*Occasionally updated!*
(but could doubtless do with more regular updates
—do let me know of any more posts I should include!)

While the main theme of my blog is the maintenance of local Chinese ritual life (before, during, and since Maoism), it’s worth providing a roundup of recent posts on European cultures and politics—most of which have ramifications for, and links to, China.

• Germany (see also German tag): A Nazi legacy, The Ratline, Ravensbrück, Sachsenhausen, Trauma, Sereny (all with links to Maoism); posts on the GDR (here and here), as well as Red love; and a biography of a colleague who fled successive regimes (here and here). Also Ute Lemper, Nina Hagen—and Berg. Not to mention Bach, and by extension, a whole series on Mahler (not least Mahler 10, and Men behaving badly).

• France (see also French tag): continuing the wartime theme, Les Parisiennes, A life in secrets, Noor Inayat Khan, and numerous posts on Ravel and Messiaen;

Noor Inayat Khan https://stephenjones.blog/2020/05/15/noor-inayat-khan/

• Iberia: flamenco; fado and Lisbon (1 and 2, and for good measure, Some Portuguese epigrams); Festive soundscapes of the Rioja, and Songs of Valencia; Punk in Madrid;

flamenco: gender and politics https://stephenjones.blog/2018/06/25/flamenco-2/

Lisbon 1939 https://stephenjones.blog/2018/05/14/lisbon-2/

• Italy: e.g. taranta, Sardinia, Venice, The struggle against Mussolini, Life under Mussolini, You say tomato, Franca Rame—and Chet in Italy;

Sardinian chronicles https://stephenjones.blog/2018/07/25/sardinian-chronicles/

• Scandinavia: Soundscapes of Nordic noir;
• The Netherlands: Music in the time of Vermeer
• East and central Europe (note also Iron curtain tag—roundup here): musical cultures; Švejk (and here, and here; see also Czech tag); Polish jazz, Polish folk, Catholic pilgrimage; Serbia, Bulgaria;

• Athos.

• Note also Bernard Lortat-Jacob at 80, and Musics of Crete; Popular culture in early modern Europe, Visual culture, Wind, ethnicity, gender; The great siege of Przemyśl, and Why the First World War failed to end.

Inspired by Euro 24, I put some funky playlists together:

• Folk cultures of Europe.

Wind band https://stephenjones.blog/2017/11/05/wind/

Moving east, try West/Central Asia: a roundup. And in the sidebar, do use the tags, categories, and search box!