Musicologist puts ‘Diva’ under the spotlight

A leading musicologist from Edge Hill University is debating the issue of female performers being portrayed as complex ‘divas' during an international conference.

Richard Witts, Senior Lecturer in Media, Music and Sound at the University and ex leader of 1980s band The Passage, is working in partnership with universities in Liverpool and the European Opera Centre to host the four-day event from 5^th to 8^th July.

The Diva: An Interdisciplinary Conference will explore the cultural phenomenon of the diva and seeks to examine the etymology of the term and its changing associations and values over time and around the globe. 

A divais a celebrated female singer. The term is used to describe a woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, and, by extension, in theatre, cinema and popular music. The meaning of divais closely related to that of ‘prima donna'.

In his topical presentation, Richard's research will highlight today's stars such as Lady Gaga, Rhianna and Jessie J in relation to their public persona in his paper Diva Redux:The Modern Home of Enterprise and Agency.

He explained: "Diva comes from the term ‘divine woman', but in recent years the word is being used to represent a set of gendered expectations against which female performers rising to stardom are measured and criticised. I want to look at how the mythic and the real interact in the life and career of the diva, what the cultural conditions that have created this category of female performer are and how it plays more broadly across cultures in conveying a specific type of feminine behaviour and attributes."

He explained: "This particular piece of research on the diva especially fascinates me and is very topical and controversial at the moment, thanks to the report this week on children and sexuality. I'm looking forward to exploring this theme in more detail at the conference in terms of female performers adopting contentious personas to secure cultural status."

Throughout the four-day conference, papers will shed light on this theme from a wide range of disciplines, including musicology and ethnomusicology, anthropology, gender and sexuality studies, cultural studies, sociology, psychology, history, literary studies, media and communications, film, dance, and theatre studies.  The programme will also feature workshops and interviews with the directors and singers of The European Opera Centre, musical performances, and keynotes from two distinguished international guest speakers: Professor Stacy Wolf (Program in Theatre, Lewis Center for the Arts, Princeton University, USA) and Professor Lloyd Whitesell (Schulich School of Music, McGill University, Canada).  

For more information about the conference, please contact Professor Rachel Cowgill by emailing cowgill@hope.ac.uk.