Performing Englishness looks in detail at the growth in popularity and
profile of the English folk arts in the first decade of the twenty-first
century. Based on original research within English folk culture, it is
the only ethnographic study of its kind. By closely scrutinising various
facets of this folk resurgence - discursive, musical and visual - the
authors explore how it speaks to a broader explosion of interest in the
subject of English national and cultural identity.
How does contemporary English folk music and dance relate to ideas about
England and Englishness? What kinds of English identities are expressed
through the works of musicians like Seth Lakeman or Bellowhead? How does
morris dancing contribute to ongoing political debates around
multiculturalism, globalisation, and the devolution of the British
nations? And how does the English folk scene reconcile a new-found
commercial success with anti-capitalist roots?
In their quest for answers to these and other questions, the authors
combine the approaches of British cultural studies and ethnomusicology,
drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, interviews with central figures of
the resurgence and close analysis of key musical and dance texts. Their
presentation of the English case contributes to debates about English
identity and calls for a rethinking of concepts such as revival,
indigeneity and tradition. It will be of interest to students and
scholars in the field of cultural studies, ethnomusicology and related
disciplines.