Kalee Rose Prendergast

Kalee Rose Prendergast is a PhD student at NOVA FCSH, INET-md and a FCT grant-holder. She completed a B.A. in Spanish from the California State University, Fullerton (2014), including one year study abroad at the University of Granada, Spain; and an M.A. in Ethnomusicolgy from NOVA FCSH (2022). Her dissertation, “‘Cantarte, hei Galicia, na lengua gallega’: Music, dance and the normalization of the Galician language in Santiago de Compostela” was inspired by the interplay of the musical and sociolinguistic phenomena witnessed during her five years living and working in Galicia. Her research reflects on cultural “identity” embedded in Galician music and dance gatherings (foliadas), and the interrelationship these environments have with Galician language use. She was awarded the title ‘honorable mention’ for the Galician translation of her master’s dissertation at the ceremony for I Prémio Internacional de Estudos Galegos through the Universidade do Minho (CEHUM). Selected parts of this research have recently been presented in the chapter: “Así fai o quen ben baila : Galician dance and cultural identity”; a contribution to the book “Beyond sentidiño: New Diasporic Reflections on Galician Culture”, published by Routledge. Most intrigued by correlating debates regarding “authenticity” among the transmission of musical and linguistic expression, she plans to continue exploring the interrelations of these identity markers in her Doctoral thesis. In addition to her academic achievements, she has led Galician music and dance workshops at the Centro de Estudos Galegos at Universidade Nova de Lisboa, and is a member of the Xuventude de Galicia – Centro Galego de Lisboa, where she plays, sings and dances in formal performances and informal gatherings, often engaging in discussions about Galician culture.

Doctoral Project

Supervisor Marco Roque de Freitas

Co-supervisors Iñigo Sánchez-Fuarros (Incipit/CSIC) and Bernadette O’Rourke (University of Glasgow)

Abstract

This project examines the interplay between Galician expressive culture, including music and dance, and the revitalization of Galician language. Employing ethnographic methodologies such as participatory observation and ethnographic interviews, it will consider two different performative realms: the mostly-participatory urban music and dance gatherings (foliadas); and a mostly-presentational group rising in popularity, the Tanxugueiras, aiming to bridge “traditional” and “contemporary” sounds to represent Galician cultural and linguistic “identity” for global and local audiences. Particularly, this project intends to analyze how these two realms of Galician music and linguistic expression coincide and conflict, in which concepts such as “tradition,” “authenticity”, and “contemporaneity” are debated and negotiated. Thus, by comparing dichotomous values such as “rural-urban”, “traditional-contemporary”, “local-global”, and “participatory-presentational”, this project aspires to interpret the enactment of a hypothetical Galician identity through music, dance and language.

Keywords: Traditional music; traditional dance; Galician language; foliada; language revitalization; identity; tradition; authenticity; contemporaneity; local; global.

Funding: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (2024.01015.BD)