Gendered Readings of Urban Folk Music: The Cases of Rembetika and Fado

Abstract

Greek rembetika and Portuguese fado are traditions of urban folk music which share a variety of historical parallels. In addition to exploring their parallels and differences, this thesis focuses on how attention to gender in lyrical analysis can uncover the nuance of female narrative. The Greek case describes precisely how transgressive categories are framed and challenged in rembetika lyrics, and their historical correspondence with notions of femininity. Mikhail Bakhtin’s understanding of the carnivalesque can be used as a framework for understanding the performance and reception of rembetika. The writings of Judith Butler and Michel Foucault lend themselves to analyzing gender as one of the constructed categories of transgression in question. The Portuguese case analyzes lyrical embrace of fatalism through a gendered lens, arguing that feminine fatalism is uniquely shaped through the historically pervasive narratives of the Virgin Mary, as she is perceived of in the Catholic Church, and of Maria Severa, one of the first singers of fado. Susan Sontag’s reflections on Camp present an alternative way to appreciate the way that lament and fatalism are expressed in fado lyrics, suggesting that their stylistic manifestations are exalted above narrative elements. Conclusions include reflection on various tiers of musical ethnography, and my subjective experience as it relates to the wider conversation of this music.