Revision as of 01:52, 2 April 2008

Global representations and flows

Arjun Appadurai's "scapes"

(from his Modernity at Large (1996)

Perspectives:

Ethnoscape
Mediascape
Finanscape
Ideoscape
Technoscape (and here one might discuss the significant impact of the global music industry on music in the territorial Arab world)

We examine two perspectives on globalization of music of the Arab world:
- Diasporic Arab musics as "music of the Arab world": music of the Arab ethnoscape
- The absorption of "music of the Arab world" (often diasporic) into Western music (these days, via a transnational music industry, often classified as "World Music"): Arab music of the mediascape

Representations of the "Orient" in Western art music (Mozart and others: "Alla Turca" techniques)
Representations of music and dance on stage, in 19th century Expositions Universelles and World's Fairs, in Europe and America.

Arab music for Americans
- Mohammed el-Bakkar, and his seminal album Port Said. Read the notes for this album and also for African Arab.
- The Best of George Abdo and His Flames of Araby Orchestra (link works on campus only; otherwise search Smithsonian Global Sound database via the library
The Oriental Nightclub in America
Hollywood Bellydance (e.g. Nejla Ates (Son of Sinbad , 1955))
new representations in popular art
Participatory bellydance: a ubiquitous Western phenomenon, considered art/exercise/feminine spirituality/professional showbiz, with its own forms (e.g. tribal), often appearing in the media, e.g. the Belly Dance Superstars (Arab-American women actually play a relatively minor role in this popular culture phenomenon).
For discussion: how does "orientalism" of American popular culture in the 1950s and 60s compare to European "orientalism" of the 18th and 19th centuries? What has changed? What has not?

World music themes: the exotic, the spiritual, the "primitive", "roots", the African...
Try search on Amazon.com!
Classics
- Umm Kulthum
- Fairuz
- Abdel Halim
Mainstream Arab pop stars, displaying various degrees of fusion
- Amr Diab
  - Arab world and global hit, Habibi Ya Nour al-Ayn
  - World Music Awards 2007
- Hakeem
  - Recent Arab-world hit, Assalamu alaykum
  - Hakeem in Central Park
  - Hakeem in Dominican fusion
Sufi music (part of world music's fascination with the spiritual)
- Shaykh Yasin al-Tuhami
- Liturgies of Sufi orders
- Gnawa music
Arab world music stars
- New Rai music: Oran to Paris to World,
- Didi or Didi, Khaled's global hit
- Wahrane, by Khaled
- Desert Rose, duet of Cheb Mami and Sting
- Global gnawa: fusion of Hassan Hakmoun
Bellydance music: many CDs continue a trend that began on vinyl some 50 years ago or more (e.g. Muhammad al-Bakkar's album, Exotic Music of the Belly Dancer)
Expat musicians: representing the homeland, while not usually known there
- Popular (e.g. Hossam Ramzy)
- New classicism: Simon Shaheen (NYC, Palestinian-American), Jihad Racy (Los Angeles, Lebanese-American), together on Taqasim
"Authentic" musical tours (e.g. CDs of Institut du Monde Arabe)
For discussion: what factors determine which music succeeds as "world music"?

@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 [http://www.alloilpaint.com/orientalist/p1.htm]
 * Representations of the "Orient" in Western art music (Mozart and others:  "Alla Turca" techniques)
-* Representations on stage, in Expositions Universelles and World's Fairs, in Europe and America.
+* Representations of music and dance on stage, in 19th century Expositions Universelles and World's Fairs, in Europe and America.
 = Arab diaspora as part of the Arab world =