Folk: Music, Modernity, and the Political Imagination

The book "The Folk" explores the musical culture of elusive figures in Britain and the US during industrialization, examining the political dimensions of a longing for folk culture and its connection to radical and reactionary ends. It follows disputes surrounding collecting, racial belonging, nationality, nostalgia, and the pre-history of European fascism.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 276 pages
Publication date: 07 September 2021
Publisher: University of California Press

This captivating book delves into the enigmatic world of folk music, exploring its roots in Britain and the United States during a pivotal era of industrialization from 1870 to 1930, and even extending to the contemporary alt-right. Drawing upon a diverse array of scholarly expertise, The Folk offers a comprehensive examination of the political dimensions of a persistent yearning for folk culture, revealing how it was harnessed for both radical and reactionary purposes at the height of empire. It traces an ongoing series of debates surrounding the practice of collecting, notions of racial identity, nationality, the poetics of nostalgia, and the pre-history of European fascism. Conducted with meticulous research and written with exquisite prose, Ross Cole presents us with a captivating biography of a people who exist solely as a symptom of the modern imagination, while also providing an insightful archaeology of the landscape that continues to shape global populism to this day.

Weight: 360g
Dimension: 152 x 231 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780520383746