Realms of re-enchantment
socio-cultural investigations of festival music space
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/prbt.v11i1.67Keywords:
Festivals, blues and roots music, charisma, carnival, communitasAbstract
The phenomenon of live music performance spaces is both enigmatic and enticing. While few would disagree that there appears to be a different set of priorities and protocols operative in these spaces, there has been little investigation of how socio-cultural theory might be useful in exploring the nature and significance of these spaces. This paper seeks to remedy that, drawing on detailed data compiled from participant observation over three years at the West Coast Blues & Roots festival in Fremantle, Western Australia. The relationship of the live music performance space, or “realm” is explored using three paradigms: charisma, carnival and communitas. The paper concludes with reflections on how the unique experience of music within these realms may interact and change the outside “real” world beyond the festival.
References
Adair-Toteff, Christopher. 2005. ‘Max Weber’s Charisma’. Journal of Classic Sociology 5(2): 189–204. doi:10.1177/1468795X05053491
Bakhtin, Mikhail. 1984. Rabelais and his World, trans. H. Iswolsky. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Deflem, Mathieu. 1991. ‘Ritual, Anti-Structure and Religion: A Discussion of Victor Turner’s Processual Symbolic Analysis’. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 30(1): 1–25. doi:10.2307/1387146
Dentith, Simon. 1995. Bakhtinian Thought: An Introductory Reader. London and New York: Routledge.
Dyer, Richard. 2004. Heavenly Bodies. 2nd ed. London and New York: Routledge.
Fiske, John. 1989. Understanding Popular Culture. Boston: Unwin Hyman.
Foucault, Michel. 1998. Aesthetics, Method and Epistemology, trans. R. Hurley, ed. J. D. Faubion and P. Rabinow. New York: New Press.
Gamson, Joshua. 1994. Claims to Fame: Celebrity in Modern America. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Halnon, Karen Bettez. 2006. ‘Heavy Metal Carnival and Dis-Alienation: The Politics of Grotesque Realism’. Symbolic Interactionism 29(1): 33–48. doi:10.1525/si.2006.29.1.33
Kohl, Paul R. 1993. ‘Looking through a Glass Onion: Rock and Roll as a Modern Manifestation of Carnival’. Journal of Popular Culture 27(1): 143–61. doi:10.1111/j.0022-3840.19 93.11256343.x
—1996. ‘A Splendid Time is Guaranteed for All: The Beatles as Agents of Carnival’. Popular Music and Society 20(4): 81–88.
Lewis, J Lowell. 2008. ‘Toward a Unified Theory of Cultural Performance: A Reconstructive Introduction to Victor Turner’. In Victor Turner and Contemporary Cultural Performance, ed. G. St John, 41–57. New York: Berghahn Books.
Ricoeur, Paul. 1984. Time and Narrative. 3 vols. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Rojek, Chris. 2001. Celebrity. London: Reaktion.
Sanders, Clinton R. 1974. ‘Psyching out the Crowd: Folk Performers and their Audiences’. Urban Life and Culture 3(3): 264–82.
St John, Graham. 2001. ‘Alternative Cultural Heterotopia and the Liminoid Body: Beyond Turner at Confest’. Australian Journal of Anthropology 12(1): 47–66. doi:10.1111/j.18 35-9310.2001.tb00062.x
—2008. ‘Victor Turner and Contemporary Cultural Performance: An Introduction’. In Victor Turner and Contemporary Cultural Performance, ed. G. St John, 1–37. New York: Berghahn Books.
Turner, Victor. 1969. The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. New York: Cornell University Press.
—1982. From Ritual to Theatre: The Human Seriousness of Play. New York: Performing Arts Journal Publications.
Turner, Victor, and Edith Turner. 1978. Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture: Anthropological Perspectives. Oxford: Blackwell.
Weber, Max. 1970. From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, ed. H. H. Gerth and C. W. Mills. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
—1976. Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft: Grundriss der verstehenden Soziologie. Tübingen: Mohr (Paul Siebeck).
—1978. Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology, trans. T. Parsons. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Bakhtin, Mikhail. 1984. Rabelais and his World, trans. H. Iswolsky. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Deflem, Mathieu. 1991. ‘Ritual, Anti-Structure and Religion: A Discussion of Victor Turner’s Processual Symbolic Analysis’. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 30(1): 1–25. doi:10.2307/1387146
Dentith, Simon. 1995. Bakhtinian Thought: An Introductory Reader. London and New York: Routledge.
Dyer, Richard. 2004. Heavenly Bodies. 2nd ed. London and New York: Routledge.
Fiske, John. 1989. Understanding Popular Culture. Boston: Unwin Hyman.
Foucault, Michel. 1998. Aesthetics, Method and Epistemology, trans. R. Hurley, ed. J. D. Faubion and P. Rabinow. New York: New Press.
Gamson, Joshua. 1994. Claims to Fame: Celebrity in Modern America. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Halnon, Karen Bettez. 2006. ‘Heavy Metal Carnival and Dis-Alienation: The Politics of Grotesque Realism’. Symbolic Interactionism 29(1): 33–48. doi:10.1525/si.2006.29.1.33
Kohl, Paul R. 1993. ‘Looking through a Glass Onion: Rock and Roll as a Modern Manifestation of Carnival’. Journal of Popular Culture 27(1): 143–61. doi:10.1111/j.0022-3840.19 93.11256343.x
—1996. ‘A Splendid Time is Guaranteed for All: The Beatles as Agents of Carnival’. Popular Music and Society 20(4): 81–88.
Lewis, J Lowell. 2008. ‘Toward a Unified Theory of Cultural Performance: A Reconstructive Introduction to Victor Turner’. In Victor Turner and Contemporary Cultural Performance, ed. G. St John, 41–57. New York: Berghahn Books.
Ricoeur, Paul. 1984. Time and Narrative. 3 vols. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Rojek, Chris. 2001. Celebrity. London: Reaktion.
Sanders, Clinton R. 1974. ‘Psyching out the Crowd: Folk Performers and their Audiences’. Urban Life and Culture 3(3): 264–82.
St John, Graham. 2001. ‘Alternative Cultural Heterotopia and the Liminoid Body: Beyond Turner at Confest’. Australian Journal of Anthropology 12(1): 47–66. doi:10.1111/j.18 35-9310.2001.tb00062.x
—2008. ‘Victor Turner and Contemporary Cultural Performance: An Introduction’. In Victor Turner and Contemporary Cultural Performance, ed. G. St John, 1–37. New York: Berghahn Books.
Turner, Victor. 1969. The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. New York: Cornell University Press.
—1982. From Ritual to Theatre: The Human Seriousness of Play. New York: Performing Arts Journal Publications.
Turner, Victor, and Edith Turner. 1978. Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture: Anthropological Perspectives. Oxford: Blackwell.
Weber, Max. 1970. From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, ed. H. H. Gerth and C. W. Mills. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
—1976. Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft: Grundriss der verstehenden Soziologie. Tübingen: Mohr (Paul Siebeck).
—1978. Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology, trans. T. Parsons. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Published
2010-08-25
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Jennings, M. (2010). Realms of re-enchantment: socio-cultural investigations of festival music space. Perfect Beat, 11(1), 67-83. https://doi.org/10.1558/prbt.v11i1.67
