From Implicit Cultural Memory to Explicit Performance: An Autoethnographic Study of Jewish Musicians, Artistic Identity, and Political Contestation in International Performance
Keywords:
Jewish music, cultural memory, tacit knowledge, performance studies, diaspora, antisemitism, artistic identity, cultural transmission, trauma studies, political performanceAbstract
This article examines how Jewish musicians negotiate artistic identity, cultural memory and public visibility in international performance contexts characterised by political contestation and rising antisemitism. Drawing on a qualitative autoethnographic methodology, the study integrates fifteen years of reflective performance journals, field notes, participant observations, professional interactions and documentary evidence collected between 2010 and 2025. These materials are analysed using thematic analysis to investigate how lived artistic experience intersects with broader social, cultural and political processes. Three interrelated themes emerged from the analysis: the politicisation of artistic identity, the transformation of implicit cultural memory into explicit public performance and the development of artistic resilience in response to exclusion, protest and institutional pressure. The findings demonstrate that Jewish musicians are increasingly required to encounter the tension between artistic expression and externally imposed political identities, often becoming representatives of contested geopolitical narratives irrespective of their individual intentions. Under such conditions, musical performance extends beyond aesthetic practice to become a site of cultural memory, ethical encounter and symbolic resistance. By combining autoethnographic evidence with theories of tacit knowledge, cultural memory, diaspora and performance studies, the article contributes to interdisciplinary debates on the relationship between art, identity and political conflict. It argues that autoethnography offers a valuable methodological framework for understanding how embodied artistic practice reveals processes of cultural transmission and identity negotiation that are difficult to capture through conventional qualitative methods. The study contributes original empirical insight into the experiences of Jewish musicians performing internationally and demonstrates how performance functions as a dynamic space in which cultural memory is continually negotiated, contested and reaffirmed under conditions of political scrutiny.
Published in: European Hebrew Journal, Volume 1, Issue 2 (2026)
Article Type: Research Article
Peer Review: Double-Blind Peer Review
Academic Editor: Dr. Anita Fiket, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Center for Jewish Studies and
Holocaust Research, Croatia
Received: 22 June 2026 | Accepted: 12 August 2026 | Published: 17 August 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.67469/EHJ2026.1.2.8
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-0169-2199
Corresponding author: Yaniv Elijah d’Or | yanivedor@gmail.com
Pages: 175–193
References
Alexander, J.C. (2003) The meanings of social life: A cultural sociology. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
Alexander, J.C., Eyerman, R., Giesen, B., Smelser, N.J. and Sztompka, P. (2004) Cultural trauma
and collective identity. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Alexander, J.C., Giesen, B. and Mast, J.L. (eds.) (2006) Social performance: Symbolic action,
cultural pragmatics, and ritual. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Arendt, H. (1951) The origins of totalitarianism. New York: Harcourt Brace.
Arendt, H. (2006) Between past and future: Eight exercises in political thought. New York:
Penguin Books.
Assmann, J. (2011) Cultural memory and early civilization: Writing, remembrance, and political
imagination. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Barghouti, O. (2011) Boycott, divestment, sanctions: The global struggle for Palestinian rights.
Chicago: Haymarket Books.
BBC News (2023) ‘Huge demonstrations against Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza’, BBC News,
6 November. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-67326733
Bohlman, P.V. (2008) Jewish music and modernity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Boyarin, D. (2004) The Jews of modernity. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Boyarin, D. (2015) A traveling homeland: The Talmud as diaspora. Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press.
Boyarin, J. (ed.) (1994) Remapping memory: The politics of time-space. Minneapolis:
University of Minnesota Press.
Braun, V. and Clarke, V. (2006) ‘Using thematic analysis in psychology’, Qualitative Research in
Psychology, 3(2), pp. 77–101.
Butler, J. (1993) Bodies that matter: On the discursive limits of “sex”. New York: Routledge.
Butler, J. (2015) Notes toward a performative theory of assembly. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
European Hebrew Journal | Vol. 1, No. 2 (2026)
Connerton, P. (1989) How societies remember. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Connolly, K. (2025) ‘Festival axes German orchestra over concerns about Israeli conductor’,
The
Guardian,
11
September.
Available
at:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/11/festival-axes-german-orchestra-over
concerns-about-israeli-conductor
Dolan, J. (2005) Utopia in performance: Finding hope at the theatre. Ann Arbor: University of
Michigan Press.
Ellis, C., Adams, T.E. and Bochner, A.P. (2011) ‘Autoethnography: An overview’, Forum:
Qualitative Social Research, 12(1).
European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) (2024) Experiences and perceptions of
antisemitism: Second survey on discrimination and hate crime against Jews in the EU.
Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
Fischer-Lichte, E. (2008) The transformative power of performance: A new aesthetics. London:
Routledge.
Goffman, E. (1959) The presentation of self in everyday life. New York: Anchor Books.
Haaretz (2026) ‘How Italy’s only Jewish LGBTQ group was barred from Rome’s Pride parade’,
Haaretz, 1 June. Available at: https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/2026-06-01/ty-article
magazine/.premium/how-italys-only-jewish-lgbtq-group-was-barred-from-romes-pride
parade/0000019e-82e6-d252-a7ff-c3f767770000
Haidt, J. and Lukianoff, G. (2018) The coddling of the American mind: How good intentions and
bad ideas are setting up a generation for failure. New York: Penguin Press.
Hall, S. (1990) ‘Cultural identity and diaspora’, in Rutherford, J. (ed.) Identity: Community,
culture, difference. London: Lawrence & Wishart, pp. 222–237.
Hernández, J.C. (2024) ‘After outcry, Concertgebouw will allow Jerusalem Quartet to perform’,
The
New
York
Times,
16
May.
Available
at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/16/arts/music/concertgebouw-jerusalem-quartet.html
Hirsch, M. (2012) The generation of postmemory: Writing and visual culture after the
Holocaust. New York: Columbia University Press.
Hirsh, D. (2017) Contemporary left antisemitism. London: Routledge.
Kershner, I. (2013) ‘Israeli opera singer stink-bombed during Johannesburg show’, The Times
of Israel, 17 April. Available at: https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-opera-singer-stink
bombed-during-johannesburg-show
Kligman, M. (2003) Sacred communities: Jewish and Christian worship in Eastern Europe.
Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press.
European Hebrew Journal | Vol. 1, No. 2 (2026)
Le Monde (2026) ‘Eurovision 2026: Israel’s participation sparks controversy’, Le Monde, 16
May. Available at: Le Monde article (Accessed: 9 June 2026).
Luckhurst, G. (2024) ‘Jewish theatre workers speak out as campaign launches to tackle
antisemitism’, The Stage, 17 July. Available at: https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/jewish
theatre-workers-speak-out-as-campaign-launches-to-tackle-antisemitism
No
Music for Genocide (2026) No Music for Genocide. Available at:
https://nomusicforgenocide.org/ (Accessed: 18 June 2026).
Parry, J. (2025) ‘Massive Attack announce alliance of musicians speaking out over Gaza’, The
Guardian, 17 July. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/jul/17/massive
attack-announce-alliance-of-musicians-speaking-out-over-gaza
Polanyi, M. (1958) Personal knowledge: Towards a post-critical philosophy. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press.
Polanyi, M. (1966) The tacit dimension. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Sacks, O. (2007) Musicophilia: Tales of music and the brain. New York: Knopf.
Scott, J.C. (1990) Domination and the arts of resistance: Hidden transcripts. New Haven: Yale
University Press.
Seroussi, E. (2001) ‘Jewish music’, in Sadie, S. and Tyrrell, J. (eds.) The New Grove dictionary of
music and musicians. 2nd edn. London: Macmillan, pp. 1–15.
Seroussi, E. (2013) ‘Jewish music and the diaspora’, in Bohlman, P.V. (ed.) The Cambridge
history of world music. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 382–401.
Slobin, M. (1989) Chosen voices: The story of the American cantorate. Urbana: University of
Illinois Press.
Small, C. (1998) Musicking: The meanings of performing and listening. Hanover, NH: Wesleyan
University Press.
Taylor, D. (2003) The archive and the repertoire: Performing cultural memory in the Americas.
Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
The
The Guardian (2011) ‘Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Proms concert disrupted by protest –
video’,
Guardian,
2
September.
Available
at:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2011/sep/02/israel-philharmonic-proms
protest-video
The Guardian (2024) ‘Anti-terror perimeter: 1,000 French police guard Israel Olympic opener
in
Paris
football’,
The
Guardian,
24
July.
at:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jul/24/anti-terror-perimeter-1000-french
police-guard-israel-olympic-opener-paris-football
Available
European Hebrew Journal | Vol. 1, No. 2 (2026)
The
The Guardian (2025) ‘Universities around the world cut ties with Israeli academia over Gaza
war’,
Guardian,
13
September.
Available
at:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/13/universities-around-the-world-cut-ties
with-israeli-academia-over-gaza-war
for
The Independent (2010) ‘The Jerusalem Quartet: Should classical music really be a legitimate
target
political
demonstration?’,
The
Independent.
Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-jerusalem-quartet
should-classical-music-really-be-a-legitimate-target-for-political-demonstration
1932679.html
Van der Kolk, B. (2014) The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of
trauma. New York: Viking.
Young, J.E. (1993) The texture of memory: Holocaust memorials and meaning. New Haven:
Yale University Press.
Zuboff, S. (2019) The age of surveillance capitalism: The fight for a human future at the new
frontier of power. New York: PublicAffairs.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Yaniv Elijah Dor (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright of their work and grant the European Hebrew Journal (EHJ) the right of first publication.
All articles published in EHJ are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
EHJ supports immediate open access to published research and does not charge submission fees or Article Processing Charges (APCs).
*Authors retain copyright of their work and grant EHJ the right of first publication. Articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
