croatia, became a part of the People’s Republic of Croatia and Yugoslavia. The period after the takeover of the city by the Communist authorities until the mid-1950s was marked by intense emigration, mostly of the Italian population, and also by re-industrialization and urbanization. At the same time, the process of forming art and culture according to the new ideological demands began. The instrumentalization of cultural life by ideology in the period between 1947 and 1955 left a significant trace on Pula’s musical life. One of the main tasks of the authorities in the field of music culture was to promote musical education and popularize musical art, which was to be made available to a wider audience, especially labourers. The choice of music genres was narrowed significantly in order to ensure a close connection between the artist, his work, and the people. In the formative period of socialism in Pula, a music school opened, numerous cultural and artistic societies were established, operas were regularly performed at the theater and the Arena, and the city even had an operetta ensemble.

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