01419nas a2200145   4500000000100000000000100001008004100002100001400043245007200057856014600129300001200275490000700287520096600294022001301260                                       d1 aA. McCann00aRiverdance and A River of Sound, and the ambiguities of "tradition"  uhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-79957575889&doi=10.3917%2fethn.112.0323&partnerID=40&md5=35d3cf3a78cb0faca6af4130ebb04099  a323-3310 v413 aIn the mid-nineties in Ireland, the terms "tradition" and "traditional" became public fulcrums for contention, debate, and conflict. At the heart of this were two media events : Riverdance, a broadway-style dance production based on "Irish traditional dancing", and A River of Sound, a seven-part television series, that offered an overview of "Irish traditional music". In both Riverdance and A River of Sound, "tradition" became merely an expedient notion, in two clear senses. First, the concept of "tradition" offered a contrasting foil against which people could claim superior status as transgressive, innovative, modern, creative purveyors of discontinuity and distinction ; second, the concept of "tradition" also became a way for people to legitimate their activities in rhetorics of continuity and community. What was important in each case was not that "tradition" had a clear and stable meaning, but that the concept fulfilled a rhetorical function.  a00462616