“Hark to the Music”: Problematising Gender Motifs in the Singing of Folk Songs in Cinema
Claire Rakich
Thursday 26 November, 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Cloisters, University of Chichester, Bishop Otter Campus, PO19 6PE.
Free and open to all
British, Irish, and American filmmakers have used folk song throughout cinema history to heighten emotion, emphasise community, and warn the powerful not to forget their roots. But how have filmmakers used folk song historically? How do female characters perform compared to their male counterparts? And how problematic is this cinematic legacy?
Drawing on folklore, ethnomusicology and film studies, this research examines sixteen folk songs from fifteen films, spanning Gone to Earth (1950) to A Castle for Christmas (2021), to investigate how male and female characters are portrayed through song.
The findings reveal that women who perform emotive folk songs are frequently rewarded with male love or approval, while men are more often depicted as voices of collective feeling during times of crisis.
As cinema increasingly challenges traditional gender roles, this talk asks whether highlighting this cinematic legacy could help contemporary filmmakers use folk song more progressively and give both art forms the happy ending they deserve.