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An Ethnographic Encounter with a Private Music Collection and Its Collector

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An Ethnographic Encounter with a Private Music Collection and Its Collector Technological University Dublin ARROW@TU Dublin Theses Digital Media Centre 2012 Rodney’s Archive: An Ethnographic Encounter with a Private Music Collection and its Collector Eve Olney Technological University Dublin Follow this and additional works at: https://arrow.tudublin.ie/dmcthes Part of the Film and Media Studies Commons, and the Music Performance Commons Recommended Citation Olney, E. : Rodney’s Archive: An Ethnographic Encounter with a Private Music Collection and its Collector, Doctoral Thesis. Technological University Dublin, 2012. This Theses, Ph.D is brought to you for free and open access by the Digital Media Centre at ARROW@TU Dublin. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses by an authorized administrator of ARROW@TU Dublin. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License Rodney’s Archive: An Ethnographic Encounter with a Private Music Collection and its Collector Eve Olney BA(Hons) Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Dublin Institute of Technology 2012 Rodney’s Archive: An Ethnographic Encounter with a Private Music Collection and its Collector Eve Olney BA(Hons) This Thesis is submitted to the Dublin Institute of Technology in Candidature for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Supervisor: Dr Áine O’Brien School of Media April 2012 Abstract Located in the fields of cultural studies and media studies, this thesis frames an ethnography of the private collector, Rodney McElrea, (from Omagh, Co. Tyrone) and his music collection, simultaneously presenting an analysis of socio-cultural issues relating to collecting and archival practices. Focusing on the relationship between Rodney and his collected artefacts, this study is guided by several interrelated research questions: how is cultural meaning revealed in the private archive; to what degree are the taxonomic structures imposed on private archives directing interpretations of it; how might the cultural value of this particular private collection be determined in the absence of an institutional system of cultural evaluation. In addition the thesis explores how cultural memory and (Rodney’s) private memory are interrelated within the collected object in his archive and furthermore to what degree can the research questions guiding this thesis be explored through Rodney’s performance of the archive? The research is, therefore, framed within an overall narrative concerning the uncertain fate of Rodney’s collection, beyond the lifespan of its collector and how the collection might be preserved in the future. The thesis comprises an introduction, conclusion and five chapters. An accompanying DVD features some of my documentation of the field site within an eighteen-minute film. This film provides an ethnographic representation of my experience with Rodney and his archive. Chapter one discusses my first encounters with Rodney and attempts to identify the taxonomic systems at play within the collection. Drawing on a number of scholars from cultural studies, whose primary focus is the ontological status of archives, I explore the meaning of Rodney’s engagement with his artefacts and his motivations as a private collector. The role of practice is introduced in this chapter, as a means of navigating Rodney’s collection, and is supported by critical arguments from within the fields of visual anthropology and media studies. Chapter two focuses on how recorded sound functions within the collection as both an archival tool (of exploration) and an object of analysis, whilst referring to scholars from within auditory studies. Recorded sounds situate Rodney within the archival space, and are offered as one method of retaining the memory of the collector within future representations. Chapter three refers to Rodney’s past collecting practices when discussing the cultural significance of his collection through the metrics of various frameworks of value. Chapter four details the methodological approach to representing such an idiosyncratic collection and foregrounds the practice elements and curatorial process of interpreting and mediating Rodney and his archive. Here emphasis is placed on how the photographic image works in conjunction with recorded sound and how the film sequence performs within concepts of being both ‘archival’ and ‘ethnographic’ in nature. The fifth and final chapter discusses the film in relation to both Rodney’s engagement with it and its success in communicating ethnographic experience to the observer. The future survival of the collection is then revisited in view of Rodney’s deeply personal investment alongside external interests from individual and institutional sources, with complimentary yet different agendas surrounding the preserving of this private music collection. I certify that this thesis which I now submit for examination for the award of PhD, is entirely my own work and has not been taken from the work of others, save and to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work. This thesis was prepared according to the regulations for postgraduate study by research of the Dublin Institute of Technology and has not been submitted in whole or in part for another award in any other third level institution. The work reported on in this thesis conforms to the principles and requirements of the DIT's guidelines for ethics in research. DIT has permission to keep, lend or copy this thesis in whole or in part, on condition that any such use of the material of the thesis be duly acknowledged. Signature __________________________________ Date _______________ Candidate: Eve Olney Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank Mr. Rodney McElrea for his continuous cooperation and help in making this project possible. His contagious enthusiasm, immense knowledge and skills as a storyteller made this endeavour an incredibly enjoyable one to pursue and I will always be grateful for the amount of time and emotion he invested into this piece of work. Mrs. Ruth McElrea made my visits to Omagh incredibly welcoming and pleasurable and I sincerely thank her for all her hospitality over the past seven years. I would like to acknowledge and thank those at the Centre for Transcultural Research and Media Practice and the Graduate Office at the Dublin Institute of Technology for the helpful advice and guidance throughout the years of researching this project. I particularly thank my doctoral supervisor, Dr Áine O’Brien whose knowledge, support and patience has been consistent throughout each element of my research right up to the end. I also extend my sincerest gratitude to Mick Muldoon for his invaluable help and direction with the DVD. Mick’s sudden passing this year was a great shock and is deeply felt by all who knew him. Peter Crimmings for his technological support and to my friend Dr Ailsa Russell for her useful feedback, advice and proofing of parts of the thesis. I could never have persisted with and completed this project without the support of my parents, Catherine and Jim Olney, whose faith and encouragement helped me right to the end and I thank my siblings Ian, Kim, Joy and Lee for numerous favours, child-minding, and everything else I depended on them for over the past seven years. Last, but in no way least, I would like to thank my partner, Tony, whose part in this project cannot be adequately measured or commended, suffice to say it would not have happened without his input, support and love and I will always be grateful for that. I thank my beautiful daughter Martha for her patience with me and my work and for sharing the computer without grumbling. Finally, my son James’s arrival, just at the right moment, spurred me on to complete my research and made this achievement all the more poignant. Table of Contents Abstract Declaration Page Acknowledgements Table of Contents 1 Table of Figures 2 Introduction 7 Chapter One Understanding the Private Music Collection 15 Chapter Two How Cultural Memory and Private Memory 59 are Interrelated within the Sound Artefact Chapter Three The Cultural Significance of the Private Music Archive 97 Chapter Four Representing the Private Collection 145 Chapter Five The Reclassification of the Private Music Collection 192 through Ethnographic Practice Conclusion 228 Bibliography 234 1 Table of Figures Figure 1:01: Rodney McElrea in his music archive, 1 March 2008. (Eve Olney) Figure 1:02: Rodney’s archive is housed in the downstairs room to the right of the front door. (Eve Olney) Figure 1:03: Rodney McElrea (seated) and Prof Jack Bernhardt during the McAuley Lectures, 2005. (Eve Olney) Figure 1:04: Detail from Rodney’s archive. (Eve Olney) Figure 1:05: Images of Rodney’s music archive, 2 March 2008. (Eve Olney) Figure 1:06: Detail of Rodney’s archive. (Eve Olney) Figure 1:07: Rodney in his archive. (Eve Olney) Figure 1:08: Images of the Ulster American Folk Park. (Eve Olney) Figure 1:09: Images of Centre for Migration Studies Library. (Eve Olney) Figure 1:10: Chair in Rodney’s archive. (Eve Olney) Figure 1:11: Rodney’s listening area. (Eve Olney) Figure 1:12: Detail of Rodney’s archive. (Eve Olney) Figure 1:13: Video stills of Rodney listening to music in his archive 15 May 2006. (Eve Olney) Figure 1:14: Images of Rodney’s music archive, 31 October 2007. (Eve Olney) Figure 2: 01 Dorsey Dixon reel-to-reel tape. (Scanned item from Rodney McElrea’s archive) Figure 2:02: Front and back of photograph of Dorsey Dixon at his home, sent to Rodney in 1962. (Scanned items taken from Rodney McElrea’s archive) Figure 2:03: A collection of correspondence sent from Dorsey Dixon to Rodney. (Eve Olney) Figure 2:04: First issue of Country News and Views, dated July 1962. (Scanned items taken from Rodney McElrea’s archive) Figure 2:05: Reel-to-reel tapes from Rodney’s archive.
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