ComSing: A singing society? - Communal singing in Denmark and the limits of social inclusion

Communal singing, i.e., spontaneous or semi-ritualized participatory singing in public and private settings, is widely assumed to be a central part of Danish intangible cultural heritage. The assumption is largely rooted in a standard narrative about the significant role of collective singing in the Danish nation-building processes in the 19th century. The surge of singing during the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 only emphasized the perception of the phenomenon’s cultural significance. In recent years, claims have flourished in public media and discourse about the wide prevalence of communal singing in Denmark as well as about its strong social inclusivity. Such claims, however, remain unproblematized. This project will ask, What is the perceived sociocultural significance of communal singing in Denmark, and what are the limits of its social inclusivity? We pursue this question through a combination of diachronic and synchronic approaches. First, the historical development of the perception of communal singing is mapped by examining Danish public media 1788–2023. Second, based on this historical backdrop, we carry out anthropological investigations of motivations for participating in communal singing as well as explore reported reasons for feelings of dissociation or exclusion from communal singing situations.