Every drop hollows the stone: An ethnographic study of traditional Irish music pub sessions.

摘要

This dissertation expands previous research on Irish traditional music to include pub sessions as an overlooked social phenomenon in which music making defines and establishes ethnic boundaries. In this age of globalization, some scholars claim that ethnic boundaries are diminishing, if not eroding altogether. However, ethnographic data from this study clearly point to various ways individuals, groups and nations strive to maintain and promote ethnic distinctions. In this study, I explore the ways that local understandings of "traditional" music serve to define ethnic and national political identities in Irish political culture and the Irish diaspora. I demonstrate how local cultures are transformed, as national global media institutions and practices incorporate grass roots art forms. Vigorous marketing campaigns within the last two decades have made pub sessions emblematic representations of Irish culture and ethnicity around the world. Selling culture has become big business for Ireland, as it has for many nations. Yet, as economic growth increasingly depends upon local culture industries, the impact on local producers of cultural products, and the role that consumers play in the production of culture, has scarcely been explored. Utilizing a variety of methodological approaches and theoretical perspectives, this study sheds light on the interaction between cultural production, consumption and ethnic identity and the impact on social inequality.