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• 1 2022-05-20T06:44:53-07:00 A Latin American Dialogue for Social Inclusion 61 Community Musics, Ethnicities, and Identities plain 2022-10-20T07:14:40-07:00 3.529259697034136, -72.11719286855818 34.05262035398833, -117.7531221975769 -8.217531514507344, -55.76953755515143

  Community Musics, Ethnicities, and Identities

  Organizer

  Juan Sebastián Rojas E. (Fundación Universitaria Juan N. Corpas, Colombia)

  Moderator

  Julio Mendivil (Universität Wien)

  Language

  English

  Presenters

  Agenor Cavalcanti de Vasconcelos Neto (Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Brasil)
  Jessie Vallejo (Cal Poly Pomona, USA)
  Juan Sebastián Rojas E. (Fundación Universitaria Juan N. Corpas, Colombia)

  Other participants

  Arturo Prado
  Corporación Folclórica Kandombeo y Color (Colombia)
  Willie Acuña, Mariachi Sol de Mexico de Jose Hernandez (USA)
  Flora Delgado, Civil Engineering student, Cal Poly Pomona (USA)
  Ary até Ykuema, musician and member of the Kuximawara community (Brazil)

  A Latin American Dialogue for Social Inclusion

  Community Musics, Ethnicities, and Identities

  In a globalized world dominated by neoliberal economies and flooded by social inequality—now decimated by a global pandemic—ethnic minorities throughout the Americas continue to experience marginalization and exclusion. This marginalization and exclusion is frequently perpetuated by historical tensions of race, class, nation, and gender. In this context of oppression, communities frequently embrace traditional or popular musical and performance practices to build meaning, construct networks of solidarity, and create a sense of community, often strengthening cooperation and collective action. Three cases are presented in this panel session, from Amazonas (Brazil), Los Angeles (California), and Bogota (Colombia). They display diverse situations in which community organization and local performance practices converge to construct spaces of cultural resistance, enabling processes of identity construction and the development of a sense of belonging, among other forms of social impact.

  Agenor Vasconcelos presents the case of Kuximawara music among Indigenous musicians in the Brazilian Amazon city of São Gabriel da Cachoeira, describing Indigenous musicology applied to a current local genre of popular music and its connections with the Jurupary myth. This work reinforces Indigenous peoples’ resistance movements and has challenged Vasconcelos to rethink norms learned in the music industry. Jessie Vallejo presents some of the challenges and possibilities for decolonizing music curricula at the undergraduate university level in a Hispanic Enrolling (aspiring to be a Hispanic Serving) Institute. In particular, she discusses the case of mariachi ensembles as part of a music degree program, drawing from her experience as a student, professor, and ensemble director, in addition to the experiences of her students. Juan S. Rojas presents the case of religious Afro-Colombian rituals from the Pacific Coast of Colombia that have been transplanted to the city of Bogotá. The rituals are oriented towards community building in the context of economic migration or forced displacement. Since the late 1980s, these celebrations have tackled diverse social issues such as uprooting and structural racism in the context of emerging multicultural policies.

  This session addresses the decolonization of music scholarship in several ways. First, each ICTM member co-presents with a research collaborator who completes the presentation by drawing on a grassroots perspective. This decentres the scholar’s authority and makes native voices directly audible in this event. Second, to encourage more multidirectional dialogue, we have allotted 13-minute presentations and prioritized lengthy discussions. During discussion, participants address transversal issues proposed by the moderator, Julio Mendívil. The moderator acts as a central methodological figure, facilitating questions, threading connections between cases, and exerting equanimity in the use of time. To challenge hegemonic ideas of academic communication, we weave our presentations together as collective narratives rather than as three independent presentations. Third, we aim to reposition the importance of single authorship, acknowledging that social interactionism in the context of knowledge production can lead to other, sometimes more inclusive, kinds of discourses.

  Un Diálogo Latinoamericano para la Inclusión Social

  Músicas Comunitarias, Etnicidades e Identidades

  En un mundo globalizado, dominado por las economías neoliberales, inundado por la desigualdad social, y ahora, diezmado por una pandemia global, las minoría étnicas a lo largo y ancho de las Américas siguen experimentando marginalización y exclusión, con frecuencia son perpetuadas por tensiones históricas de raza, clase, nacionalidad y género. En este contexto de opresión, las comunidades con frecuencia aprovechan prácticas musicales y performáticas de carácter tradicional o popular para construir sentido, crear redes de solidaridad y desarrollar sentido comunitario, con frecuencia fortaleciendo la cooperación y la capacidad de acción colectiva. En esta sesión, presentamos tres casos del Amazonas (Brasil), Los Angeles (California, Estados Unidos) y Bogotá (Colombia), los cuales exponen diversas situaciones en las que la organización comunitaria y las prácticas performáticas locales convergen para construir espacios de resistencia cultural, posibilitando así procesos de construcción de identidad y fortalecimiento del sentido de pertenencia, además de otras formas de impacto social.

  Agenor Vasconcelos presenta el caso de la música Kuximawara entre músicos indígenas en la ciudad amazónica brasilera de São Gabriel da Cachoeira, describiendo prácticas de musicología indígena aplicadas a un género actual de música popular local y sus conexiones con el mito de Jurupary. Este trabajo refuerza los movimientos de resistencia de los pueblos indígenas y ha desafiado al autor a repensar normas aprendidas en el ámbito de la industria musical. Jessie Vallejo presenta algunos de los desafíos y posibilidades para descolonizar currículos musicales a nivel de pregrado universitario en una institución estadounidense que busca matricular altos porcentajes de estudiantes de ascendencia hispánica. En particular, ella discute el caso de los ensambles de mariachi que hacen parte del programa de música, basándose en su experiencia como estudiante, profesora, y directora de ensamble, además de en las experiencias de sus estudiantes. Juan S. Rojas presenta el caso de algunos rituales religiosos afrocolombianos de la costa Pacífica colombiana, los cuales son trasplantados a la ciudad de Bogotá y son orientados hacia procesos de construcción comunitaria en contextos de migración y económica o desplazamiento forzado. Desde finales de la década de 1980, estas celebraciones han abordado diversos problemas sociales —tales como el desarraigo y el racismo estructural— en un contexto de políticas multiculturales emergentes.

  Esta sesión propende por la descolonización de los estudios musicales de diversas maneras. En primer lugar, cada miembro de ICTM co-presenta con alguno(s) de sus colaboradores de investigación, quienes complementan la ponencia desde su perspectiva, local y de base. Queremos descentrar la autoridad del investigador y hacer audibles de manera directa a las voces nativas en un evento de esta naturaleza. En segundo lugar, para motivar un diálogo más multidireccional, hacemos presentaciones cortas de 14 minutos para priorizar la discusión, el diálogo y las preguntas del público. Durante la discusión, los participantes atenderán temas transversales propuestos por el moderador, Julio Mendívil. El moderador es una figura metodológica central, pues facilita las preguntas, teje las conexiones entre los distintos casos y ejerce ecuanimidad en el uso del tiempo. Para desafiar ideas hegemónicas sobre la comunicación académica, vamos a hilar nuestras ponencias entre sí como narrativas colectivas, en vez de como tres presentaciones independientes. Tercero, nuestro objetivo es reposicionar la importancia de la autoría individual, reconociendo que el interaccionismo social en el contexto de la producción de conocimiento puede llevar a otras formas de discurso, a veces más inclusivas y colaborativas.

   
  

  Further References

  Friedmann, Susana. 1996. “Hibridación o Resistencia? El Velorio de Santo en la Música del Pacífico Colombiano” [Hybridity or Resistance? The Velorio de Santo in Colombian Pacific Music]. Ensayos: Historia y Teoría del Arte 2: 76–96. Universidad Nacional de Colombia. https://revistas.unal.edu.co/index.php/ensayo/article/view/46440.
  Garcia, Gina Ann. 2019. Becoming Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Opportunities for Colleges and Universities. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
  Garcia-Pusateri, Yvania Andrea. 2019. “Homeplace: A Case-Study of Latinx Students Experiences in Making Meaning within a Multicultural Center.” Ph.D. dissertation, Miami University.
  Grueso, Libia, Carlos Rosero, and Arturo Escobar. 2018. "The Process of Black Community Organizing in the Southern Pacific Coast Region of Colombia." In Cultures of Politics, Politics of Cultures, 196-219. Routledge.
  Gutierrez Keeton, Rebecca, Corina Benavides López, and José M. Aguilar-Hernández. 2021. "'It Shaped Who I Am': Reframing Identities for Justice Through Student Activism." Association of Mexican American Educators 15 (1):1-28.
  Mackinlay, Elizabeth. 2010."Big Women from Burrulula: An Approach to Advocacy and Applied Ethnomusicology with the Yanyuwa Aboriginal Community in the Northern Territory, Australia." Applied Ethnomusicology: Historical and Contemporary Approaches.
  Madison, D. Soyini. 2010. Acts of Activism: Human Rights as Radical Performance. Cambridge University Press.
  Molina, Natalia. 2014. How Race is Made in America: Immigration, Citizenship, and the Historical Power of Racial Scripts. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
  Rappaport, Joanne. 2005. Intercultural Utopias. Public Intellectuals, Cultural Experimentation, and Ethnic Pluralism in Colombia. Duke University Press.
  Salazar, Lauryn C. 2011. "From Fiesta to Festival: Mariachi Music in California and the Southwestern United States." Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles.
  Santos, Boaventura de Sousa. 2001. "Los Nuevos Movimientos Sociales" [The New Social Movements]. OSAL: Observatorio Social de América Latina 5: 177-188.
  Vasco, Luis Guillermo. 2007. "Así es mi Método en Etnografía." [This is my Ethnographic Method]. Tabula Rasa 6: 19-52. In general, we believe that these exercises help with envisioning and constructing new practices that will enhance the poetics of knowledge communication in ethnomusicology, ethnochoreology, and other related fields.
   
  

  Reflections

  The panel is structured around research approaches and methods that seek to overcome societal prejudices about listening to and understanding diverse musical practices, and respecting them as equal. We felt the conversation was helpful in applying and experimenting with inclusive formats for conferences. By including research participants in these spheres of dissemination of academic knowledge, we challenge the historic separation of researchers and research participants. This is a key aspect for decolonizing the humanities and social sciences. It is essential that we advocate for more democratic relationships in academic knowledge production.

  We carefully considered how to represent our ideas and arguments in multiple languages while allowing time for discussion. Communication in multiple languages is important to directly and faithfully convey cultural meanings, making explicit attempts to minimize mediation or top-down elitist approaches while still paying attention to cultural and linguistic translation, interpretation, and representation. It was no small challenge, and we look forward to multilingual exchanges becoming more common in academic conferences.

  Overall, local feedback was very positive. The event was well-attended by Kuximawara musicians, and continues to be a popular topic of discussion among them. Singer-songwriter Ary até Ykuema’s participation encouraged new local encounters and had a positive local impact. Similarly, collaborators Willie Acuña and Flora Delgado appreciated being included in a type of academic discussion where they have not always felt welcomed. Arturo showed appreciation for being included; as someone who holds an MA in Education and is a schoolteacher and NGO chair, his participation holds academic and professional value for him since it positions his work more uniquely in an international sphere.

  In general, we believe that these exercises help with envisioning and constructing new practices that will enhance the poetics of knowledge communication in ethnomusicology, ethnochoreology, and other related fields.

   
  

  Questions to Consider

  Which points raised throughout the ICTM Dialogues series could we include in a statement on best practices for decolonizing higher education and academia? What steps will be crucial for us to ensure we make changes, however small, to decolonize without leaving things as they are or leaning too much on the optics of a discussion without making substantive change?

  What can be good strategies to further democratic and egalitarian dialogues between music, dance, and culture scholars and non-academic knowledge producers?

  How can collaboration between scholars and their research interlocutors contribute to improving the lives of all stakeholders?