Singing in Welsh, Becoming Welsh: 'Turfing' a 'Grass Roots' Identity

Abstract

This paper explores the adoption of aspects of Welsh social identity by members of an American college choir specialising in Welsh repertoire. Drawing on questionnaires, face-to-face and e-mail interviews, and recordings of the choir in performance, a picture is built up of the singers' attitudes towards Welsh people, culture and language, and their linguistic practices in relation to Welsh songs. Using the metaphor of 'turfing', in which a cultural practice is adopted by individuals with no 'grass roots' affinity with the originating culture, we propose that a social identity can be 'grown'. Whilst a subjective sense of belonging normally precedes and underlies the development of knowledge and awareness of a culture and the practice of culturally specific activities, in turfing that sense of belonging can, rather, be their product. The study underlines the potential for individuals to create multiple cultural identities for themselves, by taking ownership of geographically distant local cultural practices made available through globalisation.