CfP: Special Issue on "Popular Musics of Baltic Europe: History, Memory, Historiography" (Journal Lithuanian Musicology); Deadline: 31.10.2026

Call for Papers - Special Issue on "Popular Musics of Baltic Europe: History, Memory, Historiography" (Journal "Lithuanian Musicology")

We are delighted to announce the Call for Papers of special issue 28 of the
Lithuanian Musicology / Lietuvos muzikologija (2027) on " Popular Musics of
Baltic Europe: History, Memory, Historiography".

Long relegated to the sidelines of music scholarship in the Baltic States,
popular musics and music cultures have recently emerged as a vital domain
of research and interest, both within and beyond the academy. Recent work,
often bridging methodologies of historical musicology, ethnomusicology, and
sociology, has challenged long-held assumptions about the capacity of state
authority to control cultural production, about the ability of musicians to
leverage the affordances and porousness of political and economic regimes
to advance their work and even to resist or inflect authoritarian power,
and about the fragility, contingency, and opacity of the archival record
itself.

To mark the fiftieth issue of the biennial Baltic Musicological Conference,
the journal *Lietuvos muzikologija/Lithuanian Musicology* announces a call
for submissions on the topic "Popular Musics of Baltic Europe: History,
Memory, Historiography." The editors of this special issue, to be published
in 2027, welcome a wide range of articles on the histories of popular
musics and music-making in the region, touching upon—but not limited
to—such themes as:

   - underground and alternative cultures and scenes
   - technologies of production and mediation
   - samizdat, magnitizdat, and other DIY forms of music-making and music
   culture
   - migration and emigration/immigration
   - music-making amidst and across political transition
   - festivals, discotheques, concerts and clubs
   - international collaborations and networks
   - problems and challenges of archival and oral-history research of
   popular musics
   - transmission of knowledge, network cultivation, and marketing within
   and beyond the region
   - structures of support for music-making, whether formal or informal

Submissions of no more than 6000 words will be welcomed through 31 October
2026. The language of the issue will be English. The editors of the special
issue Rūta Stanevičiūtė (Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre) and Kevin
C. Karnes (Emory University), also welcome inquiries. Submissions should be
emailed to ruta.staneviciute[at]lmta.lt.