TY - JOUR
KW - Authenticity
KW - Intangible cultural heritage
KW - Folklore
KW - African American heritage
KW - Public folklore
AU - Michelle Stefano
AU - Clifford Murphy
AB - The article examines the process of promoting, with a view to safeguarding, the centuries-old Singing and Praying Bands living tradition, an African American musical and spiritual expression that is distinctive to the Chesapeake Bay region of the US. Discussed within the context of US public folklore, the process is understood as a co-intervention, representing an active partnership between the Bands’ community and public folklorists (including the authors) in attempting to reach new members as a means of keeping it alive. The article underscores the need for ‘bottom-up’ approaches in safeguarding living cultural traditions, bringing to light the potential strengths of public folklore work and the benefits its theories and methodologies can bring to the intangible cultural heritage discourse. Moreover, it analyses how community agency has been exercised, and community needs accommodated, through the dialogue-driven, collaborative intervention process. It also investigates how a nuanced view of ‘authenticity’ has been shaped, with regard to changes the living tradition has undergone, and is currently understood by those who embody it.
BT - International Journal of Heritage Studies
DA - sep
DO - 10.1080/13527258.2016.1186104
LA - English
M1 - 8
N1 - Publisher: Routledge
N2 - The article examines the process of promoting, with a view to safeguarding, the centuries-old Singing and Praying Bands living tradition, an African American musical and spiritual expression that is distinctive to the Chesapeake Bay region of the US. Discussed within the context of US public folklore, the process is understood as a co-intervention, representing an active partnership between the Bands’ community and public folklorists (including the authors) in attempting to reach new members as a means of keeping it alive. The article underscores the need for ‘bottom-up’ approaches in safeguarding living cultural traditions, bringing to light the potential strengths of public folklore work and the benefits its theories and methodologies can bring to the intangible cultural heritage discourse. Moreover, it analyses how community agency has been exercised, and community needs accommodated, through the dialogue-driven, collaborative intervention process. It also investigates how a nuanced view of ‘authenticity’ has been shaped, with regard to changes the living tradition has undergone, and is currently understood by those who embody it.
PY - 2016
SP - 607
EP - 621
T2 - International Journal of Heritage Studies
TI - "We Can Always Go Back Home : critical lessons in helping to safeguard and promote the Singing and Praying Bands living tradition
UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84969195225&doi=10.1080%2f13527258.2016.1186104&partnerID=40&md5=4a4539185fd4096af4c3faefb0695338
VL - 22
SN - 13527258 (ISSN)
ER -