Description
The different ways in which data is gathered can shape the direction and outcomes of research projects. Different forms of participation, collaboration and knowledge exchange allow researchers to build up the material upon which theory or explanations of different research interests are based. As an ethnomusicologist, much of my work to date has involved recording and analyzing current musical practices in communities across Scotland and in Canada. By placing musical performance historically and contemporaneously within the various communities, my work has informed an understanding of the ways in which music is used to reflect and reinforce wider occupational and locational identities. As Bruno Nettl (2005) wrote, ‘Ethnomusicologists look at music from beyond a purely historical perspective, and look instead at music within culture, music as culture, and music as a reflection of culture.’In this seminar, I will be discussing aspects of my research into the processes by which specific regional repertoires and styles develop as both living reminders of a past time, as a response to the cultural and occupational landscape, and as an expression of cultural memory through performance. In particular, I will be using examples from fieldwork among evangelical Christian singers in North-East Scottish fishing communities, fiddle players in the Shetland Islands, Cree fiddlers and dancers in the James Bay area of Northern Canada, and from my recent performance-based research as part of the Funeralscapes project on the Island of Eigg.
| Period | 28 Mar 2017 |
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| Held at | University of Sheffield, United Kingdom |