Béarn Folk Rock: Language, Place and the Soundscape of the New Europe

Abstract

It is argued in the article that Nadau, a folk rock group from the Béarn region of south-west France, are representative of a New Regionalism in which border cultures and identities are celebrated within New European constructs. Through taking a philosophical approach, it is argued that language and place are central to Béarn identity and that the Pyrenees Mountains, as both ideological space and physical place, form the basis of that identity. Further, it is argued that the soundscape – of language, music and venue – created by Nadau's concerts is an acoustic manifestation of place that affirms that identity. This proposition is first approached through a lyrical analysis of a selection of Nadau's repertoire, based on Gaston Bachelard's concept of the poetic image. Edward Casey's philosophy of place is drawn on to explore the relationship between that identity and the place, and sonic space, within which it is expressed.