Singing the Rite to Belong: Ritual, Music, and the New Irish (Oxford Ritual Studies Series)

This book explores the way in which singing can foster experiences of belonging through ritual performance. Based on more than two decades of ethnographic, pedagogical and musical research, it is set against the backdrop of "the new Ireland" of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Charting Ireland's growing multiculturalism, changing patterns of migration, the diminished influence of Catholicism, and synergies between indigenous and global forms of cultural expression, it explores rights and rites of belonging in contemporary Ireland. Helen Phelan examines a range of religious, educational, civic and community-based rituals including religious rituals of new migrant communities in "borrowed" rituals spaces; baptismal rituals in the context of the Irish citizenship referendum; rituals that mythologize the core values of an educational institution; a ritual laboratory for students of singing; and community-based festivals and performances. Her investigation peels back the physiological, emotional and cultural layers of singing to illuminate how it functions as a potential agent of belonging. Each chapter engages theoretically with one of five core characteristic of singing (resonance, somatics, performance, temporality, and tacitness) in the context of particular performed rituals. Phelan offers a persuasive proposal for ritually-framed singing as a valuable and potent tool in the creation of inclusive, creative and integrated communities of belonging. Cover Series Singing the Rite to Belong Copyright Dedication Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Becoming a Ritual Singer Singing and Belonging Book Structure Laus Perennis Part One: Religious Rituals 1. Borrowed Belonging: Singing and “Resounding” in the Wrong Ritual Space Introduction Migration and the New Irish The Limerick Experience The Russian Orthodox Community in the Augustinian Church, Limerick The New Revelation Pentecostal Church in St. Michael’s Church of Ireland, Limerick Resonance as a Key Element of Sung Belonging Spheres of Resonance A Pilgrim People Pilgrimage and Music Sonic Authority Conclusion 2. Repertoires of Belonging: Embodying “Bothness” through Musical Repertoires Introduction St. John’s Catholic Cathedral and St. Augustine’s Church, Limerick Embodying “Bothness” Somatics as a Key Element of Sung Belonging Singing and Ideology Gregorian Chant and the Modern Liturgical Movement A Modern and Medieval “Enchantment” The Pastoral Turn The Irish Story Conclusion Part two: Educational Rituals 3. Finding Your Own Voice: Mythologizing and Ritualizing Belonging at the Irish World Academy Introduction The Irish World Academy The Quest for Imbas The Ritual Pit Performance as a Key Element of Sung Belonging Performing the Academy Conclusion 4. Singing Belonging in the Ritual Lab Introduction Entering the Ritual Lab Ritual Leaps of Faith Ritual Lab and Singing Ritual Criticism, Memory, and Ethical Soundings Temporality as a Key Element of Sung Belonging Ritual, Time, and Space Conclusion Part three: Civic and Community-​Based Rituals 5. Singing Hospitality in Community-​Based Ritual Introduction Anáil Dé/​The Breath of God Tacitness as a Key Element of Sung Belonging Comhcheol Women’s Community Choir World Carnival Conclusion 6. Singing the Rite to Belong: Baptismal Rituals and the Irish Citizenship Referendum Introduction Backdrop to the Citizenship Referendum The Limerick Story Baptizing, Singing, and Belonging Somatic Community Sonic Community Conclusion Conclusion The Power of Singing Singing the Rite to Belong The Weakness of Singing the Rite to Belong Notes Select Bibliography Index Part 1. Religious Rituals. Borrowed Belonging: Singing And Resounding In The Wrong Ritual Space -- Repertoires Of Belonging: Embodying Bothness Through Musical Repertoires -- Part 2. Educational Rituals. Finding Your Own Voice: Mythologizing And Ritualizing Belonging At The Irish World Academy -- Singing Belonging In The Ritual Lab -- Part 3. Civic And Community-based Rituals. Singing Hospitality In Community-based Ritual -- Singing The Rite To Belong: Baptismal Rituals And The Irish Citizenship Referendum. Helen Phelan. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Two decades of ethnographic, pedagogical and musical experience in Ireland inform Helen Phelan's investigation of the singing voice in ritual performance. She examines diverse ritual practices including community-based festivals, children's carnivals, women's choirs, university-based ritual laboratories, rituals of the established Irish Catholic churches, as well as those of new religious communities against the backdrop of economic, social, religious, and cultural changes in twenty-first century Ireland