Towards a regional understanding of Irish traditional music
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Date
2009-09
Authors
Kearney, David
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University College Cork
Published Version
Abstract
The geography of Irish traditional music is a complex, popular and largely
unexplored element of the narrative of the tradition. Geographical concepts such as the
region are recurrent in the discourse of Irish traditional music but regions and their
processes are, for the most part, blurred or misunderstood. This thesis explores the
geographical approach to the study of Irish traditional music focusing on the concept of
the region and, in particular, the role of memory in the construction and diffusion of
regional identities.
This is a tripartite study considering people, place and music. Each of these
elements impacts on our experience of the other. All societies have created music. Music
is often associated with or derived from places. Some places construct or reinforce their
identity through the music and musicians through which they are associated. The thesis
challenges conventional discourse on regional styles that construct an imagined pattern of
regions based on subtle musical differences that may, though are not always, shared by
people in that region and focuses on the social networks through which the music is
disseminated. The thesis also challenges the abandonment of regional styles and the
concept of regions in understanding the complex geographies of Irish traditional music
(Morton, 2001). It seeks to find a middle ground between discourse analysis, musical
analysis, the experience of music and place, and the representation of music and place.
The dissertation is divided into three parts. Part one considers the development of
music geography, noting and critiquing the abandonment of useful paradigms in both
geography and ethnomusicology in search of new ways of understanding. Of particular
interest is the concept of the region but it also considers the study of landscape and the
humanist approach in cultural geography. The second part focuses on the discourse and
study of regions in Irish traditional music and the various agents and processes that shape
the concept of the region in Irish traditional music. The final part presents a case study of
the Sliabh Luachra region combining and applying the various perspectives and
paradigms drawn from geographical, ethnomusicological and anthropological sources. It
attempts to generate an understanding of Sliabh Luachra as a region in the Irish traditional
music narrative that is based on a combination of musical, socio-cultural and
locational/environmental factors.
Description
Keywords
Traditional music , Music geography , Regional identity , Sliabh Luachra , Social networks , Music and place , Ireland
Citation
Kearney, D. 2009. Towards a regional understanding of Irish traditional music. PhD Thesis, University College Cork.