Abstract
In the previous chapter, we presented the main assumptions of our research, recalled Florian Znaniecki’s concept of axionormativity, and described the research methods and techniques we have selected. However, it is worth noting that the axionormative dimensions of music festivals that we sought were sometimes revealed without the need to reach for specialised tools. Sometimes it was enough simply to enter a festival site—in this case during the Pol’and’Rock festival—to hear “This is for you”. On saying this, a girl in trainers hands us a pocket-sized publication: the navy blue cover features a flowered heart and the title “Festival Bible”. It is a work produced by the international organisation Bible for the Nations, first published in 2001. It contains the text of the New Testament and many prayers, and alongside these, on the colourful pages, are statements by famous “converted” musicians, members of bands such as Iron Maiden, Megadeth, and Accept, as well as the “testimonies” of men and women who talk about experiencing God in their lives.
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Notes
- 1.
This refers to the second round of the presidential elections on July 12, 2020, the date of which was postponed due to the situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The winner was Andrzej Duda, who represented conservative values and was supported by the populist Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (Law and Justice) party.
- 2.
See: Maffesoli, Michael. 1996. The Time of the Tribes: The Decline of Individualism in Mass Society, trans. Smith, Don, London; Sage Publications, p. 72.
- 3.
Remote interview, conducted by Bogna Kociołowicz-Wiśniewska, 22.06.2020.
- 4.
Remote interview, conducted by Waldemar Kuligowski, 25.05.2020.
Przystanek Woodstock (currently called Pol’and’Rock Festival) is one of Europe’s largest free music festivals. Organised since 1995 as the “Polish Woodstock”, it is the culmination of a year-long national charity event coordinated by the non-governmental organisation Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy. In recent years, the festival has—mainly due to the pro-democratic statements of its organizer, Jurek Owsiak—come under attack from the government media, controlled by the right-wing parties’ politicians.
- 5.
Remote interview, conducted by Bogna Kociołowicz-Wiśniewska, 04.06.2020.
- 6.
Remote interview, conducted by Natalia Nowińska-Antoniewicz, 08.06.2020.
- 7.
Remote interview, conducted by Aleksy Szymkiewicz, 15.06.2020.
- 8.
Remote interview, conducted by Aleksy Szymkiewicz, 30.06.2020. The author of this statement draws attention to the city of Białystok due to the city’s media reputation as a place of increased activity of nationalist extremists.
- 9.
https://pannonica.pl/o-festiwalu/ (accessed: 11.07.2022).
- 10.
The Polish Underground State (also known as the Polish Secret State) was a single political and military entity formed by the union of resistance organisations in occupied Poland that were loyal to the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile in London during World War II. After the war, government propaganda portrayed the Home Army as an oppressive, reactionary, and anti-socialist force.
- 11.
The Home Army was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II.
- 12.
The “cursed soldiers”—also known as “doomed soldiers”, “accursed soldiers”, or “damned soldiers”—is a term applied to a variety of anti-Soviet Polish resistance movements formed in the later stages of World War II. In the current historical policy of the Polish government, they have become heroes, despite their participation in pogroms against civilians (Jewish, Belorussian, but also Polish); this is an extremely controversial issue, both among historians and in public debates.
- 13.
https://piosenkaniezlomna.pl/o-festiwalu (accessed: 11.07.2022).
- 14.
https://liturgia.dominikanie.pl/ludzie/festiwal-piesn-naszych-korzeni/ (accessed: 11.07.2022).
- 15.
These are the names of two legendary and anti-system festivals that took place in Poland in the 1980s. Contrary to the name of the latter, punk music was an important aesthetic element of both festivals.
- 16.
A colloquial term for a person involved in the creation of the local alternative music scene.
- 17.
https://rocknabagnie.pl/historia/ (accessed: 11.07.2022).
- 18.
https://www.ostrodareggae.com/info (accessed: 11.07.2022).
- 19.
- 20.
https://jazznadodra.pl/o-festiwalu/idea/ (accessed: 11.07.2022).
- 21.
August Emil Fieldorf, alias “Nil”, was a Polish general and legendary commander of the diversionary units of the Home Army. In 1953, he was sentenced to death in a political trial for allegedly fighting “Soviet partisans” during World War II. Many streets and squares in Poland are now named after him.
- 22.
An anchor-shaped symbol, where the P-shaped element symbolises Poland, and the W-shaped arms—“walka”—a fight or struggle. Widely used during World War II.
- 23.
A government institution dealing with Poland’s recent history; now strongly ideologised, it is actively involved in, among other things, promoting the heroism of the Cursed Soldiers.
- 24.
It is the name of a social campaign run since the 1990s by the anti-racist “Never Again” Association, inspired by Rock Against Racism-style campaigns.
- 25.
The last two cities belong to Belarus and Ukraine today, and are inhabited by the Polish minority. As part of Polish national cultural studies, they belong to Kresy, the eastern lands of the former Polish Republic, and by many right-wing politicians they are perceived as native Polish, just like Transylvania for Hungarians or the Highland Tatra Mountains for Slovakia (Kürti 2001: 15).
- 26.
A game of finger snapping metal bottle caps; usually in the form of a bottle cap race on a track made of sand. On the upper part of the cap, covered with rubber, it was possible to write the name of the player, the name of the club, or draw the flag of the country. A very popular game in the era of socialism.
- 27.
A common name for miniature car models, equipped with “springs”, thanks to which metal cars could perform acrobatics. Another memory from the socialist era.
- 28.
https://pannonica.pl/o-festiwalu/ (accessed: 11.07.2022).
- 29.
https://pannonica.pl/o-festiwalu/dojazd-zakwaterowanie/ (accessed: 11.07.2022).
- 30.
https://publicystyka.ngo.pl/festiwale-beda-bardziej-odpowiedzialne-wobec-przyrody-i-otoczenia (accessed: 10.07.2022).
- 31.
Here we understand nature differently from that employed in the framework of “environmental anthropology”, thus primarily as the organic world surrounding humans, together with the landscape.
- 32.
In-person interview, conducted by Aleksy Szymkiewicz, 03.09.2021.
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Appendix: Festivals and Values: Drawings
Appendix: Festivals and Values: Drawings
Art-based research material
Festival-goer drawing entitled “Either music or nothing”, Pannonica Festival, art-based research, curated by Lia Dostlieva, Barcice, 2–5.9.2021, ©Festivalization of Values Research Project Archive
Festival-goer drawing “Untitled”, Jazz nad Odrą Festival, art-based research, curated by Lia Dostlieva, Wrocław, 17–20.9.2021, ©Festivalization of Values Research Project Archive
Festival-goer drawing, authored “Maken”, entitled “Music is Love”, Ostróda Reggae Festival, art-based research, curated by Lia Dostlieva, Ostróda, 9–13.7.2020, ©Festivalization of Values Research Project Archive
Festival-goer drawing, “Untitled”, Rock on the Swamp Festival, art-based research, curated by Lia Dostlieva, Goniądz, 1–4.7.2021, ©Festivalization of Values Research Project Archive
Festival-goer drawing, “Untitled”, Festival Song of our Roots, art-based research, curated by Lia Dostlieva, Jarosław, 24–31.08.2020, ©Festivalization of Values Research Project Archive
Festival-goer drawing, entitled in Ukrainian “I love Poland—and you?”, The Unbreakable and Independent Song Festival, art-based research, curated by Lia Dostlieva, Kraków, 14–18.11.2019, ©Festivalization of Values Research Project Archive
Festival-goer drawing, entitled “Pluto”, Rock on the Swamp Festival, art-based research curated by Lia Dostlieva, Goniądz, 1–4.7.2021, ©Festivalization of Values Research Project Archive
Festival-goer drawing “Untitled”, Jazz nad Odrą Festival, art-based research, curated by Lia Dostlieva, Wrocław, 17–20.9.2021, ©Festivalization of Values Research Project Archive
Festival-goer drawing authored “Karolcia”, entitled “Najsplejs”, Pannonica Festival, art-based research, curated by Lia Dostlieva, Barcice, 2–5.9.2021, ©Festivalization of Values Research Project Archive
Festival-goer drawing authored “Adi and Adi” entitled “Jazz nad Odrą”, Jazz nad Odra Festival, art-based research, curated by Lia Dostlieva, Wrocław, 17–20.9.2021, ©Festivalization of Values Research Project Archive
Festival-goer drawing, entitled in conversation as “Jazz (improvisation)”, Jazz nad Odrą Festival, art-based research, curated by Lia Dostlieva, Wrocław, 17–20.9.2021, ©Festivalization of Values Research Project Archive
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Kuligowski, W., Poprawski, M. (2023). Axionormativity as a Practice. In: Festivals and Values. Culture in Policy Making: The Symbolic Universes of Social Action. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-39752-3_4
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