New research released today shows that the recent resurgence in English Folk music and dance has had a significant impact on English identity. The English folk arts have in the past often been mocked and ridiculed, especially within the media. This is changing, with artists like Bellowhead at the forefront of a vibrant and expanding folk scene that is both rooted in English cultural traditions and open to other influences.
Key findings from the two year Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded research project, ‘Performing Englishness in New English Folk Music and Dance’, undertaken by Dr Trish Winter and Dr Simon Keegan-Phipps at the University of Sunderland Centre for Research in Media and Cultural Studies, were presented on Tuesday to the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Folk Arts at Westminster. What stands out from their work is that:
• At a time when processes like devolution and globalization are prompting debate about English identity, the folk arts are increasingly significant as a place for the negotiation of new English identities that both celebrate English cultural traditions and embrace the diversity of Britain's multicultural present.
• The English folk arts are politically contested. The BNP have shown an interest in using the folk arts for the furthering of a nationalist agenda, but the emergent campaign Folk Against Fascism has acted as a focus for English folk artists’ resistance to this, demonstrating that the English folk scene values an inclusive ideology. The report suggests that, as interest in English identity continues to grow, a clear understanding and backing of the contemporary folk arts among policy makers and the media may also assist in avoiding their appropriation by the far-right.
Over the last ten years there has been a resurgence of interest in the English folk arts with new artists exploring their English heritage of tunes, songs and dances, and established artists finding new audiences. In addition folk festivals in England, such as Towersey Village Festival, are experiencing great popularity. Whilst grass roots involvement in folk flourishes, a developing folk industry is also playing a central role.
The research project was has looked at the significance of this newly invigorated interest in English traditions as well as focussing on the kinds of English identities being forged and their politics.
The project had three main objectives. Firstly, it examined the characteristics of this wave of English folk. Secondly it looked in detail at the particular kinds of ‘Englishness’ that are being circulated when people ‘do’ English folk, whether as participants, performers, audiences or promoters. Thirdly it examined why this wave of interest is happening now, and how it might relate to wider shifts in national identity.
To address these questions the project undertook in-depth interviews with artists, participants and promoters, media analysis and participant observation at a range of cultural events. This data has enabled the team to show that English folk is a highly significant site for the negotiation of contemporary English national identity and, furthermore, that it has become a site where the politics of English identity are being fiercely contested.
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If you would like to speak to Dr Winter or Dr Keegan-Phipps please contact AHRC Media Manager: Jake Gilmore, tel: 0797 099 4586 e: j.gilmore@ahrc.ac.uk
NOTES TO THE EDITORS
The Researchers
Dr Trish Winter is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Media at the University of Sunderland; her research is in the field of British Cultural Studies, with particular interests in issues of identity, and has previously been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. Her publications include the book Sexing The Soldier, (Routledge, 2007), co-authored with Dr Rachel Woodward.
Contact Trish at trish.winter@sunderland.ac.uk
Dr Simon Keegan-Phipps is an Ethnomusicologist and has – since the completion of the project – been made a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Music at the University of Sheffield. He specialises in the field of contemporary English folk and traditional music, and has published on the educational institutionalisation and recontextualisation of traditional music in contemporary England.
Contact Simon at simon.keegan-phipps@sunderland.ac.uk or s.keegan-phipps@sheffield.ac.uk
Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC): Each year the AHRC provides approximately £102 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from languages and law, archaeology and English literature to design and creative and performing arts. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,350 postgraduate awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.