Singing the Rite to Belong

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.

Helen Phelan is Professor of Arts Practice at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick. A singer and ritual studies scholar, she is an Irish Research Council recipient for her work on singing and sustained social integration with new migrant communities in Ireland over the last two decades. Her singing interests span medieval chant to contemporary ritual vocal song while her publications are primarily in the areas of ritual studies, music education philosophy and arts practice research.

Introduction Becoming a Ritual Singer Singing and Belonging Book Structure Laus Perennis Religious Rituals Chapter One 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 Chapter Two 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 II Educational Rituals Chapter Three 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 Chapter Four 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 III Civic and Community-Based Rituals Chapter Five 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 Chapter Six 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