ARTICULATING CELTICITY
Finding an Irish Voice
Daragh O’Reilly
University of Sheffield
17 October 2007
PRESENTATION STRUCTURE




Popular music context
Metaphors for community
Archaeology of ‘tribe’ - Maffesoli
A Celtic musical ‘tribe’
 New Model Army
 Implications
ROCK BAND AS TRIBE, BRAND
COMMUNITY OR SUBCULTURAL
GROUP?
 Conceptual proliferation
 Consumer Tribes (Cova, Kozinets, Shankar,
2007)
 Brand Communities (Muniz and O’Guinn,
2001)
 Subcultures / Post-subcultures (Bennett and
Kahn, 2004)
MAFFESOLI, 1988/1996:6
Social
Sociality
Mechanical structure
Complex or organic structure
(Modernity)
(Post-modernity)
Political-economic organization
Masses
versus
Individuals
(function)
Contractual groups
Persons
(role)
Affectual tribes
Cultural, productive, religious, sexual, ideological domains
MAFFESOLI BOOKS
MAFFESOLI BOOKS
1988 French
Version
1996 English
Version
MAFFESOLI BOOKS
1988 French
Version
1996 English
Version
Satan Arousing the Rebel Angels
William Blake
MAFFESOLI’s BOOKS
2004
READING MAFFESOLI
 Reception in MCS
 Reception in popular music
NEO TRIBALISM
 P.75 – neo-tribalism … refuses to identify with any
political project whatsoever, to subscribe to any sort
of finality … [its] sole raison d’etre is a preoccupation
with the collective present.
 P.76 – in contrast to the stability induced by classical
tribalism, neo-tribalism is characterized by fluidity,
occasional gatherings and dispersal. Thus we can
describe the street scene of modern megalopolises:
the amateurs of jogging, punk or retro fashions,
preppies and street performers invite us on a
travelling road show.
 P. 11 – The rational era is built on the principle of
individuation and of separation, whereas the
empathetic period is marked by the lack of
differentiation, the ‘loss’ in a collective subject: in
other words, what I shall call neo-tribalism.
NEO TRIBALISM
 P. 40 - A new (and evolving trend) can be found in
the growth of small groups and existential networks.
This represents a sort of tribalism which is based at
the same time on the spirit of religion (re-ligare) and
on localism (proxemics, nature).
 139 – the constitution of micro-groups, of the tribes
which intersperse spatially, arises as a result of a
feeling of BELONGNG, as a function of a specific
ETHIC and within the framework of a communications
NETWORK … these three ideas can be summarized by
speaking of a ‘multitude of villages’ which intersect,
oppose each other, help each other, all the while
remaining themselves.
 140 - The tribes [have] varied lifespans according to
the degree of investment of the protagonists
KINDS OF TRIBES
 Networks of solidarity (72)
 Communion of saints (73)
 Electronic mail, sexual networks, various
solidarities including sporting and musical
gatherings are so many signs of an ethos in
gestation. Such trends are the framework of
this new spirit of the times which we call
sociality. (73)
 Youth groups, affinity associations, smallscale industrial enterprises (75)
 Small community group (94)
MAFESOLI ON TRIBALISM
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The affectual nebula
Undirected being-together
The religious model
Elective sociality
The law of secrecy
TRIBALISM 1 –
The Affectual Nebula
 Experiencing the other is the basis of
community
 The logic of the network and the affect
which serves as its vector are essentially
relativist (88)
 P. 36 – the feeling or passion which,
contrary to conventional wisdom, constitutes
the essential ingredient of all social
aggregations
TRIBALISM 2 –
UNDIRECTED BEING TOGETEHR
 P. 81 – I believe that the BEINGTOGETEHR is a basic given. Before
any other determination or
qualification, there is this vital
spontaneity that guarantees a culture
its own PUISSANCE and solidity
TRIBALISM 3 – THER
‘RELIGIOUS MODEL’
 P. 82 - The use of the religious metaphor can then be
compared to a laser beam allowing the most complete
reading of the very heart of a given structure.
 P. 85 – That which has been called the ‘sect’ type can be
seen as an alternative to the purely rational governing of
the institution. Regularly returning to the fore, this
alternative accentuates the role of feeling in social life,
which will aid the action of proximity and the welcoming
aspect of that which is nascent.
 P. 21 – I am adopting the perspective of Durkheim and
his followers, who always placed the greatest weight on
the sacredness of social relationships
RELIGIOSITY
 P.77 this term should be seen in the most elemental
light, that of RELIANCE
 78 – there is a link between the emotional and
religiosity
 38 – Social Divine –the aggregate force which is the
basis of any society or association
 41 – demotheism – the people as god, or the social
divine
 Keeping warm together
 43- There has always been a heavy religious
dimensions to revolutionary phenomena
TRIBALISM 4 – ELECTIVE
SOCIALITY
 P. 86 – We are currently witness to the
development of what I shall call an
ELECTIVE SOCIALITY. This mechanism has
certainly always existed, but, as far as
modernity is concerned for example, it was
tempered by the political corrective that
brought compromise and long-term finality
into the picture to supersede particular
interests and localism.
TRIBALISM 5 – The LAW OF
SECRECY
 P. 90 - Protective mechanism with
respect to the outside world
 92 – the secret society allows for
resistance
 37 – [secret] behaviour … is the basis
of social perdurability … allows us to
measure the vitality of a social group
PUISSANCE VS POWER
 P. 92 – Whereas power tends to encourage
centralization specialization and the
establishment of a universal society and
knowledge, the secret society is always fond
on the margins; is secular, decentralized,
without the baggage of dogmatic and
intangible doctrines.
 P. 1 – puissance* - * Tr Note: the term
‘puissance in French conveys the idea of the
inherent energy and vital force of the
people, as opposed to the institutions of
‘power’ (‘pouvoir’)
3.4 CULTURAL STUDIES: - THE
CIRCUIT OF CULTURE
representation
regulation
consumption
identity
production
Hall et al., 1997
PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF ROCK BAND
CULTURE
‘Content’
Intended/
elaborated
meanings
MEANINGS
identity, hedonic,
utilitarian, political,
spiritual, social,
musical, economic
Elaborated/
Intended
meanings
CULTURE OF
PRODUCTION
CULTURE OF
CONSUMPTION
people
practices
places
people
practices
places
Encoding/
decoding
TEXTS
music, lyrics,
artwork, merchandise,
dress, appearance,
articles, reviews ,
DVD, CD,
gigs, web
Structure/
performance
Decoding/
encoding
PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF ROCK BAND
CULTURE
‘Content’
Creativity:
- Originating
- Adapting
- Sampling
Rehearsing
Touring
Performing
Sourcing (A&R)
Music and Video
Production:
- Recording
- Mixing/Editing
- Mastering
Manufacturing
Distribution
Promotion
- Image
- Artwork
- Plugging
- Advertising
- Publicity
Intended/
elaborated
meanings
MEANINGS
identity, hedonic,
utilitarian, political,
spiritual, social,
musical, economic
Elaborated/
Intended
meanings
CULTURE OF
PRODUCTION
CULTURE OF
CONSUMPTION
people
practices
places
people
practices
places
Encoding/
decoding
TEXTS
music, lyrics,
artwork, merchandise,
dress, appearance,
articles, reviews ,
DVD, CD,
gigs, web
Structure/
performance
Decoding/
encoding
acquiring
collecting
owning
possessing
divesting
discoursing
sharing
listening
watching
attending
rituals
dancing
singing
GROUP IDENTITIES IN THE NMA-FAN
RELATIONSHIP
RSC
Crew
Band
Collaborators
‘Militia’
JS+F
Manager
Former
Members
Other Fans
= THE NMA ART FIRM?
NMA AESTHETICS, i.e. CULTURAL ‘TEXTS’ AND CIRCUITS
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Phase 4
Phase 5
GIGS
Images
Text
Lyrics
Logo
VISUAL
IMAGES
Photographs
News
Music
Lyrics
Sounds
T-shirts
Sweatshirts
Hoodies
Hats
Lyrics
Music
Art
MUSICAL
PRODUCT
Red Sky Coven
Robert Heaton
Kip Keino
Vinyl
CD
Concert DVD
Music video
Noticeboard
Links
Contact
The Shop
Partners
COVER ART/
SLEEVE NOTES
Trade Community
SONGS
CLOTHING
MERCHANDISE
Newsletters
Tour
Record News
News Archive
Talk
Creative
WEB-SITE
Stage design
Lighting
Instruments
Equipment
Sound mix
Movement
Setlist
Musical Performance
PERSONAL
APPEARANCE
Jewellery
Tattoos
Piercings
Clothing
MERCH BOOTH
Musical Product
Clothing Merchandise
FAMILY
 “Ch: Give me some place that I can go
Where I don't have to justify myself
Swimming out alone against this tide
Looking for family looking for tribe.”
Family, 1987 (Sullivan)
 Maffesoli, p. 94 – the conjunction of ‘group
preservation-solidarity-proximity’ has found
its favoured expression in the notion of
family, which should be taken in the sense
of extended family
‘ONE FAMILY, ONE TRIBE’
 Heritage is a powerful tool. It can inculcate a
sense of belonging. It can be used to include
or exclude.
 Agyeman, 2006:16 (in Simpson, ed. 2006).
‘ONE FAMILY, ONE TRIBE’
 Touring exhibition, 2004 English and German public museums
 Fans involved
 Curation
 Funding advocacy
 Visitors book
 Data collection through visits, interviews,
photography/video recording
THE MOVE TO HERITAGE
 The NMA ‘Family’
 Building community
 Sacralising Community
 Emotional kinship, sanctuary, belonging
 Re-membrance
 Remembering past times
 Re-membering oneself into the community
 Risks for the band
 A ‘heritage band’, or
 A band with heritage?
 Solving the museum’s access ‘problem’
 Government policy on broadening access
 Tapping into a pre-existing community
(‘outsourcing’?!)
NMA – A CELTIC TRIBAL
AESTHETIC?
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Family/tribe as ‘divin social’
Musical:
 Genre: punk/folk/rock
 Influences: Northern Soul
Emotional kinship, sanctuary, belonging
Enduring band
Underground band (‘cult’), Band of puissance
Urban realism and pastoral romanticism
Spiritual, political heritage
 Diggers/Levellers/Ranters – 1600s England
 Lyrics of resistance
 Miners’ Strike/Falklands/Newbury By-pass

USA visa refusal (again)
 ‘no cultural value’ says US Government
 Fan reaction on band web-site:

****ing shit! they will let the beckhams in but not
new model army? ******s.
 Critique of Maffesoli – political, empirical, social
form over content, psychology of individual
3.8 INDIVIDUAL
SUBJECTIVITY
 Of the rock artiste
 ‘The reluctance to address the question of
exceptionality … is a major shortcoming in
the sociology of art’ (Negus and Pickering,
2004:152)
 Exceptional talent/sensibility -> soul
 Of the fan




Body
Active cognition
Emotion
Imagination -> soul
4. FINALLY …
This presentation illustrated some
of the issues which arise when an
attempt is made to conceptualise
a ‘rock band’ …
Marketing is a very long way from
being able to offer on its own a
credible account of what a rock
band is.
IMAGE CREDITS
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Arcade Fire: http://ukulelehunt.com/wpcontent/uploads/2007/05/arcade-fire.jpg
Slipknot:
http://folk.uio.no/perbenn/Slipknot%20Masks.JPG
U2: http://www.pbase.com/image/51043306.jpg
Kiss: http://www.ampeg.com/roundsound/GeneSimmons.jpg
Pink Floyd: http://www.legogh.com/MOCpages/LEGO-PinkFloyd-The-Wall-Album-Cover.jpg
Hawkwind:
http://www.hawkwindonline.com/images/hawkwind_onlin
e_logo.gif
Genesis: www.mbzponton.org/
Peter Gabriel: http://petergabriel.com/discography/
Gorillaz:
http://www.villagevoice.com/blogs/statusainthood/archiv
es/images/gorillaz.jpg

The band has a strong visual identity based on a specific aesthetic, which is closely
linked to its musical aesthetic. The visual identity is encoded into a wide range of texts,
which are widely circulated and serve as an important representation system for the
band. The band's lyrics reflect a mix of urban realism and pastoral romanticism in
attempting to deal with contemporary political, social and existential issues. The band
web-site functions as a vitally important link between the band and its far-flung fans.
The key ritual in band-fan relations is the live performance, a place for gathering,
conversation, singing, dancing, celebration, and intense hedonic experiences. The
band's musical work takes place in a particular culture of production, and the meanings
of its work are absorbed and circulated in the fans' consumption culture. The band has
constructed its own notion of community, namely that of a 'family'. For the
sustainability of the band's project, both the band and fans are dependent on each
other. All of these elements contribute to an understanding of the complex
representation systems surrounding the band's music, and help to explain its longevity
(nearly thirty years). The band is involved in the marketplace, but uses a range of
strategies to 'de-marketise' and sustain itself. For example (i) the band does a
considerable amount of identity-work to 'de-celebritise' itself; (ii) the notion of family is
reflected in community values and behaviours, and subsumes band and fans into a
larger entity, thus de-centering the marketing exchange in favour of an ethic of
sharing; (iii) the boundaries of the family are kept fluid, aiding recruitment of new fans,
and (iv) the band resists attempts to define or categorise it musically, politically and
subculturally.
WHY MAFFESOLI?
 Why Maffesoli – what connection does
he have with this?
 MCS people quote him a lot
 Collective consumer identity, this venue
 Irish/Celtic ancestry?
 Worked for Ronald Reagan – roots industry
 Mother from Balinasloe
 Gaming development
WHERE DOES HE FIT IN?
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
Position him
2 articles
How does he position himself?
Revolutionary sociologist
Reveries, meanderings
Romantic?
What do MCS people say he’s saying?
 30+ refs in journal articles
 Ref in C Tribes
 Own appearance in C tribes:
 In book marketing terms (Brown, Consuming
Books) Celeb endorsement, an anchor tenant,
kitemark, a dab of fragrant French
intellectualism
 Doesn’t talk about anything to do with anything
 Instances
 Name checks, quotes, deeper workings over
 Surprisingly, not in Cova (CT and the other
papers)
 He is being enregistre, enrolled, co-opted?
recorded, recruitment in/for a cause?
What does a close reading
suggest he is saying?
 A close reading of what text? –
1988/1996
 Shot of the text cover
 A la recherche des idees perdues …
 What inferences may we draw from
it?
KEY IDEAS - 1
 Individual(ism) vs person(hood) vs
collective
 Tribe vs Mass
 Kinds of tribe, p 6 and 19 = metaphor
 Permanence of tribe – ephemera –
Mayfly/Neolithic?
 He gives 5 key criteria of tribe ideology
KEY IDEAS - 2
 Social divin (Durkheim, plus primer on soc
anthrop)
 Communion of saints, demotheism, dionysus,
reliance, immanent transcendence – not just
religiosity, mystical, hope schau – not because
they’re in a BC, sect
 Puissance vs pouvoir, 58-59, 106-7, 133-4,
and vitalism 31-38
 Underground centrality, 31-53, ix, 159, 37,
92, 4, 21, 58
 Secrecy
 Society and sociality 56-64
KEY IDEAS - 3






Rituals
Ethics, 15-20
Identification, 72-73
Imagination – 82-3, 137-8
Romanticism – 144
Always time of tribes
FINDING AN IRISH VOICE
 Is finding the right word? -> constructing?
 AN (single) or many voices?
 How is this to be inflected?
 Can it include the negative self
 An Irishman is brave handsome and generous to
a fault and any defets in his caharcetr are entirely
rhe result to the sad circumatncs of hso coutnry’s
history
 Cromwel was a man of dark, gloomy and merciels
charcter
UNDERGROUND CENTRALITY
 The hypothesis oif the u/g centrlaity: Smetimes
secerecy can be the way to estalblsh cointact with
the other wihin the confines of a limted group; at the
same time it conditions the attitude of the roup
towad whatever external force there may be. This Ho
is the Ho of sociliaty … the fact of sharing a habit, an
ideology or an ideal determines the being-togtehre
and allows the later to act as a protection against any
imposiiton, frm whatever outsie source. As opposed
to an imposed and external morality, the ethic of
secrecy is both federative and EQUALIZING
 … there is an informal underground centrality that
assures the perdurabilty of life in society
NOTHING NEW
 P.98 – these phenomena are nothing new:
the agora of Antiquity, or clsoer to home,
the passegiata of Italy, or the evening
promenade in the south of France all
present the same characteisitc, and are
considerable sites of sociality
 P.69 – Whatever name we give these
groupings – kinship groups family groups,
secondary groups, per groups – there is a
proces of tribalism at work that has always
existed.
SOLIDARITY
 P. 93 – solidaity is not an abstraction
or the fruit of ratioal calcualtion; it is
an imperisou necessity which causes
us to act with passion. It is exacting
work, giving rise to the abovementioned obstincay and ruse; for,
without a precise goal, the people has
only one essential objective: that of
ensuing the long-etm survival of the
sepciases.
 P. 27 – as an alternative to the
principle of autonomy, … (Selfdireciton, autopoiesis, etc.), we can
posit a principle of allonomy, which is
based on adjustent, accomoodation,
on the organic union with social and
natral alerity.
Social vs Sociality (p. 76)
 A characteristic of the spcial: the individual
could have a FUNTION in society,
funcitoning in a party, and association, or a
stable group
 A characteriostic of sociality: the person
(persona) plays ROLES, both wihin his or
her professional activiites as well as within
the various tribes in which the person
participates. The costume changes as the
person, according to personal tastes
(sexual, culture, religious, friendship), takes
his or her palce each day in the various
games of the THEATRUM MUNDI.
PERDURABILITY
 P. 78 – Through one’s own death, the
indidicual permits the perdurability of the
sepcies
 P. 34 – ‘social perdurability’ … the ability of
the masses to resist … The recognitionof an
irrepressible vitlaism may go handin glove
woth this … this vitalism has formed an
integral part of the depth psychlogy so
centrsl to the tweniteh centr
SELF-DEPRECATION
 P.77 – I have no wish to place my
sociological revereies in comeptitin
with the speciailsts.
 P. 86 – let us rather continue our
meanderings …
 P. 89 – we have rambled on about so
much
IMPLICATIONS OF THESE
READINGS?
 Always time of tribes
 Some fit with BC and some fit with
tribes
 But some of his stuff is not getting
across
 When you look at it in the round,
what do you get?
ARTICULATING CELTICITY
 How do people do it?
 Produciton and consumption of a
culural idenity
 CoC model celtic cross
 Circuit of signifiers
TRIBALISM 6 – MASSES AND
LIFESTYLES
 96 - The ‘tribes’ we are considering may
have a goal, may have finality; but this is
not essential; what is important is the
energy expended on constituting the group
AS SUCH.
 97 – although the tribe is the guarantee of
solidarity, it also represents the possibility of
control; it can also be the cause of village
racism and ostracism
ROCK AESTHETICS
TENSION WITHIN GROUPS
 P. 89 – For its part, postmodenrity
has ended to favour within
megalopolises both the withdrawal
into the group as wel as adeepending
of relationships within these groups,
gien that this deepening is in no way
synonynmous with unanimism, since
conflicet also has a role to play in
them.
UNDERGROUND PUISSANCE
 Vitalism
 Social Divine
 Aloofness of the people
 Refusal to eb part of a structure
 63 – Power can and must deal with
the management of life; puissance
must assume the mantle of survival
SACRALISING
THE PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION
OF POPULAR MUSIC
Daragh O’Reilly
University of Sheffield
Kathy Doherty
Sheffield Hallam University
Elizabeth Carnegie
University of Sheffield
Gretchen Larsen
University of Bradford
TOPICS






Ongoing Research Project
The Band
Band-side Cultural ‘Texts’ and Circuits
Artefacts and Art
A ‘Move to Heritage’
Sites of Social Interaction
THE BAND – NEW MODEL ARMY
BAND-SIDE CULTURAL ‘TEXTS’ AND CIRCUITS
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Phase 4
Phase 5
GIGS
Images
Text
Lyrics
Logo
VISUAL
IMAGES
Photographs
News
Music
Lyrics
Sounds
T-shirts
Sweatshirts
Hoodies
Hats
Lyrics
Music
Art
MUSICAL
PRODUCT
Red Sky Coven
Robert Heaton
Kip Keino
Vinyl
CD
Concert DVD
Music video
Noticeboard
Links
Contact
The Shop
Partners
COVER ART/
SLEEVE NOTES
Trade Community
SONGS
CLOTHING
MERCHANDISE
Newsletters
Tour
Record News
News Archive
Talk
Creative
WEB-SITE
Stage design
Lighting
Instruments
Equipment
Sound mix
Movement
Setlist
Musical Performance
PERSONAL
APPEARANCE
Jewellery
Tattoos
Piercings
Clothing
MERCH BOOTH
Musical Product
Clothing Merchandise
MAFFESOLI ON TRIBES –
IDEES ‘PERDUES’?
 Perdurability
 Underground
 ‘Puissance’ opposed to ‘pouvoir’
 ‘Divin social’, or ‘immanent
transcendence’
 Tribes can be producers, not just
consumers