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Dancing to the Beat of the Diaspora: Musical Exchanges Between Africa and Its Diasporas
African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal ISSN: 1752-8631 (Print) 1752-864X (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rabd20 Dancing to the beat of the diaspora: musical exchanges between Africa and its diasporas Paul Tiyambe Zeleza To cite this article: Paul Tiyambe Zeleza (2010) Dancing to the beat of the diaspora: musical exchanges between Africa and its diasporas, African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal, 3:2, 211-236, DOI: 10.1080/17528631.2010.481976 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17528631.2010.481976 Published online: 23 Jun 2010. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 398 View related articles Citing articles: 1 View citing articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rabd20 Download by: [US International University - Africa] Date: 01 November 2016, At: 01:09 African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal Vol. 3, No. 2, July 2010, 211Á236 Dancing to the beat of the diaspora: musical exchanges between Africa and its diasporas Paul Tiyambe Zeleza* Loyola Marymount University of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA This essay examines the complex ebbs and flows of musical exchanges between Africa and its diasporas. Specifically, it focuses on musical engagements between, on the one hand, the Caribbean and West Africa and, on the other, the United States and Southern Africa. It argues that the influence of diasporan music on modern African music, especially popular music, has been immense. These influences and exchanges have created a complex tapestry of musical Afro- internationalism and Afro-modernism and music has been a critical site, a soundscape, in the construction of new diasporan and African identities. -
The KNIGHT REVISION of HORNBOSTEL-SACHS: a New Look at Musical Instrument Classification
The KNIGHT REVISION of HORNBOSTEL-SACHS: a new look at musical instrument classification by Roderic C. Knight, Professor of Ethnomusicology Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, © 2015, Rev. 2017 Introduction The year 2015 marks the beginning of the second century for Hornbostel-Sachs, the venerable classification system for musical instruments, created by Erich M. von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs as Systematik der Musikinstrumente in 1914. In addition to pursuing their own interest in the subject, the authors were answering a need for museum scientists and musicologists to accurately identify musical instruments that were being brought to museums from around the globe. As a guiding principle for their classification, they focused on the mechanism by which an instrument sets the air in motion. The idea was not new. The Indian sage Bharata, working nearly 2000 years earlier, in compiling the knowledge of his era on dance, drama and music in the treatise Natyashastra, (ca. 200 C.E.) grouped musical instruments into four great classes, or vadya, based on this very idea: sushira, instruments you blow into; tata, instruments with strings to set the air in motion; avanaddha, instruments with membranes (i.e. drums), and ghana, instruments, usually of metal, that you strike. (This itemization and Bharata’s further discussion of the instruments is in Chapter 28 of the Natyashastra, first translated into English in 1961 by Manomohan Ghosh (Calcutta: The Asiatic Society, v.2). The immediate predecessor of the Systematik was a catalog for a newly-acquired collection at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels. The collection included a large number of instruments from India, and the curator, Victor-Charles Mahillon, familiar with the Indian four-part system, decided to apply it in preparing his catalog, published in 1880 (this is best documented by Nazir Jairazbhoy in Selected Reports in Ethnomusicology – see 1990 in the timeline below). -
Published Papers of the Ethnomusicology Symposia
International Library of African Music PAPERS PRESENTED AT THE SYMPOSIA ON ETHNOMUSICOLOGY 1ST SYMPOSIUM 1980, RHODES UNIVERSITY (OUT OF PRINT) CONTENTS: The music of Zulu immigrant workers in Johannesburg Johnny Clegg Group composition and church music workshops Dave Dargie Music teaching at the University of Zululand Khabi Mngoma Zulu children’s songs Bongani Mthethwa White response to African music Andrew Tracey 2ND SYMPOSIUM 1981, RHODES UNIVERSITY (OUT OF PRINT) CONTENTS: The development of African music in Zimbabwe Olof Axelsson Towards an understanding of African dance: the Zulu isishameni style Johnny Clegg A theoretical approach to composition in Xhosa style Dave Dargie Music and body control in the Hausa Bori spirit possession cult Veit Erlmann Musical instruments of SWA/Namibia Cecilia Gildenhuys The categories of Xhosa music Deirdre Hansen Audiometric characteristics of the ethnic ear Sean Kierman The correlation of folk and art music among African composers Khabi Mngoma The musical bow in Southern Africa David Rycroft Songs of the Chimurenga: from protest to praise Jessica Sherman The music of the Rehoboth Basters Frikkie Strydom Some aspects of my research into Zulu children’s songs Pessa Weinberg 3RD SYMPOSIUM 1982, UNIVERSITY OF NATAL and 4TH SYMPOSIUM 1983, RHODES UNIVERSITY CONTENTS: The necessity of theory Kenneth Gourlay Music and liberation Dave Dargie African humanist thought and belief Ezekiel Mphahlele Songs of the Karimojong Kenneth Gourlay An analysis of semi-rural and peri-urban Zulu children’s songs Pessa Weinberg -
Music of Ghana and Tanzania
MUSIC OF GHANA AND TANZANIA: A BRIEF COMPARISON AND DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS AFRICAN MUSIC SCHOOLS Heather Bergseth A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTERDecember OF 2011MUSIC Committee: David Harnish, Advisor Kara Attrep © 2011 Heather Bergseth All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT David Harnish, Advisor This thesis is based on my engagement and observations of various music schools in Ghana, West Africa, and Tanzania, East Africa. I spent the last three summers learning traditional dance- drumming in Ghana, West Africa. I focus primarily on two schools that I have significant recent experience with: the Dagbe Arts Centre in Kopeyia and the Dagara Music and Arts Center in Medie. While at Dagbe, I studied the music and dance of the Anlo-Ewe ethnic group, a people who live primarily in the Volta region of South-eastern Ghana, but who also inhabit neighboring countries as far as Togo and Benin. I took classes and lessons with the staff as well as with the director of Dagbe, Emmanuel Agbeli, a teacher and performer of Ewe dance-drumming. His father, Godwin Agbeli, founded the Dagbe Arts Centre in order to teach others, including foreigners, the musical styles, dances, and diverse artistic cultures of the Ewe people. The Dagara Music and Arts Center was founded by Bernard Woma, a master drummer and gyil (xylophone) player. The DMC or Dagara Music Center is situated in the town of Medie just outside of Accra. Mr. Woma hosts primarily international students at his compound, focusing on various musical styles, including his own culture, the Dagara, in addition music and dance of the Dagbamba, Ewe, and Ga ethnic groups. -
Global Hip-Hop Class
AAAS 135b: GLOBAL HIP-HOP Wed 6:30-9:20 pm Mandel G03 Spring 2012 Wayne Marshall [email protected] office hours: by appointment DESCRIPTION Examining how hip-hop travels and is embraced, represented, and transformed in various locales around the world, this course approaches hip-hop as itself constituted by international flows and as a product and set of practices that circulate globally in complex ways, cast variously as American, African-American, and/or black, and recast through the cultural logics of the new spaces it enters, the soundscapes it permeates. A host of questions arise when we consider hip-hopʼs global scope and significance: What does the genre in its various forms (audio, video, sartorial, gestural) carry beyond the US? What do people bring to it in new local contexts? How are US notions of race and nation mediated by hip-hop's global reach? Why do some global (which is to say, local) hip-hop scenes fasten onto the genre's well-rehearsed focus on place, community, and righteous opposition to structural and representational forms of violence, while others appear more enamored with slick portrayals of hustler archetypes, cool machismo, and ruggedly individualist, conspicuous consumption? How can hip-hop circulate in such contradictory forms? In what ways do hip-hop scenes differ from North to South America, West to East Africa, Europe to Asia? What threads unite them? In pursuit of such questions, we will read across the emerging literature on global hip- hop as we explore the growing resources available via the internet, where websites and blogs, MySpace and YouTube and the like have facilitated a further efflorescence of international (and peer-to-peer) exchanges around hip-hop. -
Suriano.Pmd 113 01/12/2011, 15:11 114 Africa Development, Vol
Africa Development, Vol. XXXVI, Nos 3 & 4, 2011, pp. 113–126 © Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, 2011 (ISSN 0850-3907) Hip-Hop and Bongo Flavour Music in Contemporary Tanzania:Youths’ Experiences, Agency, Aspirations and Contradictions1 Maria Suriano* Abnstract The beginning of Tanzanian hip-hop along with a genre known as Bongo Flavour (also Bongo Flava, or Fleva, according to the Swahili spelling), can be traced back to the early 1990s. This music, characterised by the use of Swahili lyrics (with a few English and slang words) is also re- ferred to as the ‘music of the new generation’ (muziki wa kikazi kipya). Without the intention to analyse a complex and multifaceted reality, this article aims to make a sense of this popular music as an overall phenom- enon in contemporary Tanzania. From the premise that music, perform- ance and popular culture can be used as instruments to innovate and produce change, this article argues that Bongo Flavour and hip-hop are not only music genres, but also cultural expressions necessary for the understanding of a substantial part of contemporary Tanzanian youths. The focus here is on young male artists living in urban environments. Résumé Le début du hip-hop en Tanzanie ainsi que d’un genre musical appelé Bongo Flavour (aussi Bongo Flava ou Fleva, selon l’orthographe en Swahili) date du début des années 1990. Caractérisée par l’utilisation de textes en swahili (avec quelques mots en anglais et en argot), cette musique est considérée comme ‘la musique de la nouvelle génération’ (muziki wa kikazi kipya). -
A Word of Welcome from the Conference Organizer
A word of welcome from the conference organizer Dear conference delegates, Welcome to the Nordic Africa Days 2014 in Uppsala! The Nordic Africa Days (NAD) is the biennial conference which for the past six years has been organized rotatively in each of the Nordic countries. Already since 1969 the Nordic Africa Institute has organised this regular gathering of Nordic scholars studying African issues, and the event has for the past 15 years been formalized under the name of the Nordic Africa Days. The theme of this year’s conference is Misbehaving States and Behaving Citizens? Questions of Governance in African States. We are proud to host two distinguished keynote speakers, Dr Mo Ibrahim and Associate Professor Morten Jerven, addressing the theme from different angles in their speeches entitled “Why Governance Matters” and “Africa by Numbers: Knowledge & Governance”. The conference is funded by long-standing and committed support from the Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian and Icelandic governments. This year, we are also particularly pleased to be able to facilitate participation of about 25 researchers based on the African continent through a generous contribution from Sida (The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency). Providing a platform for Nordic and African researchers to meet and cooperate at NAD is becoming ever more important, in addition to creating a prime meeting place for researchers on Africa within the Nordic region. The main conference venue is Blåsenhus, one of the newest campuses within Uppsala University, situated opposite the Uppsala Castle and surrounded by the Uppsala Botanical Gardens. This particular area of Uppsala has a historical past that goes back 350 years in time and offers many interesting places to visit. -
Yet None with Truer Fervour Sing’: Coronation Song and the (De)Colonization of African Choral Composition
‘YET NONE WITH TRUER FERVOUR SING’: CORONATION SONG AND THE (DE)COLONIZATION OF AFRICAN CHORAL COMPOSITION by CHRISTINE LUCIA Abstract: In 1937, the Se(Sotho) composer, Mohapeloa published ‘Coronation Song’ a short a cappella choral work that celebrates the coronation of King George VI and which is ostensibly rooted in his colonial experience of the British Protectorate of Basutoland. It was reprinted in Morija in 1939 as ‘Coronation March’, by which time it was clear that this song’s political message was at odds with his other songs. Reprinted in 1945, 55, 66, and 80 with minor changes, the song becomes increasingly anachronistic. Mohapeloa suddenly rewrote it in the mid 1970s, 10 years after Lesotho gained independence, by transforming it into a patriotic song, ‘Lesotho Our Heritage’ (‘Lesotho Lefa la Rōna’). This article traces the song’s journey through decades of political change by means of a close hermeneutic reading of its text, musical language and structure, arguing that the music had always identified with two political tendencies, the one European and colonizing, the other American and decolonizing. It was this ambiguity that kept Mohapeloa’s interest and led to his last version of the song, finally published only in 2015. Keywords: Mohapeloa, Coronation Song, colonial, decolonial, Basutoland, Lesotho, choral, analysis, history, harmony, tonality. Introductory remarks Little detailed musical analysis has yet been applied to colonial and postcolonial African composition in order to lay bare the lasting damage inflicted on indigenous musical languages by what Kofi Agawu has called “musical violence of a very high order” that accompanied other forms of colonial violence (Agawu 2016a: 337). -
1 Literaturliste Für „Einführung in Die Moderne Afrikanische Musik“
Literaturliste für „Einführung in die moderne afrikanische Musik“ Dozent: Dr. Wolfgang Bender Inhaltsverzeichnis: 1. Allgemeiner Teil: 1. Theorie S. 2 2. Produktion, Distribution & Archivwissenschaften S. 3 3. Afrikanische Musik allgemein S. 3 4. Moderne afrikanische Musik allgemein S. 5 5. Traditionelle afrikanische Musik allgemein S. 7 6. Weltmusik S. 8 7. Musik aus der Diaspora S. 9 8. Bibliographie S. 11 9. Zeitschriften S. 11 2. Länderspezifischer Teil: 10. Nordafrika S. 13 11. Westafrika S. 14 12. Frankophones Westafrika S. 14 13. Anglophones Westafrika S. 17 14. Zentralafrika S. 22 15. Horn von Afrika S. 25 16. Ostafrika S. 26 17. Süd-Zentralafrika S. 28 18. Südafrika S. 29 19. Lusophones Afrika S. 31 20. Inseln S. 32 1 1. Theorie: Agawu, Kofi: Representing African Music: Postcolonial notes, 2003 queries, positions. New York & London: Routledge Bröcker, Marianne (Hg.): Musik und Religion. 1992 Reihe: Bericht über die Jahrestagung des Nationalkomitees der Bundesrepublik Deutschland im International Council for Traditional Music; Universitätsbibliothek Bamberg, ICTM Bröcker, Marianne (Hg.): Musik und Symbol. Musik und Region. 1998 Reihe: Berichte über die Jahrestagung des Nationalkomitees der Bundesrepublik Deutschland im International Council for Traditional Music, Universitätsbibliothek Bamberg, ICTM Bröcker, Marianne (Hg.): Traditionelle Musik und ihre Funktion. 2001 Reihe: Berichte über die Jahrestagung des Nationalkomitees der Bundesrepublik Deutschland im International Council for Traditional Music, Universitätsbibliothek Bamberg, ICTM Nettl, Bruno: The Concept of Preservation in 1985 Ethnomusicology. In: Jackson, Irene V. (Hg.): More than Drumming. Essays on African and Afro-Latin American Music and Musicians. Westport: Greenwood Press Simon, Arthur: Ethnomusikologie: Aspekte, Methoden und 2008 Ziele. Berlin: Simon Verlag 2 2. -
A Selective Study of Negro Worksongs in the United States Margaret E
Eastern Illinois University The Keep Masters Theses Student Theses & Publications 1976 A Selective Study of Negro Worksongs in the United States Margaret E. Hilton Eastern Illinois University This research is a product of the graduate program in Music at Eastern Illinois University. Find out more about the program. Recommended Citation Hilton, Margaret E., "A Selective Study of Negro Worksongs in the United States" (1976). Masters Theses. 3429. https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses/3429 This is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Theses & Publications at The Keep. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of The Keep. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A SELECTIVE STUDY OF NEGRO WORKSONGS IN THE UNITED STATES (TITLE) BY MARGARET E. HILTON THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENlS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL, EASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY CHARLESTON, ILLINOIS 1976 YEAR I HEREBY RECOMMEND THIS THESIS BE ACCEPTED AS FULFILLING THIS PART OF THE GRADUATE DEGREE CITED ABOVE 5'/t.. g�,.i� 1 ADVISER �t9/t '"(' •err 8'4r: DEPARTMENT HEAD I PAPER CERTIFICATE #2 TO: Graduate Degree Candidates who have written formal theses. SUBJECT: Permission to reproduce theses. ' The University Library is receiving a number of requests from other institutions asking permission to reproduce dissertations for inclusion in their library holding s . Although no copyright laws are involved, we feel that professional courtesy demands that permission be obtained from the author before we allow theses to be copied. Please sign one of the following statements: Booth Library of Eastern Illinois University has my permission to lend my thesis to a. -
Halifu Osumare, the Hiplife in Ghana: West Africa Indigenization of Hip-Hop, New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012, 219 Pp., $85.00 (Hardcover)
International Journal of Communication 7 (2013), Book Review 1501–1504 1932–8036/2013BKR0009 Halifu Osumare, The Hiplife in Ghana: West Africa Indigenization of Hip-Hop, New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012, 219 pp., $85.00 (hardcover). Reviewed by Angela Anima-Korang Southern Illinois University Carbondale Ghana’s music industry can be described as a thriving one, much like its film industry. The West African sovereign state is well on its way to becoming a force to reckon with on the international music market. With such contemporary rap artists as Sarkodie, Fuse ODG (Azonto), Reggie Rockstone, R2Bs, and Edem in its fold, Ghana’s music is transcending borders and penetrating international markets. Historically, Ghana’s varying ethnic groups, as well as its interaction with countries on the continent, greatly influences the genres of music that the country has created over the years. Traditionally, Ghana’s music is geographically categorized by the types of musical instruments used: Music originating from the North uses stringed instruments and high-pitched voices; and music emanating from the Coast features drums and relatively low-pitched voice intermissions. Up until the 1990s, “highlife” was the most popular form of music in Ghana, borrowing from jazz, swing, rock, soukous, and mostly music to which the colonizers had listened. Highlife switched from the traditional form with drums to a music genre characterized by the electric guitar. “Burger-highlife” then erupted as a form of highlife generated by artists who had settled out of Ghana (primarily in Germany), but who still felt connected to the motherland through music, such as Ben Brako, George Darko, and Pat Thomas. -
The Challenges of Reinvigorating Democracy Through Visual Art in 21St Century Nairobi
The challenges of reinvigorating democracy through visual art in 21st century Nairobi Craig Campbell Halliday 30 September 2019 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfilment for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Sainsbury Research Unit for the Arts of Africa, Oceania & the Americas School of Art, Media and American Studies University of East Anglia, Norwich This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with the author and that use of any information derived therefrom must be in accordance with current UK Copyright Law. In addition, any quotation or extract must include full attribution. 1 Abstract This study examines the potential for contemporary visual art to reinvigorate democracy in 21st century Nairobi, Kenya, through an interdisciplinary investigation. The new millennium ushered in fresh hope for democratisation in the postcolonial East African country. In 2002, Daniel arap Moi’s 24 years of authoritarian rule ended. The opposition were victorious at the ballot box, instilling a belief amongst the electorate that formal political processes could bring change. However, the post-election violence of 2007/8 shattered such convictions. But, from this election result came a progressive Constitution and with it possibilities for creating change. These momentous events underscore Kenya’s topsy-turvy path towards democracy – a path whose trajectory is charted in the experience of ordinary Kenyans who believe in democracy’s value and their right to participate in politics and civil life. Artists, too, have been at the forefront of this ongoing struggle. This study draws on empirical research to demonstrate contemporary visual art’s capacity to expand ways of practising, experiencing and understanding democracy.