Fieldwork seminar: The Byzantine chant tradition in Southern Italy

The Byzantine chant tradition in Southern Italy. A preliminary fieldwork on its reception by the Albanian community of Sicily.

Giuseppe Sanfratello 

Abstract

The aim of my PhD project is to conduct a comparative analysis of the oral liturgical chant repertoire of the Italo-Greek (Albanian) communities in Sicily and the musical tradition transmitted by late-medieval Byzantine musical manuscripts, assumed to represent the musical tradition of their Byzantine homeland around 1480. In my research, I will try to determine possible relationships between late Byzantine chant and the Sicilian tradition, taking into account a range of other elements that might have contributed to the development of the latter repertoire. It is my hope to contribute to the understanding of oral musical traditions in general; more specifically I want to draw attention to oral elements in Byzantine chant and to some missing chapters to the history of the Italo-Albanian chant tradition in Sicily.

In this presentation I will specifically focus on the perception that the people of this community might have about their own chant tradition and its social and cultural value.

Therefore, I will show some video– and audio–recordings, gathered during a fieldwork last December, focussing our attention on the reception of this heritage by the priests and the lay people of this well defined community. This represents the first part of a survey to be completed in late March with the recording of the celebrations of the Holy Week. The end result will contribute to testify the importance of the reception of this living oral chant tradition.

ECTS: 1,8 for paper presentation and 0,3 for active participation.

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Fieldwork in the Humanities – a series of PhD seminars at ToRS

Fieldwork is at the core of many of the PhD projects at ToRS and a productive period ’in the field’ is crucial for a successful thesis. The time allowed for fieldwork is, however, limited and it is therefore of importance to have an opportunity to discuss plans and alternatives, to be able to share experiences after coming back from fieldwork and to have response on drafts of analysis when the thesis text is about to take shape.

We would therefore like to introduce a series of regular PhD seminars at ToRS on the uses of fieldwork in the humanities. During the seminars there will be an opportunity to present texts (plans, reports, drafts of analysis), discuss and scrutinize various methods for fieldwork – and report experiences as well as discuss theoretical reflections on fieldwork as a method. Fieldwork can be conducted in a number of ways and from very different analytical perspectives; many of them at work in various ToRS projects. The purpose of the seminars is not to streamline your projects, but to open up a forum for discussions about how to plan a fieldwork and still be flexible, choices of documentation, follow-up and where to draw the line. In short: share and learn from others; from tentative research questions to submission of a thesis based on fieldwork.

Some of the issues that will be discussed during the seminars:

  • designing a fieldwork plan and preparing for surprises and change of plans
  • the relation between research questions and choice of field method
  • documentation: technique, ethics and archiving
  • follow-up and processual analysis
  • combining fieldwork material(s) with other sources
  • combining fieldwork material(s) with historical studies
  • literature on fieldwork

 

It is strongly recommended that those of you who use fieldwork material in your thesis continuously take active part in these seminars. The seminars are intended to be a platform for discussions for every stage of fieldwork and for fieldwork in the broadest understanding of the concept. Archaeological, archival, literary and political angles are more than welcome.

Each seminar has a theme, and literature will be circulated beforehand as a preparation for the discussions. At each seminar will also one, or more PhD, candidate(s) present a piece from her/his on-going work.

ECTS: 1,8 for paper presentation and 0,3 for active participation.