The art of juncture – transformations of Irish traditional music

Abstract

This thesis examines 'transformations' of Irish traditional music represented in speech, notation and writing in historical and contemporary contexts. Instances of these three modes of transformation are examined, and their structure, role and motivations in the context of Irish traditional dance music are interrogated, drawing on cognitive linguistics, structuralist and post-structuralist discourse. The thesis illustrates the way that the community supporting this set of performance practices engages in the creative use of language and signs to frame their own music making. Fundamental to these processes is the use of metaphor, as understood in the tradition of scholars such as George Lakoff, Mark Turner and Mark Johnston. The development and use of these transformations by traditional musicians occur in a context dominated by the power of language and symbols. This development is motivated by a number of societal and aesthetic factors as well as the contemporary need to frame this music culture in the contemporary world. The way in which the nature of these transformations frames and shapes the discourses of the music community, as well as the music itself, is highlighted and examined