This article explores the German band Corvus Corax and their reinterpretion of the Middle Ages as a creative answer to Germany's problematic history of nationalism. Invoking the community ideals and ideological values of the 1960s and 1970s, which, in the context of the GDR took on even more significance, Corvus Corax borrowed ‘authentic’ medieval texts and melodies, rendering them in acoustic arrangements inspired by medieval performance practices. In short, German ‘folk’ bands invented ‘medieval’ rock to sidestep Nazi connotations with the word ‘folk’. Besides invoking the semantic shift from ‘folk’ to ‘medieval’, I argue that the band adopts the figure of the medieval minstrel and asserts that his multilingual texts, ‘foreign’ instruments and colourful performance practices speak to an inclusive, diverse and cosmopolitan community. Paradoxically, they do so by first positioning the medieval minstrel as a punked-up, marginalised ‘outcast’. The cultural capital of this outcast status helps medieval rock bands like Corvus Corax carve out a space for marginalised voices who, in their new privileged positions, offer a form of retribution for politics of exclusion, racism and authoritarianism.

中文翻译：

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Corvus Corax：中世纪摇滚、吟游诗人和反民族主义的世界主义

本文探讨了德国乐队 Corvus Corax 及其对中世纪的重新诠释，作为对德国民族主义历史问题的创造性回答。Corvus Corax 借鉴了 1960 年代和 1970 年代的社区理想和意识形态价值观，在东德的背景下具有更大的意义，Corvus Corax 借用了“真实的”中世纪文本和旋律，将它们呈现在受中世纪表演实践启发的声学安排中。简而言之，德国的“民间”乐队发明了“中世纪”摇滚，以用“民间”这个词来回避纳粹的内涵。除了援引从“民间”到“中世纪”的语义转变，我认为乐队采用了中世纪吟游诗人的形象，并断言他的多语言文本、“外国”乐器和丰富多彩的表演实践与一个包容、多样化和国际化的社区交谈. 矛盾的是，他们首先将中世纪的吟游诗人定位为朋克、边缘化的“弃儿”。这种被遗弃地位的文化资本帮助像 Corvus Corax 这样的中世纪摇滚乐队为边缘化的声音开辟了空间，这些声音在新的特权地位上为排斥、种族主义和威权主义的政治提供了一种形式的报应。