Paper short abstract:

With the theme of connectivity in mind, this paper explores the construction of a sense of place and belonging among British “expatriates” residing in the Algarve through practices of expressive culture anchored in the work of sound, such as locally produced radio and musical theatre.

Paper long abstract:

With improved transport and communications infrastructures, connections between the UK and Portugal have intensified since the 1960s, yielding suggestions that the Algarve became Britain's "new province" (Wuerpel 1974 cited in King 2000: 65). Indeed, while spatial boundaries blur with cross-border movement, other distinctive features seem to emerge as cornerstones among strategies of appropriation of place. Bridging the British islands and the Algarve, radio communication and musical theatre productions articulate residents' relationship with the places they identify with. Resorting to English language and entertainment genres (i.e. old time musical, pantomime, barbershop quartet) they express continuity and ease a voluntary switch of scenery and lifestyle that, as both expressive practices signal, entails mutual shaping between place and incomers.

Amidst comforting "golden oldies", informative "community" events' or exchange rates' updates, messages and shows sent from abroad connect a local station with reconfigured geographies of production and consumption. Meanwhile, on-air/line broadcasts impact on place by fueling tourism and "expatriate" oriented markets through the advertisement that sustains them.

Similarly engaging place and cultural identity, the British bring cultural heritage to bear on their place of residence by combining imported traditions within musical theatre with common practices of mobilization for social action in the UK. Regular performances contribute to the transformation of place through support of "charities" for Algarve's development.

Based on ethnographic ongoing research, this paper explores how expressive practices often associated with leisure and background soundscape, that are sustained through individual and collective efforts, contribute to the construction of senses of place and belonging.