ABSTRACT

The introduction of every new technology is, according to Timothy Taylor (2001), always accompanied by a mixture of wonderment and anxiety mirrored in intertwining discourses of technological determinism and voluntarism. This article attempts to interpret such an instance of new technology introduction by providing insight into the competing discourses of musicians and music theatre owners surrounding the arrival of sound film technology into Zagreb movie theatres in the final years of the 1920s. The interpretation of the challenges that the new technology posed to the working conditions and labour rights of local musicians is grounded on two central corpora of written sources: articles published in the official bulletin of the Association of Musicians of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, The Muzičar, and excerpts of news and articles published in the specialised bulletins and journals aimed at movie theatre owners. Juxtaposition of these sources, following the Bryan Pfaffenberger’s (1992) concept of ‘technological drama’, offers illuminating insight into the complex issues of the disparate perceptions and competing discourses on musicians, the intricacies of their creative labour and the deteriorating working conditions brought on by the arrival of the newest technology of the times.