Words on Music Lecture Series

April 1, 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Mānoa Campus, Queen Lili'uokalani Center, room 412

Amidst Walls, Wired Fences and Armoured Cars; the Politics of Sonic Practices in Post-Industrial Society

Dr. Samuel Araújo
Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janiero

Among the main issues in many post-industrial metropolitan areas today are the tight perspectives for inclusion of newer generations in the formal job market, tending to render lasting if not permanent a situation previously had as transitory, i.e. to remain in what Marx termed the reserve labor army.

Not sharing the values of older generations forged under the supremacy of industrial work ethics, these new contingents of urban subjects frequently lack identification with, and not rarely rage against, older ideals of edifying musical heritages and identity markers, leading to the adoption of internationalized forms (e.g., funk, rap, graffiti), defying established artistic and cultural canons, while exposing the signs of degradation of social life, as well as policies of isolation and extermination of the poor.

In this puzzling socio-economic framework, future forms of coexistence will likely depend on how to connect displaced memories and heritages in ways hardly foreseeable today.

Based on both his academic experience with participatory action-research on the favela soundscapes of Rio de Janeiro and as a public sector cultural administrator, the author will explore these challenges and its potentials to create a new knowledge-producing agenda, highlighting a number of new demands this social equation poses to both academics and policy makers.

Words on Music is an Ethnomusicology Speaker Series presented by the Ethnomusicology Association (EMA).

The Ethnomusicology Association is a student-run organization at the University of Hawai'i that seeks to increase awareness and understanding of all musics and cultures through outreach, education, and performance within the University, the community, and beyond. Although the group is comprised largely of Ethnomusicology students, all students are able and encouraged to join.

For additional information please contact Larry O. Catungal at emauhm@hawaii.edu


Event Sponsor
Music Department, Mānoa Campus

More Information
956-2179, emauhm@hawaii.edu, http://www.emauhm.com/

Share by email