Pwofite Tèt Ou”(Avail Yoourself): the Minoritarian Politics of Haitian Music in Paris
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University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2016 Pwofite ètT Ou”(Avail YOourself): The Minoritarian Politics of Haitian Music in Paris Laura Donnelly University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Latin American Languages and Societies Commons, Latin American Studies Commons, Music Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Donnelly, Laura, "Pwofite ètT Ou”(Avail YOourself): The Minoritarian Politics of Haitian Music in Paris" (2016). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 1690. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1690 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1690 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Pwofite ètT Ou”(Avail YOourself): The Minoritarian Politics of Haitian Music in Paris Abstract Paris functions as a diverse site in which Haitians and French Antilleans come together most significantly in relation to musical interaction. Haitian music in Paris, especially konpa, is frequently paired with Antillean music, specifically zouk, whether it be on the radio, as Antillean stations frequently co-opt konpa or in dance clubs for deejayed events. Thus, konpa and zouk share modes of dissemination and consumption, and are frequently grouped together. These mutually shared spaces of musical consumption enable and promote the formation of connections between Antillean and Haitian communities, enabled by a minoritarian politics rooted in shared colonial histories and coupled with strict contemporary stratifications that are challenged by musical taste. This dissertation explains how the musical results of these interactions, histories, and relationships are distinctly Haitian, but transnational, complicated, and evocative of a new understanding of postcolonial relation in the Caribbean diaspora. This project illuminates the dynamic relationship between immigrant communities, specifically the profound and significant oler of immigrant communities in each other’s lives, while highlighting the complicated histories that can enable these relationships, with music as the primary unifying force. Elements like class, race, citizenship, language, history, and geographic proximity all influence the creation of minor-to-minor networks, mostly in unifying groups in difference from the major, but music over all other factors serves as the bridge that allows minoritarian politics to unfold as they have in Paris. In connecting to an inclusive identity politics, these interactions in Paris can allow us to re-think what “French Caribbean” can mean and to what musical ends. Ultimately, this dissertation is about Haitians but also in particular the unique qualities of Paris that represent it as a locale in relation to Haitian history, immigration, geography, transnationalism, and ideologies that ultimately result in expressive musical representations of contemporary life. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Music First Advisor Timothy Rommen Keywords Antilles, Haiti, immigration, music, Paris, politics Subject Categories Latin American Languages and Societies | Latin American Studies | Music | Social and Cultural Anthropology This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1690 “PWOFITE TÈT OU”(AVAIL YOURSELF): THE MINORITARIAN POLITICS OF HAITIAN MUSIC IN PARIS Laura C. Donnelly A DISSERTATION in Music Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2016 Supervisor of Dissertation _______________________ Timothy Rommen Professor of Music and Africana Studies Graduate Group Chairperson __________________________ Carol Muller, Professor of Music Dissertation Committee Michael Largey, Professor of Musicology Lydie Moudileno, Professor of French and Francophone Studies “PWOFITE TÈT OU”(AVAIL YOURSELF): THE MINORITARIAN POLITICS OF HAITIAN MUSIC IN PARIS COPYRIGHT 2016 Laura Caroline Donnelly ACKNOWLEDGMENT I would like to thank many people who have helped me through the completion of this dissertation. The first is my advisor, Dr. Timothy Rommen, whose academic guidance and positivity has kept me energized and driven throughout my time at Penn, especially during the writing process. Along with my advisor, I would like to acknowledge my other committee members, Dr. Michael Largey and Dr. Lydie Moudileno. Michael has been an invaluable mentor for me since my undergraduate years when he introduced me to ethnomusicology and Haitian music and studying postcolonial France with Lydie profoundly influenced me and directly led to my dissertation topic. I would also like to thank the Department of Music at the University of Pennsylvania for funding my enrollment in the Haitian Creole Institute at UMass Boston, as well as the School of Arts and Sciences at Penn for supporting my research through the Dissertation Research Fellowship, as well as the Critical Speaking Dissertation Completion Fellowship along with Dr. Sue Weber and the CWiC program. Also in need of acknowledgement is Monica Wojciechowski, an incredibly bright undergraduate student who worked with me to create the maps used in this document. Additionally, I would like to thank Margaret Smith Deeney for providing much needed administrative knowledge and assistance through the process of writing, applying for funding, defending, and graduating. While in the field, I was grateful to be surrounded by supportive and helpful friends and collaborators. In my earlier trips to Paris Jocelyn Moradel at Moradisc iii provided many introductions and made several phone calls for me, as well as Bazile Pegguy, without whom I would probably never have encountered the Haitian community. More recently, Pradel Saint-Fleur and Vanessa Joachim were valuable resources and trusted friends who welcomed me into their world and introduced me to many social entrepreneurs and artists who appear in this document. I owe a great deal of gratitude to Gérard Le-Net and Marie Paule Jacob Le-Net for inviting me into their home for the year that I was in Paris; without their generosity my dissertation would not have been possible. I am also thankful that my sister, Sarah Donnelly, and beau-frère, Sylvain Le-Net, provided me with moral support in France and even accompanied me to a concert at the end of the RER A. At home I have been lucky enough to have a solid support system throughout the process of writing this dissertation. My parents, Peter and Julie Donnelly, have been endlessly encouraging, supportive, and optimistic. Their positivity and sheer belief in my abilities has been uplifting over the years. I also would like to acknowledge my friends, especially Holly and Justin Ma for visiting me in France, as well as Genevieve Lampinen and Erica Lynes for letting me stay at their apartment in Philadelphia on several occasions. Additionally, my colleagues, especially Brooke McCorkle and Jessica Swanston Baker, have provided guidance in the writing and defending process that has proven to be immensely useful. And lastly, I would like to thank my partner, Sean Strassenburg, for providing me with much needed support over the years, and in particular in motivating me to finally finish, although it is debatable which one of us wanted me to complete this dissertation more. iv ABSTRACT “PWOFITE TÈT OU”(AVAIL YOURSELF): THE MINORITARIAN POLITICS OF HAITIAN MUSIC IN PARIS Laura C. Donnelly Timothy Rommen Paris functions as a diverse site in which Haitians and French Antilleans come together most significantly in relation to musical interaction. Haitian music in Paris, especially konpa, is frequently paired with Antillean music, specifically zouk, whether it be on the radio, as Antillean stations frequently co-opt konpa or in dance clubs for deejayed events. Thus, konpa and zouk share modes of dissemination and consumption, and are frequently grouped together. These mutually shared spaces of musical consumption enable and promote the formation of connections between Antillean and Haitian communities, enabled by a minoritarian politics rooted in shared colonial histories and coupled with strict contemporary stratifications that are challenged by musical taste. This dissertation explains how the musical results of these interactions, histories, and relationships are distinctly Haitian, but transnational, complicated, and evocative of a new understanding of postcolonial relation in the Caribbean diaspora. This project illuminates the dynamic relationship between immigrant communities, specifically the profound and significant role of immigrant communities in each other’s lives, while highlighting the complicated histories that can enable these relationships, with music as the primary unifying force. Elements like class, race, v citizenship, language, history, and geographic proximity all influence the creation of minor-to-minor networks, mostly in unifying groups in difference from the major, but music over all other factors serves as the bridge that allows minoritarian politics to unfold as they have in Paris. In connecting to an inclusive identity politics, these interactions in Paris can allow us to re-think what “French Caribbean” can mean and to what musical ends. Ultimately, this dissertation is about Haitians but also in particular the unique qualities of Paris that represent it as a locale in relation