Music, Resistance, and Citizenship in African Canadian Poetry
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SOUNDIN’ CANAAN: Music, Resistance, and Citizenship in African Canadian Poetry by Paul Watkins A Thesis presented to The University of Guelph In partial fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Literary Studies/Theatre Studies in English Guelph, Ontario, Canada © Paul Watkins, 2015 ABSTRACT SOUNDIN’ CANAAN: MUSIC, RESISTSANCE, AND CITIZENSHIP IN AFRICAN CANADIAN LITERATURE Paul Watkins Advisor: University of Guelph, 2015 Professor Ajay Heble Idealistically, citizenship—like music—is not confined to any single space. Soundin’ Canaan (Canaan, as Canada was often referred to in spirituals during the Black migration to Canada) draws from a cross-fertilization of communicative techniques to examine how citizenship is explored by African Canadian poets’ resistive soundings. The dissertation investigates how many African Canadian poets draw from African American and pan-African musical forms (including blues, jazz, hip-hop, reggae, dub, and other improvisatory practices) in order to remap the concept of identity and citizenship within intercultural (or multicultural) spaces. I ask: what does Canadian citizenship sound like, particularly as voiced by African Canadian poets interested in a fluid citizenship that moves, like music, between local and global spaces? By looking at Canadian literature in a more global cross-cultural and interdisciplinary context and focusing, as Ajay Heble does in his article “Sounds of Change: Dissonance, History, and Cultural Listening,” on the values of dissonant histories “not in harmony” as a meaningful disturbance to knowledge production in Canada, my dissertation investigates poetic fluidity between African Canadian multimodal practices (particularly orality and music) and those of African Americans and the larger African diaspora. The Introduction outlines my methodologies, and sets the stage for the larger theoretical discussions pursued in Chapter One. Chapter Two establishes parameters for what defines a dub poem, converging around M. NourbeSe Philip’s Zong!. Chapter Three focuses on George Elliott Clarke’s musical dedications in Blue, Black, and Red. In Chapter Four I examine Dionne Brand’s Ossuaries, particularly the deconstructive jazz approach that Brand takes to remapping a historically marginalized, yet fluid community of resistance. Chapter Five focuses on Wayde Compton’s Performance Bond into which he incorporates hip-hop and turntable poetics. Chapter Six looks at hip-hop artist K’naan, whose song of global fraternity, “Wavin’ Flag,” was chosen as an anthem for the FIFA 2010 World Cup. The Outro (conclusion) brings the primary themes back into the mix, examining how citizenship, the self, and nationality are articulated in African Canadian poetry and literature through what I am terming “listening communities.” iii SHOUT OUTS My name may appear on the cover of this dissertation, but the work itself is an intricate DJ mix comprised of many speaking voices. The ideas herein are the result of hundreds of conversations and self-reflections, thousands of pieces of spun vinyl, various and varied readings, and too many cups of oolong tea to possibly count. This thesis would not have reached the level of intellectual rigor it did without the encouragement, support, and nuanced critical feedback of my advisory committee: Ajay Heble, Cecil Foster, and Christine Bold. Cecil’s own writing about multiculturalism is in many ways the catalyst for my own conception about how we sound together to form meaningful (even if at times dissonant) communities comprised of citizens. Christine supported my DJ approach from the early stages and has provided me with confidence to trust my instincts, especially when they go against convention. And my supervisor, mentor, and dear friend Ajay Heble has done far more than guide my writing, but has shown me countless times that academic work is an opportunity to enact social change, particularly when rooted in the community. Truly, my entire committee remains an excellent dialogic model for my own academic hopes as I forge forward and make my own sounds. Aside from my committee proper, this thesis is deeply enriched because of the various writers/poets who gave their time to participate in interviews with me, including M. NourbeSe Philip, George Elliott Clarke (What up, George!), Cecil Foster, d’bi.young, and Wayde Compton. Aside from interviews, the aforementioned writers also provided stimulating conversations in person or via email. An early conversation over tea with Dionne Brand in Kensington Market led me to write an additional chapter on dub poetry; further, Dionne’s early feedback was instrumental in the process. Thanks to Mark Kaethler for listening and providing feedback on an early draft. I am also grateful to my students from English 2130 (Fall 2013) who engaged with many of the texts and ideas I present in this thesis. Thanks to Katherine McLeod for her collaborative work on the Clarke interview and event. Further, during my time at UBC and Guelph I’ve had the good fortune to work with some remarkable teachers and people, and Kevin McNeilly (who served as a mentor for some of the early ideas in the thesis and whose graduate course on “The Poetics of Listening” at UBC led to an early draft on the Clarke chapter), Ric Knowles, Smaro Kamboureli, Daniel Fischlin, and Jade Ferguson have all enriched my critical thinking. I am thankful to the editors of Macomère for allowing me to revise my essay on Dionne Brand for this thesis. I also acknowledge this research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Further, both the community and people of the Improvisation, Community, and Social Practice project taught me an immense amount in regards iv to how improvisation provides a nexus to understand that there are alternative ways to being in the world and to form community. Finally, I dedicate this work to my loving and enduring wife, Meg, who remains an invaluable eye and ear for everything I write and sound. And to my newly earthside son, Phoenix, whose due date challenged this new papa to finish a first draft faster than he thought was humanly possible. Both of your energies and love, like the music in the discussed poems, hold these words and myself together and sound beauty. v CONTENTS ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................................... ii SHOUT OUTS .....................................................................................................................................iii CONTENTS .......................................................................................................................................... v FIGURES ............................................................................................................................................ vii INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 1 I. SING CANAAN LAND ........................................................................................................................ 1 Prelude: Soundin’ Canaan ............................................................................................................ 1 Living with Poetry and Music ........................................................................................................ 3 What’s In a Title? .......................................................................................................................... 7 II. METHODOLOGIES, PEDAGOGIES, AND “NEW” EPISTEMOLOGIES ..................................................... 9 Writing B(l)ack to the Centre: Objectives and Overview .............................................................. 9 Discrepant Engagements: Scholarly and Theoretical Contexts .................................................. 11 Creating a “Mix”: Schizophonophilic Methodologies ................................................................ 15 Post/modern Praxis ..................................................................................................................... 21 III. POLYPHONIC MAPPING: CHAPTER BREAKDOWN ......................................................................... 25 REMIX 0 ............................................................................................................................................ 30 CODA: Dialogue and Dissonance: Aesthetic and Rhetoric ................................................................ 31 CHAPTER ONE: Riffing in an “Open Field”: from Historical Approaches to Multicultural Citizenships .......................................................................................................................................... 36 I. HISTORY ........................................................................................................................................ 36 A Brief Field Overview of African Canadian History and Historical Approaches ..................... 36 A Brief Field Overview of African Canadian Literary History ................................................... 46 II. RACISM, RESISTANCE, BLACKNESS AND THE SPIRIT OF HOPE ...................................................... 55 (re)Approaching Racism .............................................................................................................. 55 Resistance ...................................................................................................................................