Fortellinger om samsang – fellesskap i og mellom generasjoner

Abstract

This article illuminates, analyses, and discusses co-singing as it appears in interviews where the conversation originally revolved around music experience as a mediating tool for emotion knowledge (Vist, 2009). The main research question throughout the analysis was: What emerges about co-singing in ten interviews originally discussing music experience and emotion knowledge? However, going back to the full interview transcriptions, the many narratives on co-singing led to several preliminary findings and necessary analytical encirclements. Hence, the narratives in this article are all somehow related to intergenerational singing. The interview material was originally generated within a hermeneutic-phenomenological tradition, inspired by van Manen (2001) and Giorgi (1975). The new steps of analysis stay close to the interview data, although exploring narrativity to a greater extent in connection with the interview transcripts, the analysis, and the article’s format. What emerges as the main finding is particularly related to the importance of community, in line with Small’s (1998) musicking as well as Malloch and Trevarthen’s (2009) communicative musicality. Furthermore, although the results also include interview narratives from choirs / group singing, most narratives point towards strong experiences from, and deep value in, intergenerational singing within close family relationships. The article also explores the relationship between intergenerational and intercultural singing and challenges a clear definition of co- and intergenerational singing, in particular regarding the importance of individual participants’ vocal contributions.