Reading Group
This runs online as drop-in sessions led by members of the community and the Access Folk team. You will have the opportunity to discuss a variety of folk-related material, ranging from articles and blogs to albums and interviews. For each session, there will be readings and/or other media and you can take a look at either, or both.
Everyone is welcome: No formal qualifications or academic background is needed - just an interest in folk song and traditional music. Attendance is flexible: come to as many or as few sessions as you like, depending on what suits you, or which topics interest you most!
Don't worry if you haven't had time to read everything in detail, you are still welcome to join the discussion.
How do I join?
If you want to attend one or more of our online readings groups send us an email or direct message us on social media (Twitter/Facebook/Instagram) and we will send you a link. If you sign up to our Newsletter via our website you will also get information about our future activities.
Can't get enough? There is more!
We run our reading groups alternately with the Contemporary Folklore Research Centre's Lore and Lunch reading group so that you can attend both. Have a look on their website for dates and themes.
Spring 2023 - Folk Singing as Heritage
2023 marks twenty years since UNESCO adopted its Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage to help states and other international actors protect living cultural traditions and the communities that produce them.
You can “dive in” and find out more about the traditions they safeguard in this interactive resource and read about how they define Intangible Cultural Heritage here.
To highlight the UNESCO convention, our readings this term are all influenced by the notion of heritage in folk singing and traditional performing arts. We have chosen short sections from the readings to focus on but feel free to read the whole articles if you have the time and interest.
Thursday 23 March, 1-2 pm
Theorising ownership and control in folk music
Some questions to think about
What happens with ownership when a practice is redefined as “heritage”?
Who controls and makes decisions about “heritage” practices?
Read
“From knowers to doers and marketers: shifting control over folk music”, pp 270-273 in: Ronström, Owe. 2010. ‘Fiddling with Pasts: From Tradition to Heritage’. In Crossing Over: Fiddle and Dance Studies from around the North Atlantic 3, edited by Ian Russell and Anna Kearney Guigné.. Aberdeen: Elphinstone Institute,
Listen/View
Three examples which can be interpreted as "knowers", "doers", and "marketer" roles in the context of Swedish herding calls:
Thursday 20 April, 1-2pm
Folk Clubs as Heritage: “If folk clubs did not exist where would we go to sing ?”
Some questions to think about
What is the place/role of folk clubs in the contemporary folk scene?
Are folk clubs valuable as a cultural entity in their own right or as a means to preserve folk songs and singing?
What role does nostalgia play in the folk club scene? Does this promote or hinder a wider inclusion?
Read
Slides from Sweet Thames: The London folk Club Heritage Project, Carroll, Sam and Bliss, Zoe, 2023
“Introduction” in, Bean, J. P. 2014. Singing from the Floor: A History of British Folk Clubs. London: Faber & Faber.
Additional reading
”Behavioural norms, leadership and navigating (invisible) rules” and “Conclusion” in Hield, Fay, and Paul Mansfield. 2019. ‘Anything Goes? Recognising Norms, Leadership and Moderating Behaviours at Folk Clubs in England’. Ethnomusicology Forum 28 (3): 338–61.
Listen/View
Extracts from Boz Hayward’s film “Folk Club - 3 hour epic musical tour of Chorlton Folk Club [Manchester] between 2010 and 2019”.
Thursday 18 May, 1-2pm
Ethnonationalism and folk singing heritage - a view from Hungary
Some questions to think about
Who benefits from states and international organisations taking a role in producing folk culture?
What are the risks of states and international organisations taking a role in producing folk culture?
What impact do you think taking a folk tradition out of its original context and reproducing it in another might have - on the tradition, the people who perform it, the wider culture?
Read
Listen/View
Thursday 15 June, 1-2pm
Commercialisation of folk singing heritage - a view from Vietnam
Questions to think about
What role can commercial interests play in folk singing heritage?
Is commercialisation a negative or positive process?
Read
“Commercialisation: How much for a song” and “Conclusion”, pp 152-155 in Meeker, Lauren. 2010. ‘How Much for a Song? Local and National Representations of Quan Họ Folksong’. Journal of Vietnamese Studies 5 (1): 125–61.
Listen/View
Use the buttons below to view the topics and readings from past seasons of our Reading Group: