![]() ![]() Each song genre has a different value depending on who defines it and how. ![]() I therefore suggest that genres exist within a value-laden hierarchy. Genres are contested which indicates that they are more than just words or labels. There are reasons that genres are defined in particular ways and I assume those reasons are significant for understanding important features of the culture that creates, inherits, and uses them. I also assume that the genre classification of songs is not a neutral act but one of purpose. There are many genre systems to which different groups of people subscribe for different reasons, at different times, and/or in different contexts. The way in which a song is categorized often depends on who is categorizing it. However, genres are not universally agreed upon. ![]() Genres are socially constructed concepts that are often used as convenient means to organize many things into similar categories contrasted against unlike categories. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in Cape Breton, Toronto, and Scotland, and using methods of participant-observation and interviews, I explore who defines Gaelic song genres, on what basis, and for what purpose. In this dissertation, I investigate how concepts of musical “genre” in Cape Breton serve to negotiate social distinctions (such as status, linguistic competence, or various degrees of insiderness), and articulate socially shared systems of value. ![]()
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