‘Born in the Republic of Austria’ The invention of rock heritage in Austria

Abstract

This article explores the retrospective cultural consecration of popular music in Austria. Examining two recent documentary projects, one focusing on Austropop, a Viennese popular music phenomenon of the early 1970s, and the other on the punk-inspired music scene of Linz in Upper Austria from late 1970s, the article shows how both projects seek to invent an Austrian popular music heritage and advance claims for national or regional cultural identity based on the discourse of rock heritage. 'Weltberühmt in Österreich. 50 Jahre Austropop' (World Famous in Austria. 50 Years of Austropop) deploys the 'Sound of Music' image of Austria in the construction of Austropop as an essential part of national cultural heritage and hence, national identity for the post-war generation. 'Es muss was geben' (There must be something) asserts the identity of the punk-inspired musicians of Linz as 'Steel City kids' and yet claims that this music scene contributed significantly to the transformation of Linz from an industrial town dominated by state-owned steel works to a 'cultural city'. My analysis suggests how the claims of rock heritage are, after all, consistent with the cultural ideology of the post-war republic and how they reflect broader contradictions in Austrian society.

Remembering the 1960s: popular music and memory in Europe

“…Traditionally, European identity and cultural heritage are seen in connection to high culture (Cohen 2013, Lähdesmäki 2012. More recently, however, various studies (Bennett 2009, Reitsamer 2014, Brandellero and Janssen 2014 have demonstrated that due to the blurring of the boundaries between 'high' and 'low' culture and the attention paid to social history, heritage discourses increasingly include popular music as an expression of shared identity. Nevertheless, there has thus far been little discussion of the European dimensions of popular music heritage (Cohen 2013 being a notable exception).…”

“…Furthermore, narratives of popular music heritage are not only connected to generational identities, but are also linked to notions of place. For example, museums (Burgoyne 2003), documentaries (Reitsamer 2014) and tourist organizations (Brandellero and Janssen 2014) give shape to popular music as a form of local and national heritage.…”

The Global Omnivore: Identifying Musical Taste Groups in Austria, England, Israel and Serbia

“…Again, to fully understand the meaning of this distinction and how it differs across countries, national historical and cultural repertories are the key interpretative tool. It is clear that Austrian and English taste groups reflect tension between young people with a preference for popular emerging styles as opposed to the more traditional tastes of folk and classical of the more adult population (Savage 2006;Reitsamer 2012). However, Israeli and Serbian groups are structured differently.…”

“…Austria has a significant musical legacy: in addition to preserving a strong folk tradition, it is considered by many to be the European capital of western classical music. However, tensions exist here between supporters of traditional folk, schlager and volkstumliche folk-pop ballads, American-and Britishinfluenced rock and hip-hop, and hybrid world music (Reitsamer 2012). England features widely in the literature on culture and social stratification.…”

“…In the case of Austria, while German-language folk and classical music represent both ends of musical hierarchies, from the early 1970s musicians adapted foreign American and English rock and pop creating hybrid genres, grouped under the Austropop label (Larkey 1992;Reitsamer 2012). Israeli-Jewish culture combines and adopts signs from over a 100 countries (Kaplan 2012 (Regev 2000;Kaplan 2012).…”