A Swede can’t be a pirate! Sociolinguistic cues to perceived shanty-singer authenticity in the work song “The Wellerman”

Presentation by Anna Bothe Jespersen.

Abstract

This presentation analyses the 2019 TikTok trend of reproducing and localising sea shanties, investigating perceptions of (imagined) authenticity in online communities of practice. It will focus on 10 performances of “The Wellerman”, a 19^th century naval work song, sung by 5 native and 5 non-native English speakers. The analysis highlights the ways in which performers modify the original song to suit – or disguise – their own cultural background using an assortment of visual, musical and linguistic styles. Online shanty-singers will be shown to have created various stylistic resources that can be used to creatively reenact shantyman identities and to make sense of other people’s performances.