Capital, Irony, and Nostalgia: The Malina Brothers and Bluegrass

In a time of conflict and pandemic, fear is a pervasive reality. Nostalgia is one resort for us as we deal with the everyday realities of the current world. This presentation attends to contemporary bluegrass-related string band music, highlighting elements, strategies,
and repercussions of nostalgia. The Malina Brothers, a Czech group who mixes bluegrass and country music, articulate the historical resonances of some parts of their repertory to negotiate between irony and nostalgia (per Hutcheon) and also between reflective and
reconstructive nostalgia (per Boym). In addition to pointing out areas in which musicmaking is a part of fear or other negative reactions, I draw a note of optimism from the work of ethnomusicologist Mark DeWitt, who suggests that musicians sometimes avoid
typical neoliberal patterns for the exchange of capital. The work of the Malina Brothers hints at ways that the nostalgia can provide means for dealing in sustainable ways with contemporary situations.