Performing Englishness Identity and Politics in a Contemporary Folk Resurgence

Performing Englishness examines the growth in popularity and profile of the English folk arts in the first decade of the twenty-first century. In the only study of its kind, the authors explore how the folk resurgence speaks to a broader explosion of interest in the subject of English national and cultural identity.

Combining approaches from British cultural studies and ethnomusicology, the book draws on ethnographic fieldwork, interviews with central figures of the resurgence and close analysis of music and dance as well as visual and discursive sources. Its presentation of the English case study calls for a rethinking of concepts such as revival and indigeneity. It will be of interest to students and scholars in cultural studies, ethnomusicology and related disciplines.

Trish Winter is a Senior Lecturer in Film at the University of Sunderland, UK.
 
Simon Keegan-Phipps is a Lecturer in Ethnomusicology at the University of Sheffield, UK.

Introduction
Part I: Contemporary English folk
1. The folk industry
2. The mainstreaming of English folk
3. An English style?
Part II: Nation and identity
Introduction: The English Context
4. A place called England
5. Englishnesses
Conclusion
References