‘Take it away, sure ’tis your own’: Negotiating authoritative voice in Irish traditional song performance through autoethnography

Abstract

This article discusses the authoritative voice in traditional Irish singing, examining voice in negotiation with prevailing and conflicting ideologies of practice in this context. Opening with a discussion on vocal identity and vocality in traditional Irish singing, autoethnography is used to present and critically examine an individual process of learning and voicing a macaronic song from the Irish tradition. Findings contribute to further understand the social, participatory and presentational dimensions of Irish traditional song as it is learned, performed and transmitted. Issues of vocal enculturation, identity and construction are negotiated as authoritative voice and stylistic efficacy are conceptualized in voicing Irish traditional song.