Rethinking tradition : towards an ethnomusicology of contemporary flamenco guitar

Abstract

This thesis consists of four chapters, an introduction and a conclusion. It asks the question as to how contemporary guitarists have negotiated the relationship between tradition and modernity. In particular, the thesis uses primary fieldwork materials to question some of the assumptions made in more ‘literary’ approaches to flamenco of so-called flamencología. In particular, the thesis critiques attitudes to so-called flamenco authenticity in that tradition by bringing the voices of contemporary guitarists to bear on questions of belonging, home, and displacement. The conclusion, drawing on the author’s own experiences of playing and teaching flamenco in the North East of England, examines some of the ways in which flamenco can generate new and lasting communities of affiliation to the flamenco tradition and aesthetic.