Degree Name
MA (Master of Arts)
Program
Appalachian Studies
Date of Award
12-2018
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
Ron Roach
Committee Members
Lee Bidgood, Ted Olson
Abstract
This is an ethnographic case study of a musical community in Catalonia centered around the performance of bluegrass and old-time music. By using Victor and Edith Turners’ ideas of normative communitas, this paper identifies an aesthetic communitas model which describes a community centered around a performative genre. Through participant observation in the 16th Annual Al Ras Bluegrass and Old Time Music Festival and interviews with local musicians, fans, venue owners, and luthiers, the ethnographic narrative details the characteristics of the aesthetic communitas in Catalonia and searches for associations of Appalachia that accompany the cross-cultural manifestation of bluegrass and old-time music in Catalonia. The conclusion examines the significance of the aesthetic communitas model and suggests further lines of research for this model.
Document Type
Thesis - unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Luchtan, Michael J., "Bluegrass and Old-Time in Catalonia: An Ethnographic Case Study of Aesthetic Communitas" (2018). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 3485. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/3485
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.
Included in
Appalachian Studies Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons, Sociology of Culture Commons