New Publication: "Trans* American/a citizenship and 'The Star-Spangled Banner'"
The edited volume »Americana: Aesthetics, Authenticity, and Performance in US Popular Music« has been published with Waxmann Verlag. It was edited by Knut Holtsträter and Sascha Pöhlmann and is the product of a three-year interdisciplinary collaboration within a scholarly network funded by the German Research Association (DFG): “Americana: Aesthetics, Authenticity, and Performance in US Popular Music.”
Holly Patch was a member of this DFG-Network and provided the contribution "Trans* American/a citizenship and ‘The Star-Spangled Banner'" to the volume.
In line with the overarching aim of this research network to reformulate “Americana” as an analytical concept rather than a demarcation of genre, Patch’s use of “trans* Americana” contrasts with other uses of it in popular music studies. Rather than focusing on the interrelationship of genre and gender identity when it comes to trans* musicking, Patch’s essay discusses the critical reclamation of Americanness by the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles through their performances of the national anthem at a time when trans* rights are profoundly called into question in the US.