ABSTRACT
Scottish traditional music has been through a successful revival in the mid-twentieth century and has now entered a professionalised and public space. Devolution in the UK and the surge of political debate surrounding the independence referendum in Scotland in 2014 led to a greater scrutiny of regional and national identities within the UK, set within the wider context of cultural globalisation. This volume brings together a range of authors that sets out to explore the increasingly plural and complex notions of Scotland, as performed in and through traditional music. Traditional music has played an increasingly prominent role in the public life of Scotland, mirrored in other Anglo-American traditions. This collection principally explores this movement from historically text-bound musical authenticity towards more transient sonic identities that are blurring established musical genres and the meaning of what constitutes ‘traditional’ music today. The volume therefore provides a cohesive set of perspectives on how traditional music performs Scottishness at this crucial moment in the public life of an increasingly (dis)United Kingdom.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|63 pages
Policy and practice
chapter 3|14 pages
‘A sense of who we are’
chapter 5|9 pages
‘Eun Bheag Chanaidh’ where the Gaelic arts and non-traditional theatre meet
chapter 6|18 pages
Referendum reflections
part II|78 pages
Porosity, genres, hybridity
chapter 7|12 pages
The changing nature of conceptualisation and authenticity among Scottish traditional musicians
chapter 9|13 pages
‘It happens in ballads’
part III|32 pages
Home and host
part IV|71 pages
The past in the present