Unreliable recorders - Collectors of folk songs as inventors of tradition

From the end of the 18th century folk music increasingly came to be an object of interest among collectors and researchers. The development of folksong collecting raised questions over the authenticity and credibility of the recordings. During the 19th century collectors applied various measures to form an image of folk music culture, which was always to some extent an invention and a fiction, whether it involved the alteration of song lyrics to achieve a more acceptable form by omitting vulgar expressions, or the deletion from the repertoire of entire items which the collectors did not deem suitable for inclusion. Authors of important collections such as Frantisek Ladislav Celakovsky and Karel Jaromir Erben often altered the recorded material to make it fit their ideas of correct national culture. Folksong acquired a special role in the disputes over the authenticity of the Dvfir Krtilove and Zelend Flora manuscripts. Collector Frantgek Bartog and historian Frantigek Dvorskfr, each in their own way, used folk songs as an argument in favour of the view that the manuscripts were authentic.