Jesse Freedman

Despite the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, this scholarship afforded a range of diverse opportunities and has also laid the groundwork for more long-term future projects in Germany. Principally, I was engaged each week at the old location of the Ethnologisches Museum, in the same complex as the Museum Europäischer Kulturen in Dahlem, because that is where the collections that I was interested in are still housed.

I worked with another ethnomusicologist, Dr. Sydney Hutchinson, to clean and organize a collection of approximately 2,000 East German reel-to-reel tapes featuring Latin American artists that appeared on GDR radio during the 1970s and 1980s. These recordings were extremely productive for my dissertation research on Chilean musicians in the GDR, and I was able to identify a number of set lists from important live performances by Chileans at the Festival des Politischen Liedes that are not published elsewhere. Due to the fact that these recordings were housed in Dahlem, they demonstrate an important aspect of exchange between music scholars and radio workers in the East and West.

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Jesse Freedman at work in the archive

Dr. Hutchinson is currently pursuing this research, but there is still much to uncover, and we discussed possible avenues for me to return and work with these materials—specifically the Chilean recordings. Additionally, I was able to document and inspect a number of rare books and learning tools published in Latin America in the beginning and middle of the twentieth century.

Beyond my work with the museum, I was also able to work in a number of archives including the Deutsches Musikarchiv in Leipzig and the Deutsches Rundfunk Archiv (DRA) in Potsdam. Here I was able to gather crucial primary sources for my dissertation and future research that have been unavailable to me in the United States. Of particular note were a number of radio transcripts from East German radio that I was able to review in the DRA. Many of these transcripts provided unpublished and unconsidered insights into the role and circulation of “World Music” in the GDR. I am excited to continue research on these materials and develop a new project about the presence of Latin American music on East German radio that I will try to introduce for publishing next year.

I was also able to conduct quite a few ethnographic interviews with various Chilean artists and former members of the East German folk music scene. I have developed a wide network of German contacts over the past two years virtually, so it was really exciting to finally meet these research collaborators in person. Several of these contacts had various pieces of ephemera such as letters and concert programs so these visits were extremely valuable in providing rare primary sources pertaining to East German culture.

Archive

The cover of a reel-to-reel tape

This scholarship period will certainly impact my future plans and my academic career. I am preparing to apply for a number of postdocs in various cities in Germany and I am excited about the possibility to maintain close ties to the country as a researcher. Although there was not time for formal German-instruction during this stay, I was funded by DAAD in 2018 to do a two-month intensive language program and, after this most recent visit, I feel very confident with my German-speaking abilities. I managed to navigate bureaucracy and archival infrastructure, make a number of German-speaking friends, and also develop a much greater degree of cultural competency than I had before. I look forward to continuing my growth with the language and the culture hopefully with a funded postdoctoral position next year.

I made a number of German friends through prior virtual fieldwork during the pandemic. Many of my dissertation collaborators are Chilean musicians who were in political exile in the GDR during the Chilean military dictatorship. Many of these artists still live in Germany and I was able to finally meet them after several years of only virtual connections. A number of these Chileans further facilitated connections with German scholars and musicians. I think that these individuals and I were both very pleased to connect and have interesting discussions in German and Spanish about the history of the GDR.

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Illuminated sign from the Palace of the Republic in the Humboldt Forum

Due to the restrictions of the pandemic, I spent most of my time working in my apartment or in the museum. However, I took many opportunities to walk around different parts of the city. Berlin has a great culture around movie theaters, and I went to the movies most weekends. My roommate was a musician, and I was able to see him perform several times at a number of interesting DIY-style venues in different neighborhoods. Through these experiences I was able to make connections with a number of interesting artists from different parts of the world.

Because I had spent time in Berlin before and also travelled and lived in other countries in Europe and South America, I did not find the adjustment period to Berlin very difficult. However, it did take a few weeks to remember that supermarkets are closed on Sundays, that there were specific times to take out the trash, and other sorts of periods of rest and quietness that we do not have in the United States. The rhythms of German life, even in a city like Berlin, seem much more regulated than in the US. It is nice that the German people are very concerned with carving out time to be quiet and also taking time for themselves away from their work. I think that many Americas could benefit from some of these strategies and activities around simplicity and relaxation.

During this grant period I produced one article which is forthcoming in a prominent peer-reviewed music research publication, and I also finished my dissertation. Both DAAD and Mr. Aven will be listed in the acknowledgements of both documents.