Fourteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

Over the past decade and a half, Lutheran hymn singing has undergone a process of ‘culturalization’ in South Africa as well as elsewhere. That is, the question of ‘acculturation’. This study focuses on the dynamics of cultural influences and their implications as a form of power that both enables and constrains the articulation in the interpretation of Lutheran hymns. The aim of this study is to investigate how Evangelical Lutheran hymns have been adopted and adapted within different cultures leading to a cosmopolitan interpretation of the words and musical form. The method was based on acculturation and an overview of the distribution of Evangelical Lutheran churches in the Netherlands and South Africa. The following research question is raised for the study: Do hymns reflect cosmopolitan musical processes and could they be used to build a post national understanding of the social and cultural influences of the musical past? Seven congregations in each country were visited and the singing of four hymns were observed and recorded in each. These recordings and observations were used for the analysis of the cultural influences in the interpretation of the Lutheran hymns. The investigation has shown that identity is largely related to musical preferences, and both personal identity and emotional regulation describe music’s more congregational function and are unique to each congregation. It was concluded that Evangelical Lutheran hymns are an example of musical processes that signal the emergence of a cosmopolitan society.