Dr Thomas McKean
PhD, University of Edinburgh (1993); AB, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH (1983)
Lecturer
- About
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- Email Address
- t.a.mckean@abdn.ac.uk
- Telephone Number
- +44 (0)1224 273882
- Telephone Number
- +44 (0)1224 272996
- Office Address
The Elphinstone Institute MacRobert Building King's College Aberdeen AB24 5UA
- School/Department
- School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture
Biography
I am a folklorist specializing in Scots and Gaelic song, along with custom and belief, community craft traditions and their relevance in today's world, and fieldwork methodology. Of particular interest is the relationship of traditional practices to the individual, the role of creativity in tradition, and how traditional skills can help build individual and community resilience in challenging times.
As part of the James Madison Carpenter Project team, I have been working with cylinder and disc recordings of North-East singers made between 1929 and 1935, leading towards publication of a critical edition of the collection. The project has been funded by the British Academy and the National Endowment for the Humanities under the auspices of the American Folklore Society, and in association with the Library of Congress, Washington, DC (www.abdn.ac.uk/elphinstone/carpenter).
Ongoing research with boatbuilding traditions looks at the idea of 'knowing by doing': how people young and old learn embodied craft skills by imitation, proximity, and osmosis, and how these skills enhance people's cultural confidence and self esteem.
My postgraduate teaching includes Custom and Belief, Scots and Gaelic Song, along with Fieldwork and Archiving methodology. I have organized a number of conferences, including the 1999 and 2007 Kommission für Volksdichtung ballad conference.
In 1993, I established the North East Folklore Archive at Mintlaw, Aberdeenshire as part of my work as Traditional Music Resident for Banff and Buchan District Council (now Aberdeeenshire), 1993-1996. The archive has continued to develop under the direction of Gavin Sutherland and much of my fieldwork material is now available on the web at the Banff and Buchan Collection.
- Research
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Current Research
Current research includes:
- Scotland's fire festivals, particularly the burning of the Clavie in Burghead, Moray;
- Creativity within traditional forms
- Craft traditions and knowing by doing
- New England vernacular architecture;
- The effects of field collection in the North-East;
- Macaronic song traditions;
- The relationship of memory and song in west coast Gaelic communities.
- Publications
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Page 1 of 2 Results 1 to 50 of 70
Yes, #YouToo
Contributions to Conferences: Oral Presentations‘Do you remember, Lord Gregory?’: The Agency of Memory in Scottish Ballads
Studia Ethnologica Pragensia, vol. 2023, no. 1, pp. 115-124Contributions to Journals: Articles- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/23541/1/McKean_SEP_Do_you_remember_VOR.pdf
- [ONLINE] Permanent link
- [ONLINE] Link to article
Putting the Periphery at the Heart
Contributions to Conferences: Oral Presentations- [ONLINE] American Folklore Society Annual Meeting 2022
- [ONLINE] Conference Abstracts
Whose Meaning Is It Anyway?
Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Conference Proceedings- [ONLINE] Conference Book of Abstracts
Multi-Layered Communication and Function in Scottish Traveller Cant
Traditiones, vol. 50, no. 2, pp. 95-121Contributions to Journals: ArticlesAdvocating for a Regioin
What Folklorists Do: Professional Possibilities in Folklore Studies. Lloyd, T. (ed.). Indiana University Press, pp. 210-214, 5 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv21hrjft
- [ONLINE] https://iupress.org/9780253058423/what-folklorists-do/
The Sound of Silence—Dementia, Language Loss, and Being Heard
Cultural Analysis, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 97-110Contributions to Journals: ArticlesNawken Culture at the Elphinstone Institute: Our Work with the Traveller Community
Contributions to Conferences: PapersWhen old sea shanties go viral we know that tradition matters
Contributions to Specialist PublicationsIntroduction - Regulating Customs
The Ritual Year 12: Regulating Customs. Polymedia, pp. 5-14, 10 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersThe Ritual Year 12: Regulating Customs
Vol. 12, Polymedia, Moscow. 206 pagesBooks and Reports: BooksThe Tarves People’s Party: Fire, Planning, and Community
The Ritual Year 12: Regulating Customs. Lyle, E., Sedakova, I., McKean, T. A. (eds.). Polymedia, pp. 25-54, 35 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersHip-Hop Ballads Made Anew on the Streets of Aberdeen
Street Music and Narrative Traditions. Sergio, B., Luisa, D. G., Thomas A., M. (eds.). Museo Pasqualino, pp. 227-244, 18 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersStreet Music and Narrative Traditions
Vol. 5, Museo Internazionale delle Marionette, Palermo, Italy. 329 pagesBooks and Reports: BooksKnowing by Doing
Other Contributions: Other ContributionsWhat can Folklore Bring to the #MeToo Discussion?
Contributions to Conferences: Oral PresentationsThat Night in Caperquin: The Agency of Memory in 'The Lass of Roch Royal'
Contributions to Conferences: PapersWillie Mathieson and the Primary Audience for Traditional Song
SAKYTINĖS IR RAŠTO KULTŪROS SAMPYNOS, vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 36-59Contributions to Journals: ArticlesHip-Hop Ballads Made Anew on the Streets of Aberdeen
Contributions to Conferences: PapersOld Hands + New Hands + Healthy Minds = Happy Men
Contributions to Conferences: PapersSinging Families of Aberdeenshire: Context, Structure and Meaning
Ritsumeikan Studies in Language and Culture, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 59-78Contributions to Journals: ArticlesBorn in a Bow Tent: An Ambiguous Symbol of Scottish Traveller Identity
Contributions to Conferences: PapersOil Wives
Contributions to Conferences: Oral PresentationsStories beyond the Text: Contextualizing Narratives and 'The Jolly Beggar'
Narrative Cultures, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 208-226)Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.13110/narrcult.2.2.0208
Building Boats, Building Social Resilience
Contributions to Conferences: Oral PresentationsChampion Fiddler Gordon Passes Away
Leopard MagazineContributions to Specialist Publications: ArticlesIntegrating Textures of Life and Song: Constructing Tradition through Narrated Association
Любовь деревенская vs. любовь городская: версия русских народных песен: Song and Emergent Poetics: Oral Traditions in Performance. Huttu-Hiltunen, P., Lukin, K., Stepanova, E. (eds.). Nord PrintChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersStories Beyond the Text
Contributions to Conferences: Oral PresentationsStudimi i Folklorit në Kontekst: Baladat, Barkat dhe Festivalet e Zjarrit në Veri të Skocisë
Gjurmime Albanologjike, no. 44, pp. 273-292Contributions to Journals: ArticlesReview of The Ballad Repertoire of Anna Gordon, Mrs Brown of Falkland
Jahrbuch des Deutschen Volksliedarchivs Freiburg, vol. 57, pp. 447–450Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and ArticlesMy Big Fat Gypsy Memoir: Publishing Folklore from Within
Contributions to Conferences: Oral PresentationsSongs of People on the Move
WVT, Trier. 232 pagesBooks and Reports: BooksStewardship and Evolving Fidelity in a Scottish Fire Festival
Traditiones, vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 23-36Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.3986/Traditio2012410103
Review of Tales from Highland Perthshire Collected by Lady Evelyn Stewart Murray.
Other Contributions: Other ContributionsThe Dialect Conundrum in Transcribing Early Sound Recordings
Vom Wunderhorn zum Internet: Perspektiven des "Volkslied"-Begriffes und der Edition populärer Lieder. John, E., Widmaier, T. (eds.). WVT, pp. 209-224, 16 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters (Peer-Reviewed)Beyond Orality
Contributions to Conferences: Oral PresentationsLe souvenir des cultures disparues dans l’Écosse gaélique: tradition orale, James Macpherson et la nature de la mémoire
Mémoire, oralité, culture dans les pays celtiques: La légende arthurienne, Le celtisme. Rio, J., Chappe, F., Postic, F. (eds.). Presses Universitaires de Rennes, pp. 147-165, 19 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters (Peer-Reviewed)David Atkinson, The English Traditional Ballad: Theory, Method, and Practice
Estudos de Literatura Oral, vol. 13-14, pp. 349-351Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and ArticlesGettin the Wey o a Sang: Creativity in Ballad Singing
Emily Lyle: The Persistent Scholar. Fischer, F., Rieuwerts, S. (eds.). WVT, pp. 154-168, 15 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersReview of Fragments and Meaning in Traditional Song: From the Blues to the Baltic
Journal of American Folklore, vol. 120, no. 475, pp. 119-121Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and Articles- [ONLINE] https://www.jstor.org/stable/4137891
Folklore is Not about Communication
Contributions to Conferences: Oral PresentationsSinging Families of Aberdeenshire
Contributions to Conferences: Oral PresentationsDigitizing and Editing the James Madison Carpenter Collection
Contributions to Conferences: Oral PresentationsTradition and Modernity: Gaelic Bards in the Twentieth Century
Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Entries for Encyclopedias and DictionariesWillie Mathieson and the Primary Audience for Traditional Song
Contributions to Conferences: Oral PresentationsTriangulating Significance and Beauty in the James Madison Carpenter Collection
Contributions to Conferences: PapersScotland
Encyclopedia of World Folklore. Clements, W. (ed.). Greenwood PressChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters'Specimens of Sly and Beautiful Allegory’, Review of Jacobite Relics
Studies in Hogg and His WorldContributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and ArticlesScholarly notes to CD: Elizabeth Stewart, Binnorrie: Songs, Ballads, and Tunes
University of Aberdeen: Elphinstone Institute (Print). 32 pages.Other Contributions: Other ContributionsThe Stewarts of Fetterangus and Literate Oral Tradition
The Singer and the Scribe: European Ballad Traditions and European Ballad Cultures, pp. 181-207, 26 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters