Abstract
With the increase in protracted conflicts over recent decades, the use of arts and music-based interventions in post-conflict societies has become more common as a means of counteracting the psycho-social impacts of war. Much of the research to date has been based on short-term projects with a lack of evidence of music’s efficacy beyond the bounds of the project. Moreover, scholars across a range of disciplines have shown that music has as much potential to cause violence as it does to create peace. Based on twelve months of ethnographic research with the Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland and their Peace Proms show, this thesis explores intergenerational peacebuilding through musicking during live performances. Using the framework of John Paul Lederach’s ‘moral imagination’ theory, it investigates the Peace Prom's pedagogical approach of foregrounding courage in musical training so that young people can find their ‘voice’, which in Lederachian terms holds the broader meaning of vocation. The thesis further analyses the use of inclusive repertoire, spectacle, and choreographed movement to encourage audience participation during performances. As this thesis will evidence, the foregrounding of the Peace Proms children’s choirs during live performances further enhances audience participation through the production of affective atmospheres of courage, hope and joy leading to experiences of communitas in real time performances of peace.Thesis is embargoed until 31 December 2029.
| Date of Award | Dec 2024 |
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| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
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| Supervisor | Fiona Magowan (Supervisor) & Maruska Svasek (Supervisor) |