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ARTICULATING CELTICITY

ARTICULATING CELTICITY. Finding an Irish Voice Daragh O’Reilly University of Sheffield 17 October 2007. PRESENTATION STRUCTURE. Popular music context Metaphors for community Archaeology of ‘tribe’ - Maffesoli A Celtic musical ‘tribe’ New Model Army Implications.

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ARTICULATING CELTICITY

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  1. ARTICULATING CELTICITY Finding an Irish Voice Daragh O’Reilly University of Sheffield 17 October 2007

  2. PRESENTATION STRUCTURE • Popular music context • Metaphors for community • Archaeology of ‘tribe’ - Maffesoli • A Celtic musical ‘tribe’ • New Model Army • Implications

  3. ROCK BAND AS TRIBE, BRAND COMMUNITY OR SUBCULTURAL GROUP? • Conceptual proliferation • Consumer Tribes (Cova, Kozinets, Shankar, 2007) • Brand Communities (Muniz and O’Guinn, 2001) • Subcultures / Post-subcultures (Bennett and Kahn, 2004)

  4. Social Sociality Mechanical structure Complex or organic structure (Modernity) (Post-modernity) Political-economic organization Masses versus Individuals (function) Persons (role) Contractual groups Affectual tribes MAFFESOLI, 1988/1996:6 Cultural, productive, religious, sexual, ideological domains

  5. MAFFESOLI BOOKS

  6. MAFFESOLI BOOKS 1988 French Version 1996 English Version

  7. MAFFESOLI BOOKS 1988 French Version 1996 English Version Satan Arousing the Rebel Angels William Blake

  8. MAFFESOLI’s BOOKS 2004

  9. READING MAFFESOLI • Reception in MCS • Reception in popular music

  10. NEO TRIBALISM • P.75 – neo-tribalism … refuses to identify with any political project whatsoever, to subscribe to any sort of finality … [its] sole raison d’etre is a preoccupation with the collective present. • P.76 – in contrast to the stability induced by classical tribalism, neo-tribalism is characterized by fluidity, occasional gatherings and dispersal. Thus we can describe the street scene of modern megalopolises: the amateurs of jogging, punk or retro fashions, preppies and street performers invite us on a travelling road show. • P. 11 – The rational era is built on the principle of individuation and of separation, whereas the empathetic period is marked by the lack of differentiation, the ‘loss’ in a collective subject: in other words, what I shall call neo-tribalism.

  11. NEO TRIBALISM • P. 40 - A new (and evolving trend) can be found in the growth of small groups and existential networks. This represents a sort of tribalism which is based at the same time on the spirit of religion (re-ligare) and on localism (proxemics, nature). • 139 – the constitution of micro-groups, of the tribes which intersperse spatially, arises as a result of a feeling of BELONGNG, as a function of a specific ETHIC and within the framework of a communications NETWORK … these three ideas can be summarized by speaking of a ‘multitude of villages’ which intersect, oppose each other, help each other, all the while remaining themselves. • 140 - The tribes [have] varied lifespans according to the degree of investment of the protagonists

  12. KINDS OF TRIBES • Networks of solidarity (72) • Communion of saints (73) • Electronic mail, sexual networks, various solidarities including sporting and musical gatherings are so many signs of an ethos in gestation. Such trends are the framework of this new spirit of the times which we call sociality. (73) • Youth groups, affinity associations, small-scale industrial enterprises (75) • Small community group (94)

  13. MAFESOLI ON TRIBALISM • The affectual nebula • Undirected being-together • The religious model • Elective sociality • The law of secrecy

  14. TRIBALISM 1 – The Affectual Nebula • Experiencing the other is the basis of community • The logic of the network and the affect which serves as its vector are essentially relativist (88) • P. 36 – the feeling or passion which, contrary to conventional wisdom, constitutes the essential ingredient of all social aggregations

  15. TRIBALISM 2 – UNDIRECTED BEING TOGETEHR • P. 81 – I believe that the BEING-TOGETEHR is a basic given. Before any other determination or qualification, there is this vital spontaneity that guarantees a culture its own PUISSANCE and solidity

  16. TRIBALISM 3 – THER ‘RELIGIOUS MODEL’ • P. 82 - The use of the religious metaphor can then be compared to a laser beam allowing the most complete reading of the very heart of a given structure. • P. 85 – That which has been called the ‘sect’ type can be seen as an alternative to the purely rational governing of the institution. Regularly returning to the fore, this alternative accentuates the role of feeling in social life, which will aid the action of proximity and the welcoming aspect of that which is nascent. • P. 21 – I am adopting the perspective of Durkheim and his followers, who always placed the greatest weight on the sacredness of social relationships

  17. RELIGIOSITY • P.77 this term should be seen in the most elemental light, that of RELIANCE • 78 – there is a link between the emotional and religiosity • 38 – Social Divine –the aggregate force which is the basis of any society or association • 41 – demotheism – the people as god, or the social divine • Keeping warm together • 43- There has always been a heavy religious dimensions to revolutionary phenomena

  18. TRIBALISM 4 – ELECTIVE SOCIALITY • P. 86 – We are currently witness to the development of what I shall call an ELECTIVE SOCIALITY. This mechanism has certainly always existed, but, as far as modernity is concerned for example, it was tempered by the political corrective that brought compromise and long-term finality into the picture to supersede particular interests and localism.

  19. TRIBALISM 5 – The LAW OF SECRECY • P. 90 - Protective mechanism with respect to the outside world • 92 – the secret society allows for resistance • 37 – [secret] behaviour … is the basis of social perdurability … allows us to measure the vitality of a social group

  20. PUISSANCE VS POWER • P. 92 – Whereas power tends to encourage centralization specialization and the establishment of a universal society and knowledge, the secret society is always fond on the margins; is secular, decentralized, without the baggage of dogmatic and intangible doctrines. • P. 1 – puissance* - * Tr Note: the term ‘puissance in French conveys the idea of the inherent energy and vital force of the people, as opposed to the institutions of ‘power’ (‘pouvoir’)

  21. representation identity regulation production consumption 3.4 CULTURAL STUDIES: - THE CIRCUIT OF CULTURE Hall et al., 1997

  22. MEANINGS identity, hedonic, utilitarian, political, spiritual, social, musical, economic CULTURE OF PRODUCTION people practices places CULTURE OF CONSUMPTION people practices places TEXTS music, lyrics, artwork, merchandise, dress, appearance, articles, reviews , DVD, CD, gigs, web PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF ROCK BAND CULTURE ‘Content’ Intended/ elaborated meanings Elaborated/ Intended meanings Encoding/ decoding Decoding/ encoding Structure/ performance

  23. MEANINGS identity, hedonic, utilitarian, political, spiritual, social, musical, economic CULTURE OF PRODUCTION people practices places CULTURE OF CONSUMPTION people practices places TEXTS music, lyrics, artwork, merchandise, dress, appearance, articles, reviews , DVD, CD, gigs, web PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF ROCK BAND CULTURE ‘Content’ Intended/ elaborated meanings Elaborated/ Intended meanings Creativity: - Originating - Adapting - Sampling Rehearsing Touring Performing Sourcing (A&R) Music and Video Production: - Recording - Mixing/Editing - Mastering acquiring collecting owning possessing divesting discoursing sharing listening watching attending rituals dancing singing • Manufacturing • Distribution • Promotion • Image • Artwork • Plugging • Advertising • Publicity Encoding/ decoding Decoding/ encoding Structure/ performance

  24. GROUP IDENTITIES IN THE NMA-FAN RELATIONSHIP RSC Crew ‘Militia’ Band Collabo- rators JS+F Former Members Other Fans Mana- ger = THE NMA ART FIRM?

  25. NMA AESTHETICS, i.e. CULTURAL ‘TEXTS’ AND CIRCUITS Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5 GIGS WEB-SITE Stage design Lighting Instruments Equipment Sound mix Movement Setlist Musical Performance Newsletters Tour Record News News Archive Talk Lyrics Music Art Red Sky Coven Robert Heaton Kip Keino Noticeboard Links Contact The Shop News CLOTHING MERCHANDISE COVER ART/ SLEEVE NOTES SONGS T-shirts Sweatshirts Hoodies Hats Creative Music PERSONAL APPEARANCE Images Lyrics Text Sounds Lyrics Jewellery Tattoos Piercings Clothing Logo MUSICAL PRODUCT Partners VISUAL IMAGES Photographs Vinyl CD Concert DVD Music video Community MERCH BOOTH Musical Product Clothing Merchandise Trade

  26. FAMILY • “Ch: Give me some place that I can goWhere I don't have to justify myselfSwimming out alone against this tideLooking for family looking for tribe.” Family, 1987 (Sullivan) • Maffesoli, p. 94 – the conjunction of ‘group preservation-solidarity-proximity’ has found its favoured expression in the notion of family, which should be taken in the sense of extended family

  27. ‘ONE FAMILY, ONE TRIBE’ • Heritage is a powerful tool. It can inculcate a sense of belonging. It can be used to include or exclude. • Agyeman, 2006:16 (in Simpson, ed. 2006).

  28. ‘ONE FAMILY, ONE TRIBE’ • Touring exhibition, 2004- • English and German public museums • Fans involved • Curation • Funding advocacy • Visitors book • Data collection through visits, interviews, photography/video recording

  29. THE MOVE TO HERITAGE • The NMA ‘Family’ • Building community • Sacralising Community • Emotional kinship, sanctuary, belonging • Re-membrance • Remembering past times • Re-membering oneself into the community • Risks for the band • A ‘heritage band’, or • A band with heritage? • Solving the museum’s access ‘problem’ • Government policy on broadening access • Tapping into a pre-existing community (‘outsourcing’?!)

  30. NMA – A CELTIC TRIBAL AESTHETIC? • Family/tribe as ‘divin social’ • Musical: • Genre: punk/folk/rock • Influences: Northern Soul • Emotional kinship, sanctuary, belonging • Enduring band • Underground band (‘cult’), Band of puissance • Urban realism and pastoral romanticism • Spiritual, political heritage • Diggers/Levellers/Ranters – 1600s England • Lyrics of resistance • Miners’ Strike/Falklands/Newbury By-pass • USA visa refusal (again) • ‘no cultural value’ says US Government • Fan reaction on band web-site: • ****ing shit! they will let the beckhams in but not new model army?  ******s. • Critique of Maffesoli – political, empirical, social form over content, psychology of individual

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