'It does not matter that she is a female, she will be a gusle player': The ideology of an instrument

Within the theoretical and methodological framework based on the concept of the ideology of tradition, I analyze a wide and complex repertoire of attitudes toward female gusle players. Aside from the techniques of representation demonstrated in scientific discourses, I examine the status of female gusle players by assessing the material obtained during several years of field researches (the “male” perspective), and I also refer to the public (media) discourse, acknowledging the characteristics of media and popular culture. The “researcher’s voice” is also interpreted as part of a discourse on the ideology of tradition. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 178011: Srpsko usmeno stvaralaštvo u interkulturnom kodu]