Culture as Local Practice Embedded in Sound : Research Legacies and Aesthetic Topographies of Albanians in Montenegro

This study explores the inherent tensions in the emergence of culture as local practice embedded in sound in some hitherto under-researched traditions of southeastern Europe.

Culture as local practice embedded in sound emerges through inherent tensions between historical legacies and contemporary change, and between individual and community. These affect the construction, presentation and representation of culture, renewing the sense of belonging through each performance.Members of Albanian communities in Montenegro are Christian and Muslim, inhabiting mountainous and coastal areas, and both rural and urban environments. These specific circumstances affect the emergence of culture as “that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capacities acquired by man as a member of society” (Tylor), in distinctive ways. These ways are explored in the present study primarily through the impact exercised by musical practices, which are immanent in the creation and shaping of common attitudes and behaviours. Interaction and tensions between individual and community consequently become a condition of belonging, enabling deeper insights when tracing aesthetic topographies and their ever-changing consistency.