Difference between revisions of "MofA Week 12."
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* "Authentic" musical tours (e.g. CDs of Institut du Monde Arabe) | * "Authentic" musical tours (e.g. CDs of Institut du Monde Arabe) | ||
* For discussion: what factors determine which music succeeds as "world music"? | * For discussion: what factors determine which music succeeds as "world music"? | ||
+ | |||
+ | = Example: Algerian Rai = | ||
+ | |||
+ | * Three main phases of Rai ("opinion") music in Algeria: | ||
+ | ** [http://www.fwalive.ualberta.ca/mediawiki/index.php?title=MofA_Week_6#Roots_of_Rai:__Cheikha_Remitti Roots of Rai] (1920s-1960s): a form of urban folk, featuring prominent female performers. Lyrics describe social reality. | ||
+ | ** Cassette Rai. Cassettes transformed the scene - mediation enabled broader spread, injected technology of cassette+synthesizer (cheapest possible production). Against the old "shaykhat" came rise of the "shabab" (Cheb). Lyrics address youth themes, featuring sexuality. Unacceptable to the Islamists or elder generations. | ||
+ | ** But rise of Islamism pushed rai into the diaspora. Cheb Hasni was assassinated. Parisian "banlieues" - poor neighborhoods, nurtured the music, which eventually began to enjoy wider popularity in France. | ||
+ | ** From late 80s: rise of "World Music" Rai via Paris. New sophisticated French productions, far from simple cassette/synthesizers. Enjoyed tremendous popularity back home as well. | ||
+ | * Overview of process: interaction of technology, diasporic population, non-Arab bourgeois other-seeking consumers. | ||
+ | ** Whereas cassettes enabled the rise of local musics, satellite TV, internet, mobile phones have all contributed to the rise of pan-Arab music: readily available throughout Arabic-speaking regions. ''Technologically'', media flows everywhere. | ||
+ | ** But ''socially'' these flows are not always symmetrical: whereas Moroccans may listen to the latest Lebanese and Egyptian hits, the reverse is less true. | ||
+ | ** If Arab music today comprises five main subregions--North Africa, Egypt, Levant, Iraq, Gulf--the former is least well-connected then the others. | ||
+ | ** However North Africa is better globalized, thanks to the "French connection." French colonialism practiced "direct" (as opposed to British "indirect") rule, and French colonies became better integrated (and in the case of Algeria completely integrated) with France. French language and education prevailed and many migrated to Paris. | ||
+ | ** Arab music thus percolated and even developed through a Francophone diaspora - not only in Paris, but even in Montreal. | ||
+ | ** More recently the same linkages have enabled the development of world music from ex-French colonies, particularly North Africa and French West Africa. |
Revision as of 09:21, 30 November 2010
Global representations and flows
Contents
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
Background: Orientalism
- History of Orientalism in art and literature
- Representations of Oriental music, dance in painting
- 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 diaspora as part of the Arab world
- Diaspora in France: Development of Rai, Oran to Paris
- France ruled Algeria as a colony 1834-1962
- Influx of Algerians to France
- 1945: 350,000 Algerians in France
- 1964: estimated 500,000
- Early 1980s: 800,000
- Many French of Algerian descent continue to live in the poorer banlieues (low income projects) outside Paris
- Simultaneously rai musicians fled Algeria
- Rai therefore developed its modern forms in Paris
- Listening examples
- Diaspora in America: Music of Arab Americans
- Levantines emigrated to America from the 19th century
- Larger numbers entered in the early 20th century
- Most immigrants were Syrian-Lebanese Christians
- Recreation of traditional music centered on church communities
- hafla, mahrajan
New Orientalism: "Exotic" representations of Arab music and dance in Western popular culture
- 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
- Bellydance entertainment at restaurants
- 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?
Arab music in the "world music" bins
- 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
- Amr Diab
- 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"?
Example: Algerian Rai
- Three main phases of Rai ("opinion") music in Algeria:
- Roots of Rai (1920s-1960s): a form of urban folk, featuring prominent female performers. Lyrics describe social reality.
- Cassette Rai. Cassettes transformed the scene - mediation enabled broader spread, injected technology of cassette+synthesizer (cheapest possible production). Against the old "shaykhat" came rise of the "shabab" (Cheb). Lyrics address youth themes, featuring sexuality. Unacceptable to the Islamists or elder generations.
- But rise of Islamism pushed rai into the diaspora. Cheb Hasni was assassinated. Parisian "banlieues" - poor neighborhoods, nurtured the music, which eventually began to enjoy wider popularity in France.
- From late 80s: rise of "World Music" Rai via Paris. New sophisticated French productions, far from simple cassette/synthesizers. Enjoyed tremendous popularity back home as well.
- Overview of process: interaction of technology, diasporic population, non-Arab bourgeois other-seeking consumers.
- Whereas cassettes enabled the rise of local musics, satellite TV, internet, mobile phones have all contributed to the rise of pan-Arab music: readily available throughout Arabic-speaking regions. Technologically, media flows everywhere.
- But socially these flows are not always symmetrical: whereas Moroccans may listen to the latest Lebanese and Egyptian hits, the reverse is less true.
- If Arab music today comprises five main subregions--North Africa, Egypt, Levant, Iraq, Gulf--the former is least well-connected then the others.
- However North Africa is better globalized, thanks to the "French connection." French colonialism practiced "direct" (as opposed to British "indirect") rule, and French colonies became better integrated (and in the case of Algeria completely integrated) with France. French language and education prevailed and many migrated to Paris.
- Arab music thus percolated and even developed through a Francophone diaspora - not only in Paris, but even in Montreal.
- More recently the same linkages have enabled the development of world music from ex-French colonies, particularly North Africa and French West Africa.