Tradition and Its Conceptual Crossroads: Music and Dance Folklore in the Czech Lands as a Research Question

The study focuses on the changes in the concept of tradition in the context of the study of music and dance folklore in the Czech lands. In the field of ethnology, which focuses its attention not only on the present but also, and very importantly, on society in its historical dimension, tradition is a topic that researchers return to at different times. The text presents reflections on the changing scholarly terrain associated with music and dance folklore, presenting different approaches to its study and shifts in its interpretation. Attention is paid to the evolution of the content of terms such as folklore, folklorism and ethnocultural traditions, the problematic use of E. Hobsbawm's concept of invented tradition in the study of contemporary traditions and in the construction of new traditions referring to traditional folk culture.