The Quebradita Dance Craze
In Simonett's article about the quebradita, the author focuses mainly on the dancing associated with banda music during the 1990s. The dance was a controversial subject, as was every new teenage dance craze, for its sexual movements. What made quebradita in the United States unique was the style that dancers, specifically Mexicans, adopted when going out to dance (or even for everyday life). The quebradita followers often wear objects hanging off their belts that indicate from which province they hail, an interesting difference from Mexican quebradita dancers who don't do so.
What are other examples of diasporic communities that represent their cultural differences to one another through their subcultural capital? How is the quebradita represented differently in California and in Mexico?
Monday, April 20, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Field Notes 4.14.09
Verse Construction/Song writing field notes
Having been told by a favorite guest coach of the team that our team was not as fun as her own, the team decides to take her challenge of its socialing ability head on, and create a song just for her. The following notes come from a team meeting/get together with the express purpose of writing this song.
-Girls text/e-mail one another about meeting time & location
-Meet 5 minutes late, friendly greetings, etc.
-Previously, one of the players had e-mailed a coach to get “dish” about our guest’s rugby days, and to get (embarrassing) stories about her rugging career.
-Know the coach well enough to decide what might be too offensive & what might be funny
-Choose well known song with which to substitute lyrics
-Begin with a chorus, something that isn’t too specific and can be repeated and be funny every time.
**Verses
-Using embarrassing info they create sentences, inversion or rearranging of sentence structure to make it rhyme. Use internet rhyming dictionary to facilitate writing.
-joking and laughing ensues
-stories of past experiences with this guest coach told by older girls to younger girls.
-discussion of what content is appropriate and what isn’t
-Rearrange words and phrases according to agreed upon guidelines
-Type lyrics and email them to one another
**This was interesting difference between this new song and the traditional rugby canon tunes. This one, however, was never sung at a social, it was sung to our guest at the end of practice the day after it was written, which may account for the permissibility of written words. Were this song to become a “regular” during socials, there is no doubt that the written lyrics would discarded and it would be passed on through oral tradition.
-The following day, this song was performed on the pitch for our guest, who received a printed copy of the lyrics so she could better understand them during the production.
-Coach assured us that we were no longer an “unfun” team in her book
Research Notes
-This is a really interesting article that compares men’s rugby songs to women’s rugby songs. Wheatley discusses first the history of rugby as a hyper masculine sport with its own unique culture in which women were marginalized and thought of as cheerleaders or “rugger huggers”. She then discusses the genesis of the women’s culture and how the men’s lyrics and other subcultural capital were transformed to have new meanings for female rugby athletes.
-Points to many reasons for the female rugby social behavior including:
-Explanatory passage from Dunning article about gender roles in sport. “…modern sport emerged as part of a ‘civilizing’ transformation one aspect of which was an equalizing shift, however slight, in the balance of power between the sexes.” (169) His article has an interesting section on the macho subculture in rugby, which, in conjunction with Wheatley’s creates a convincing picture of the evolution of the women’s game from the men’s.
Dunning, Eric. 1990. “Sport as a Male Preserve: Notes on the Social Sources of Masculine Identity and its Transformations.” In Women, Sport, and Culture, eds. Susan Birrel and Cheryl L. Cole. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. pps. 163-179.
Wheatley, Elizabeth E. 1990. “Subcultural Subversions: Comparing Discourses on Sexuality inn Men’s and Women’s Rugby Songs.” In Women, Sport, and Culture, eds. Susan Birrel and Cheryl L. Cole. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. pps. 193-211.
Having been told by a favorite guest coach of the team that our team was not as fun as her own, the team decides to take her challenge of its socialing ability head on, and create a song just for her. The following notes come from a team meeting/get together with the express purpose of writing this song.
-Girls text/e-mail one another about meeting time & location
-Meet 5 minutes late, friendly greetings, etc.
-Previously, one of the players had e-mailed a coach to get “dish” about our guest’s rugby days, and to get (embarrassing) stories about her rugging career.
-Know the coach well enough to decide what might be too offensive & what might be funny
-Choose well known song with which to substitute lyrics
-Begin with a chorus, something that isn’t too specific and can be repeated and be funny every time.
**Verses
-Using embarrassing info they create sentences, inversion or rearranging of sentence structure to make it rhyme. Use internet rhyming dictionary to facilitate writing.
-joking and laughing ensues
-stories of past experiences with this guest coach told by older girls to younger girls.
-discussion of what content is appropriate and what isn’t
-Rearrange words and phrases according to agreed upon guidelines
-Type lyrics and email them to one another
**This was interesting difference between this new song and the traditional rugby canon tunes. This one, however, was never sung at a social, it was sung to our guest at the end of practice the day after it was written, which may account for the permissibility of written words. Were this song to become a “regular” during socials, there is no doubt that the written lyrics would discarded and it would be passed on through oral tradition.
-The following day, this song was performed on the pitch for our guest, who received a printed copy of the lyrics so she could better understand them during the production.
-Coach assured us that we were no longer an “unfun” team in her book
Research Notes
-This is a really interesting article that compares men’s rugby songs to women’s rugby songs. Wheatley discusses first the history of rugby as a hyper masculine sport with its own unique culture in which women were marginalized and thought of as cheerleaders or “rugger huggers”. She then discusses the genesis of the women’s culture and how the men’s lyrics and other subcultural capital were transformed to have new meanings for female rugby athletes.
-Points to many reasons for the female rugby social behavior including:
- Conscientious resistance to mainstream culture
- Using the drink-up as an escape from society’s norms
- Varying interpretations of women’s social positioning and ways to change it
-Explanatory passage from Dunning article about gender roles in sport. “…modern sport emerged as part of a ‘civilizing’ transformation one aspect of which was an equalizing shift, however slight, in the balance of power between the sexes.” (169) His article has an interesting section on the macho subculture in rugby, which, in conjunction with Wheatley’s creates a convincing picture of the evolution of the women’s game from the men’s.
(517 words)
ReferencesDunning, Eric. 1990. “Sport as a Male Preserve: Notes on the Social Sources of Masculine Identity and its Transformations.” In Women, Sport, and Culture, eds. Susan Birrel and Cheryl L. Cole. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. pps. 163-179.
Wheatley, Elizabeth E. 1990. “Subcultural Subversions: Comparing Discourses on Sexuality inn Men’s and Women’s Rugby Songs.” In Women, Sport, and Culture, eds. Susan Birrel and Cheryl L. Cole. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. pps. 193-211.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Duany Critical Review
Popular music in Puerto Rico: Toward an Anthropology of Salsa
Jorge Duany
The Duany reading introduces the reader to the historical and cultural roots of salsa music. The author points to social and geographical interactions between African, Amerindian, and European influences which all contributed to the Puerto Rican musical style. It is described as a mix between the mulatto plena and the black bomba with the white seis. He mentions the social implications that this fusion had on the unification of the country as a whole and on the individual ethnic groups themselves. As Duany so succinctly summarizes, “it reflects a synthesis of Afro- and Hispano-Puerto Rican trends, of the coastal lowlands and the inner highlands. Of course, these have been fused with some foreign musical currents, but that does not invalidate its basically nationalistic appeal” (207).
One interesting fact was mentioned in Duany’s discussion of the plena, a contributing musical style to salsa. He writes, “[a] kind of musical newspaper, the plena deals with the topics that most impress the coastal populations, ranging from the everyday incident to the inter-national happening” (192). Some of the songs he mentioned happened to be stereotypical caricatures of Puerto Rican citizens. Why is this meaningful? Are there examples of this in other musical genres that we have discussed?
Jorge Duany
The Duany reading introduces the reader to the historical and cultural roots of salsa music. The author points to social and geographical interactions between African, Amerindian, and European influences which all contributed to the Puerto Rican musical style. It is described as a mix between the mulatto plena and the black bomba with the white seis. He mentions the social implications that this fusion had on the unification of the country as a whole and on the individual ethnic groups themselves. As Duany so succinctly summarizes, “it reflects a synthesis of Afro- and Hispano-Puerto Rican trends, of the coastal lowlands and the inner highlands. Of course, these have been fused with some foreign musical currents, but that does not invalidate its basically nationalistic appeal” (207).
One interesting fact was mentioned in Duany’s discussion of the plena, a contributing musical style to salsa. He writes, “[a] kind of musical newspaper, the plena deals with the topics that most impress the coastal populations, ranging from the everyday incident to the inter-national happening” (192). Some of the songs he mentioned happened to be stereotypical caricatures of Puerto Rican citizens. Why is this meaningful? Are there examples of this in other musical genres that we have discussed?
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Critical Review #2
Dudrah "Drum'n'dhol"
Dudrah’s article begins with a survey of past works on British bhangra music. While useful, the author critiques their analyses for addressing bhangra as a traditional folk culture in Britain and missing the complexity of the fusion between South Asian and urban British culture. Dudrah writes about bhangra as the vehicle through which South Asians navigate their multiple senses of identity (that of the the Punjab region and their British homes). He writes about the way South Asians focus on different aspects of the music itself as a way to make sense of varying social situations. Overall, Dudrah sees the British bhangra music as a multifaceted entity which plays a part in many aspects of the life and identity formation of South Asian diasporic communities.
“British South Asian listeners, as in the example of Manjit, are able to formulate their identity as a process consisting of, among other things: the articulation of memory; generational histories; diasporic travel; affiliations with country of origin; affectionate pleasures of time spent with relatives; and the aroma of different food. In this way, bhangra music opens up dialogic moments for internal reflection that are unique according to individual life experiences” (376). While Dudrah makes an excellent point here, I think this can be a function of more than just bhangra. In what other ways have you experienced music as a “memory maker” and how has it contributed to your personal identity formation?
Dudrah’s article begins with a survey of past works on British bhangra music. While useful, the author critiques their analyses for addressing bhangra as a traditional folk culture in Britain and missing the complexity of the fusion between South Asian and urban British culture. Dudrah writes about bhangra as the vehicle through which South Asians navigate their multiple senses of identity (that of the the Punjab region and their British homes). He writes about the way South Asians focus on different aspects of the music itself as a way to make sense of varying social situations. Overall, Dudrah sees the British bhangra music as a multifaceted entity which plays a part in many aspects of the life and identity formation of South Asian diasporic communities.
“British South Asian listeners, as in the example of Manjit, are able to formulate their identity as a process consisting of, among other things: the articulation of memory; generational histories; diasporic travel; affiliations with country of origin; affectionate pleasures of time spent with relatives; and the aroma of different food. In this way, bhangra music opens up dialogic moments for internal reflection that are unique according to individual life experiences” (376). While Dudrah makes an excellent point here, I think this can be a function of more than just bhangra. In what other ways have you experienced music as a “memory maker” and how has it contributed to your personal identity formation?
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Post Spring Break Critical Review #1
Les Back (1996) p. 183-211
In the excerpt from this article, Back the gives a history of the evolution of music in the black urban areas of London, explaining its roots in reggae sound system performance and its meshing with soul, funk, and hip hop. An important historical element of this process is that of sound system performance, in which MCs "chat" lyrics to prerecorded mixes. Back writes that London MCs will often mesh symbols from Caribbean and American versions of music in order to create their own style. This fusion of black cultural sounds from around the world, he says, which results in a musical culture that is "simultaneously local, multinational, and transcultural” (210).
We have seen this trend of musical evolution throughout this course. What role does technology play in proliferating this cycle of transcultural music creation? Will music have a "local" identity/phase in the future, or will it immediately become widely disseminated?
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