Difference between revisions of "MofA Week 10."
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
'''Music and Politics: hegemony, and resistance''' | '''Music and Politics: hegemony, and resistance''' | ||
| + | |||
| + | = General considerations = | ||
'''Distinguish:''' | '''Distinguish:''' | ||
* music of hegemony and music of resistance | * music of hegemony and music of resistance | ||
| + | ** national anthems | ||
| + | ** revolutionary songs | ||
* explicitly political and implicitly political music | * explicitly political and implicitly political music | ||
| + | ** overt, literal statements, with political intent (e.g. Shaykh Imam) | ||
| + | ** covert, symbolic statements, with political intent (e.g. Ahmed Adawiyya, Idir) | ||
| + | ** music that takes on political valences, without overt political intent (e.g. Saudi Qur'anic recitation signifying conservative Islam; Lebanese female singers' clips signifying liberalism/globalization) | ||
* the music of politics and the politics of music | * the music of politics and the politics of music | ||
| + | '''Music'''... | ||
| − | + | * ...encodes political messages (explicit or implicit) regarding | |
| + | ** political values (general, abstract) | ||
| + | ** political situations (specific individuals, structures of power) | ||
| + | * ...helps shape the broader political landscape | ||
| + | ** Music is relatively limited form of discourse | ||
| + | *** Produced slowly, by specialists | ||
| + | *** Hard to engage in musical dialogs, discourses | ||
| + | *** Much of music's social force is non-referential | ||
| + | ** but lyrics contain referential content | ||
| + | ** factors compensating for discursive limitations: | ||
| + | *** music's affective power, imbuing a felt sense of truth | ||
| + | *** music's social power, gathering people in groups (live or mediated), nucleating subcultures | ||
| + | ** and non-discursivity is perhaps a form of coercive power (as Marxist anthropologist Maurice Bloch famously wrote: "you can't argue with a song") | ||
| − | |||
| − | + | = Music and politics in the pre-Islamic Arab period = | |
| − | + | Various pre-Islamic poetic genres--chanted and sung, quickly memorized and disseminated-- effected political functions: | |
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | + | * Hija': poetry of critique (for one's enemies) | |
| + | * Madih: poetry of praise (for one's rulers) | ||
| + | * Ritha': elegy | ||
| + | * Mufakhara: inter-tribal poetic competitions, enabling inter-tribal dialogs, and helping unify polities | ||
| − | + | The Arabs of pre-Islamic Northern Arabia formed what scholar von Grunebaum termed a ''Kulturnation''; only with Islam would they unite to become a ''Staatsnation''. Public poetic recitation (inshad, nashid, tartil) in a heightened voice may have played a significant role in creating and sustaining the Arab ''Kulturnation'' within such a mobile society. Poetry also served to delineate inter-tribal political boundaries, to support one's own tribal leadership (especially the shaykh al-qabila) and denounce the enemy. | |
| − | + | = Music and politics in the golden age of Islamicate civilization = | |
| − | [http:// | + | * [http://www.princeton.edu/~arabic/poetry/ panegyrics] (praise) written by the most famous Arab poet, al-Mutanabbi, for his patron, the Emir (prince) Sayf al-Dawla (916-967, r. 945-967) of Aleppo, ruler of northern Syria under the Hamdanid dynasty (al-Farabi was another prominent figure in Sayf al-Dawla's intellectual circle) |
| + | = Music and nationalisms: in support of the state = | ||
| − | + | The patriotic song was generally known as ''nashid watani'' and occurred with increasing frequency following the success of independence movements. Some sang for the state out of personal feeling, others for economic advantage, sometimes with state sanctions, and sometimes without. | |
| − | ( | + | * Umm Kulthum: sang for the king; criticized post-revolution (1952) and was withdrawn from radio, before returning to sing for Egypt and the Arab nation. |
| − | |||
| − | + | * Muhammad Fawzy: personal/economic vs. state patriotism (read Frishkopf article) | |
| + | [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEydMJeOF9w National anthem of Algeria], composed by the Egyptian Muhammad Fawzy. | ||
| − | + | [[Text for Algeria's national anthem]] | |
| − | + | * Abdel Halim Hafez: adopted as voice of Gamal Abdel Nasser in the 1950s | |
| − | + | [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOne_BICgzk Sura Sura] | |
| − | + | * Mohamed Abdel Wahab: pan-Arab nationalist song (1960, composed to celebrate the short-lived union of Egypt and Syria as the United Arab Republic) | |
| − | + | [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ERFXIntNhQ Watani habibi watani al-akbar] (my beloved homeland, my greatest homeland) | |
| − | + | * [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt-_ZsBgevk al-Hulm al-`Arabi] (1998) (contemporary pan-Arab nationalist song, with lots of cynical comments logged on youtube. Includes singers from nearly every Arab country; funded by Prince Walid bin Talal) | |
| − | + | Generation after generation will live in the hope of realizing | |
| + | our dream <br> | ||
| + | As what we say today we will be called to account for <br> | ||
| + | throughout our lifetime <br> | ||
| + | It is possible that the darkness of night <br> | ||
| + | May render us far from one another, but <br> | ||
| + | The beam of light can <br> | ||
| + | Reach the farthest of skies <br> | ||
| + | This has been our dream <br> | ||
| + | All of our lives: <br> | ||
| + | An embrace that will contain us all together <br> | ||
| − | + | = Music and resistance = | |
| − | + | == Sayed Darwish == | |
| − | + | [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYceV1LRzrY&feature=related Masr Yamma ya Bahiya] | |
| − | + | == Shaykh Imam == | |
| − | + | Imam Mohammad Ahmad Eissa or Sheikh Imam (1918-1995), raised in the singer-shaykh tradition, became Egypt's most well-known political singer after 1962. Collaborating with poet Ahmed Fu'ad Negm, he became renowned for singing on behalf of the poor and working classes. | |
| − | + | [http://mondediplo.com/2006/05/20prison Bio] | |
| − | + | [http://mondediplo.com/2006/05/19sheikhimam Article] | |
| − | |||
| − | + | * Song: "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTuII5V0pFg Guevara Died]" | |
| − | + | (composed 1967: Ahmed Fu'ad Negm and Shaykh Imam). | |
| − | + | [[Text for Guevara Died]] | |
| − | + | [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngw9kyB_7ME Performed by contemporary revival group Eskanderalla.][http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcf_1eaokn0 Performed by Ahmed Ismail] | |
| − | + | * Song: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh4fiRgD38s&feature=related Nixon Baba] | |
| − | + | * Song: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYceV1LRzrY&feature=related Masr Yamma ya Bahiya] | |
| − | + | == Mohamed Nuh == | |
| − | + | [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBD22Wlslx8 Mohamed Nuh] | |
| − | + | == Idir == | |
| − | + | Hamid Cheriet, aka Idir (b. 1949 in Aït Lahcène, Algeria)is a Kabyle (Berber, Amazigh) singer from Algeria. His songs, evoking Kabyle folklore and sung in the Berber language, have stirred feeling for Berber identity, evoking outrage from Algerian authorities, and he was forced to move to Paris. | |
| − | + | [http://www.fwalive.ualberta.ca/~michaelf/MENAME/Repertoire/A%20vava%20inouva/] (1976) | |
| + | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCpc7ch4nd4 | ||
| − | == | + | == Songs in support of Palestinian cause == |
| − | |||
| − | + | * "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYVMJfbjQwQ O Palestinians] - Shaykh Imam (1968) | |
| − | + | * [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZVJuNca9mY Oh Jerusalem] - Fayruz (b. 1935) | |
| − | + | [[Text for O Palestinians]] | |
| − | |||
| − | + | = Politics and Egyptian shaabi music = | |
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | = Politics and Egyptian shaabi = | ||
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uorHKl0Uv3k Shaaban Abdel Rahim] | [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uorHKl0Uv3k Shaaban Abdel Rahim] | ||
| − | + | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ5Xk3pmqgI | |
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | + | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh91s-7wwNw | |
| − | + | == Political rap == | |
| − | + | * Palestinian rap group DAM and their most famous song, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqbDiN2uYcQ Meen Erhabi (Who's the Terrorist?)] | |
| − | = Marcel Khalife = | + | == Marcel Khalife == |
''Musical activism, musical controversy'' | ''Musical activism, musical controversy'' | ||
| Line 232: | Line 163: | ||
Mahsa: | Mahsa: | ||
| − | Justina: | + | Justina: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLI36kvvu9k <br> |
| + | This song is by Djur Djura - a Algerian woman, b. 1949 (?) raised in France, who sings about Women's rights and feminist issues a lot. <br> | ||
| − | Manya: | + | Manya: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIo6lyP9tTE&feature=related |
Adrienne: | Adrienne: | ||
Revision as of 09:54, 18 November 2010
Music and Politics: hegemony, and resistance
Contents
General considerations
Distinguish:
- music of hegemony and music of resistance
- national anthems
- revolutionary songs
- explicitly political and implicitly political music
- overt, literal statements, with political intent (e.g. Shaykh Imam)
- covert, symbolic statements, with political intent (e.g. Ahmed Adawiyya, Idir)
- music that takes on political valences, without overt political intent (e.g. Saudi Qur'anic recitation signifying conservative Islam; Lebanese female singers' clips signifying liberalism/globalization)
- the music of politics and the politics of music
Music...
- ...encodes political messages (explicit or implicit) regarding
- political values (general, abstract)
- political situations (specific individuals, structures of power)
- ...helps shape the broader political landscape
- Music is relatively limited form of discourse
- Produced slowly, by specialists
- Hard to engage in musical dialogs, discourses
- Much of music's social force is non-referential
- but lyrics contain referential content
- factors compensating for discursive limitations:
- music's affective power, imbuing a felt sense of truth
- music's social power, gathering people in groups (live or mediated), nucleating subcultures
- and non-discursivity is perhaps a form of coercive power (as Marxist anthropologist Maurice Bloch famously wrote: "you can't argue with a song")
- Music is relatively limited form of discourse
Music and politics in the pre-Islamic Arab period
Various pre-Islamic poetic genres--chanted and sung, quickly memorized and disseminated-- effected political functions:
- Hija': poetry of critique (for one's enemies)
- Madih: poetry of praise (for one's rulers)
- Ritha': elegy
- Mufakhara: inter-tribal poetic competitions, enabling inter-tribal dialogs, and helping unify polities
The Arabs of pre-Islamic Northern Arabia formed what scholar von Grunebaum termed a Kulturnation; only with Islam would they unite to become a Staatsnation. Public poetic recitation (inshad, nashid, tartil) in a heightened voice may have played a significant role in creating and sustaining the Arab Kulturnation within such a mobile society. Poetry also served to delineate inter-tribal political boundaries, to support one's own tribal leadership (especially the shaykh al-qabila) and denounce the enemy.
Music and politics in the golden age of Islamicate civilization
- panegyrics (praise) written by the most famous Arab poet, al-Mutanabbi, for his patron, the Emir (prince) Sayf al-Dawla (916-967, r. 945-967) of Aleppo, ruler of northern Syria under the Hamdanid dynasty (al-Farabi was another prominent figure in Sayf al-Dawla's intellectual circle)
Music and nationalisms: in support of the state
The patriotic song was generally known as nashid watani and occurred with increasing frequency following the success of independence movements. Some sang for the state out of personal feeling, others for economic advantage, sometimes with state sanctions, and sometimes without.
- Umm Kulthum: sang for the king; criticized post-revolution (1952) and was withdrawn from radio, before returning to sing for Egypt and the Arab nation.
- Muhammad Fawzy: personal/economic vs. state patriotism (read Frishkopf article)
National anthem of Algeria, composed by the Egyptian Muhammad Fawzy.
Text for Algeria's national anthem
- Abdel Halim Hafez: adopted as voice of Gamal Abdel Nasser in the 1950s
- Mohamed Abdel Wahab: pan-Arab nationalist song (1960, composed to celebrate the short-lived union of Egypt and Syria as the United Arab Republic)
Watani habibi watani al-akbar (my beloved homeland, my greatest homeland)
- al-Hulm al-`Arabi (1998) (contemporary pan-Arab nationalist song, with lots of cynical comments logged on youtube. Includes singers from nearly every Arab country; funded by Prince Walid bin Talal)
Generation after generation will live in the hope of realizing
our dream
As what we say today we will be called to account for
throughout our lifetime
It is possible that the darkness of night
May render us far from one another, but
The beam of light can
Reach the farthest of skies
This has been our dream
All of our lives:
An embrace that will contain us all together
Music and resistance
Sayed Darwish
Shaykh Imam
Imam Mohammad Ahmad Eissa or Sheikh Imam (1918-1995), raised in the singer-shaykh tradition, became Egypt's most well-known political singer after 1962. Collaborating with poet Ahmed Fu'ad Negm, he became renowned for singing on behalf of the poor and working classes.
- Song: "Guevara Died"
(composed 1967: Ahmed Fu'ad Negm and Shaykh Imam).
Performed by contemporary revival group Eskanderalla.Performed by Ahmed Ismail
- Song: Nixon Baba
- Song: Masr Yamma ya Bahiya
Mohamed Nuh
Idir
Hamid Cheriet, aka Idir (b. 1949 in Aït Lahcène, Algeria)is a Kabyle (Berber, Amazigh) singer from Algeria. His songs, evoking Kabyle folklore and sung in the Berber language, have stirred feeling for Berber identity, evoking outrage from Algerian authorities, and he was forced to move to Paris.
[1] (1976)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCpc7ch4nd4
Songs in support of Palestinian cause
- "O Palestinians - Shaykh Imam (1968)
- Oh Jerusalem - Fayruz (b. 1935)
Politics and Egyptian shaabi music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ5Xk3pmqgI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh91s-7wwNw
Political rap
- Palestinian rap group DAM and their most famous song, Meen Erhabi (Who's the Terrorist?)
Marcel Khalife
Musical activism, musical controversy
Political songs, in collaboration with Mahmoud Darwish (Voyageur)
Music and freedom of expression: "I am Joseph, oh my father"
Criticism from the left: politics of musical aesthetics (Colla, Elliott and Robert Blecher. (1996) A New World Order, a New Marcel Khalife. Middle East Report, No. 199, Turkey: Insolvent Ideologies, Fractured State. (Apr. - Jun., 1996), pp. 43-44.)
Politics and videoclips (your input here)
Everyone please select a Youtube video and insert link here, along with a line or two of comment - we'll watch and discuss on Thursday Nov 18.
You can select clips to be analyzed for nationalistic sentiment, or search for national anthems of the various Arab countries, or look for implicit themes of power (in domestic relations, say), or select clips which address political themes explicitly. I realize not knowing Arabic may be an impediment, but you can select/discuss based on imagery, and you'll find many clips with translations included. (To get started, try searching for "Arab political music", or look for music by artists mentioned above.) You'll learn a lot by reading the clip's comments (if they're in English).
Amanda:
Patrick: [2]
Mahsa:
Justina: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLI36kvvu9k
This song is by Djur Djura - a Algerian woman, b. 1949 (?) raised in France, who sings about Women's rights and feminist issues a lot.
Manya: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIo6lyP9tTE&feature=related
Adrienne:
