The Bilateral Dynamics of Subjectivity and Creativity of Iranian Musicians in Europe
Dr. Hashemi will be joining us in September 2022. His research examines the anxieties migrant musicians in Europe experience around integration, drawing on an interdisciplinary framework of musicology and psychoanalysis. It considers to what extent anxieties around the Western judgement over the Iranian ‘development’ and ‘civilisation’ has impacted musicians while studying in Europe and growing interest in ‘progress’ and ‘keeping up’. It also considers the extent to which these anxieties over displacement become part of their subjectivity through enthusiast and creative musical practices. Drawing on ethnographic research in Austria, Germany and France, this research will shed new light on the processes by which belonging, community and integration are articulated among diaspora musicians. Providing with a broader understanding of complex processes through which migrants define their identity and subjectivity, as well as the differences or gaps between the subjectivities of the migrants and the general public, can inform cultural communication and policymaking for social integration.