Awakening Spaces – French Caribbean Popular Songs, Music & Culture: French Caribbean Popular Songs, Music, and Culture (Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology CSE) - Hardcover

Berrian, Brenda

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0226044556 ISBN 13: 9780226044552

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 2000

Synopsis

The fast-paced zouk of Kassav', the romantic biguine of Malavoi, the jazz of Fal Frett, the ballads of Mona, and reggae of Kali and Poglo are all part of the burgeoning popular music scene in the French Caribbean. In this lively book, Brenda F. Berrian chronicles the rise of this music, which has captivated the minds and bodies of the Francophone world and elsewhere. Based on personal interviews and discussions of song texts, Berrian shows how these musicians express their feelings about current and past events, about themselves, their islands and the French. Through their lyrical themes, these songs create metaphorical "spaces" that evoke narratives of desire, exile, subversion and Creole identity and experiences. Berrian opens up these spaces to reveal how the artists not only engage their listeners and effect social change, but also empower and identify themselves. She also explores the music as it relates to the art of drumming, and the genres such as African American and Latin jazz and reggae. With "Awakening Spaces", Berrian adds fresh insight into the historical struggles and arts of the French Caribbean.

About this title

About the Author

Brenda F. Berrian is professor of Africana Studies, English, and Women's Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. She has been a visiting professor in both Europe and Africa and is the author of Africa, Harlem, Haiti: The Great Black Cultural Revolution and coeditor of Bibliography of Women Writers from the Caribbean: 1831-1968.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0226044556
• ISBN 13: 9780226044552
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 292