5 - Transforming the Singing Body: Exploring Musical Narratives of Gender and Place in East Bavaria

Summary

This chapter examines how issues of place and gender, specific to German East Bavaria, are mediated through song imagery. Taking the arena of choral music as a locus of social and musical production, I also analyze how singers' musical narratives and memories of music making embody and reflect their emotional relationships with this region. The physical and emotional effects of singing raise questions about differences between male and female German choral singers as they narrate their bodily experiences of music making. I ask, how do gender roles determine male and female experiences of singing in a choir and to what extent does singing offer an experience capable of transcending the constraints of gendered expectations?

This analysis is based on ethnographic research conducted with an amateur choir in East Bavaria between 2004 and 2005. Bavaria has a distinct regional identity within Germany, characterized by its own dialect, a conservative government, the predominance of the Catholic Church, and the strength of local customs and tradition. The market town of Deggendorf in East Bavaria is known as the gateway to the Bavarian Forest. Its inhabitants express a strong sense of belonging and pride about the area, which they refer to as Heimat (home). The concept of Heimat and the associations it evokes are central to understanding how a sense of belonging emerges in this region. Peter Blickle asserts that Heimat is the outcome of living in small communities where “everything in the locality is known.”