JYU DISSERTATIONS 176 Noora Karjalainen Woman, Artist, Other Female Folk Singers in the Media JYU DISSERTATIONS 176 Noora Karjalainen Woman, Artist, Other Female Folk Singers in the Media Esitetään Jyväskylän yliopiston humanistis-yhteiskuntatieteellisen tiedekunnan suostumuksella julkisesti tarkastettavaksi yliopiston vanhassa juhlasalissa S212 tammikuun 23. päivänä 2020 kello 12. Academic dissertation to be publicly discussed, by permission of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Jyväskylä, in building Seminarium, auditorium S212, on January 23rd 2020 at 12 o´clock noon. JYVÄSKYLÄ 2020 Editors Helen Mäntymäki Department of Language and Communication Studies, University of Jyväskylä Päivi Vuorio Open Science Centre, University of Jyväskylä Copyright © 2020, by University of Jyväskylä Permanent link to this publication: http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-951-39-8003-0 ISBN 978-951-39-8003-0 (PDF) URN:ISBN:978-951-39-8003-0 ISSN 2489-9003 ABSTRACT Karjalainen, Noora Woman, Artist, Other. Female Folk Singers in the Media Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2020, 100 p. (JYU Dissertations ISSN 2489-9003; 176) ISBN 978-951-39-8003-0 (PDF) The aim of this dissertation is to show how the media representation of female folk singers is constructed. To find out what kinds of narratives emerge from it, it is important to understand that this media representation is based on processes of remembering and premediation. Methods of close reading and analysis were applied in examining concert and album reviews, interviews and articles written about four contemporary female folk singers: Julie Fowlis, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, Emily Portman and Kate Rusby. The findings show how deeply embedded in cultural memory the presentation of a female folk singer is and how extensively it is used in constructing media representation of these singers. The analysis of the research material yielded four thematic narratives in the singers’ media representation. The narrative of origins constructs the female folk singer as a nostalgic, romanticised character. Together with the narrative of professionalism, it forms the narrative of authenticity in this media representation process. The narratives of performance emerge from the descriptions of the singers’ voices, singership (the singers’ artistry combined with the act of singing), and the music itself and are studied particularly for how construct gender in the singers’ media representation. The narratives of origins, authenticity and performance come together in the narrative of the Cosy Other, highlighting the power structures in the construction of the media representation of female folk singers. The research results suggest that 21st-century western, anglophone and Celtic female folk singers are primarily represented in the media as women artists. Their gender and artistry intertwine in their media representation, which is governed by the active process of cultural remembering. A media representation such as this is constructed via the transculturality of cultural remembering, its incessant “travelling” between and across places, social groups, media sources and time. The influence of premediation in the process shows in the very similar representation constructed in media texts across different publication forums. The studied singers’ standing and prominence in the contemporary anglophone and Celtic folk music scene, and the recurrent themes in the media texts written about them testify to a wider phenomenon that concerns not only them but also other female artists of the same genre. Keywords: media representation, folk music, female artists, gender, cultural memory, nostalgia, authenticity, Cosy Other ABSTRAKTI Karjalainen, Noora Woman, Artist, Other. Female Folk Singers in the Media Jyväskylä: Jyväskylän yliopisto, 2020, 100 s. (JYU Dissertations ISSN 2489-9003; 176) ISBN 978-951-39-8003-0 (PDF) Tämä väitöskirja tarkastelee naisfolklaulajien mediarepresentaation rakentumista. Tutkimuksessa on ollut keskeistä ymmärtää, miten tämä mediarepresentaatio perustuu kulttuurisen muistamisen ja premediaation prosesseihin, ja millaisia narratiiveja representaatioprosessista nousee esiin. Väitöskirjassa tutkimuksen kohteena on neljä nykynaisfolklaulajaa, Julie Fowlis, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh, Kate Rusby ja Emily Portman. Heistä kirjoitetuista konsertti- ja levyarvioista, haastatteluista ja artikkeleista koostuvan tutkimusmateriaalin tarkastelussa on käytetty lähiluvun ja –analyysin metodeja. Tutkimus osoittaa, miten syvälle kulttuuriseen muistiin juurtunut naisfolklaulajan mediarepresentaatio on ja kuinka laajasti sen aspekteja käytetään näiden laulajien mediarepresentaation rakennusprosessissa. Tutkimusmateriaalin analyysi paljastaa neljä narratiiviteemaa laulajien mediarepresentaatiossa. Alkuperän narratiivi rakentaa naisfolklaulajan kuvaa nostalgisena ja romantisoituna hahmona. Yhdessä professionaalisuuden narratiivin kanssa se muodostaa autenttisuuden narratiivin laulajien mediarepresentaatiossa. Esittämisen narratiivit nousevat laulajien äänten, laulajuuden (taiteellinen tulkinta laulamisen aktiin yhdistettynä) ja musiikin kuvauksista tutkimusmateriaalissa. Näitä narratiiveja tutkitaan etenkin niiden sukupuolta rakentavan luonteen valossa. Alkuperän, autenttisuuden ja esittämisen narratiiviteemat yhdistyvät mukavan toiseuden narratiivissa, joka korostaa mediarepresentaatioprosessin yhteiskunnallisia vallan rakenteita. Tutkimuksen tulosten perusteella nykypäivän länsimaista, englanninkielisen ja kelttiläisen kansanmusiikkikentän naisfolklaulajaa rakennetaan mediassa juuri naisartistina. Sukupuoli ja taiteellinen osaaminen punoutuvat yhteen heidän mediarepresentaatiossaan, jota säätelee kulttuurisen muistamisen aktiivinen prosessi. Tämä mediarepresentaatio rakentuu kulttuurisen muistin transkulttuurisuuden kautta, joka tarkoittaa kulttuurisen muistamisen jatkuvaa ”matkustamista” paikkojen, sosiaalisten ryhmien, medialähteiden sekä ajan läpi ja välillä. Premediaation vaikutus tässä prosessissa näkyy siinä, kuinka erittäin samankaltaista representaatiota rakennetaan hyvinkin erilaisissa julkaisukanavissa. Tarkasteltujen artistien näkyvyys kansanmusiikin kentällä sekä toistuvat teemat näissä mediateksteissä osoittavat, että tämä on laajempi ilmiö, joka koskee sekä heitä että muita saman musiikkigenren artisteja. Avainsanat: mediarepresentaatio, folkmusiikki, kansanmusiikki, naisartistit, sukupuoli, kulttuurinen muisti, nostalgia, autenttisuus, mukava toiseus Author’s address Noora Karjalainen, MA English Studies, Department of Language and Communication Studies, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Jyväskylä [email protected] Supervisors Helen Mäntymäki, PhD Department of Languages and Communication Studies University of Jyväskylä Gerald Porter, PhD Professor Emeritus University of Vaasa Reviewers Emily Keightley, PhD Loughborough University, Leicestershire, UK Antti-Ville Kärjä, PhD University of the Arts, Helsinki Opponent Taru Leppänen, PhD University of Turku LIST OF ORIGINAL PUBLICATIONS This doctoral dissertation is based on four original papers written by the author. Original Paper I Karjalainen, Noora (2017). “Place, Sound and Tradition: Origin Narratives Constructing Nostalgia in the Media Representations of Female Folk Singers”. Journal of Popular Music Studies 29(3), 1–12. Original Paper II Karjalainen, Noora (2019). “Origins and Originality: Authenticity in the Media Representation of Julie Fowlis”. Journal of European Popular Culture 9(2), 75– 91. Original Paper III Karjalainen, Noora (manuscript). “Pure Voices, Confident Singing, Enchanting Music: Narratives of Performance Gendering the Media Representation of Female Folk Singers”. Unpublished article. Original Paper IV Karjalainen, Noora (2018). “Imagined, Remembered, Gendered: Narratives of Cosy Other in the Media Representation of Female Folk Singers”. Etnomusikologian Vuosikirja, 30, 66–91. FOREWORD AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Beginning a dissertation was never a self-evident career path for me although I had toyed with the idea of post-graduate studies after completing my master’s degree in 2009. As it happened, three years later I had enrolled in university again as a doctoral candidate and by a stroke of very good fortune I was in the right place at the right time. In 2014, I secured a salaried doctoral student position, and was able to begin my research properly. Music has been a part of my life since early childhood, so it is little wonder that the countless violin and piano lessons, hours of practising, decades of Beatles and Queen fandom, and my ongoing love affair with Irish traditional music, which has also steered my interest towards other traditional and folk music, have led me to a dissertation topic such as this. All in all, the project has been a very enjoyable one despite all the usual stressful aspects of dissertation research and the dramatic upheavals in university working life. First, I wish to thank my supervisors, Helen Mäntymäki and Gerald Porter, whose guidance has made me a researcher. I could not have done this without you! Helen, I count myself very fortunate to have had you as my principal supervisor. Somehow you have always found the right questions to ask, directing my work where it needed to go, and the right words to quell the dissertation anxiety that inevitably overcame me on more than one occasion. Despite the turmoil within the university, your positive outlook has been an important example to me personally and I think that it played a significant part in my getting