From the Banjo to Dembow: Afro-Caribbean Music in Motion
LAST 240
Spring 2019
| Section:
01
|
| Crosslisting:
AFAM 240 |
| Course Cluster: Sustainability and Environmental Justice |
This course analyzes the global circulation of Afro-Caribbean musicians, dancers, audiences, musical styles, and even musical instruments from the beginning of European colonialism to the present day. We will seek to understand the political interconnections between the Caribbean and the wider world by focusing our attention on specific "musical itineraries." These will include, among others, the creation of the banjo by enslaved people in the Caribbean and the instrument's role in black resistance in North and South America, the musical aftershocks of the Haitian Revolution in Cuba and Louisiana, the production of black internationalist politics at weekly "regge" dances led by Jamaicans in early 20th-century Costa Rica, and the rise of reggaetón between Panama, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and the United States.
We will question how these musical itineraries propelled black political movements and shaped larger ideas about race, nation, diaspora, and the meaning of "the Caribbean" itself. No prior musical knowledge is required for this course. |
|
| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS LAST |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
|
Fulfills a Major Requirement for: (CBST-MN)(LAST) |
|
Past Enrollment Probability: 90% or above |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Course "readings" will include podcasts from Afropop Worldwide and other listening activities.
We will also read chapters and selections from the following texts:
Christina Abreu, RHYTHMS OF RACE: CUBAN MUSICIANS AND THE MAKING OF LATINO NEW YORK CITY AND MIAMI (University of North Carolina Press, 2015)
Geoffrey Baker, BUENA VISTA IN THE CLUB: RAP, REGGAETÓN, AND REVOLUTION IN HAVANA (Duke University Press, 2011)
Laurent Dubois, THE BANJO: AMERICA'S AFRICAN INSTRUMENT (Belknap/Harvard University Press, 2016)
Héctor Fernández L'Hoeste and Pablo Villa, CUMBIA! SCENES OF A MIGRANT LATIN AMERICAN GENRE (Duke University Press, 2013)
Peter Manuel, editor, CREOLIZING CONTRADANCE IN THE CARIBBEAN (Temple University Press, 2011)
Elizabeth McAlister, RARA! VODOU, POWER, AND PERFORMANCE IN HAITI AND ITS DIASPORA (University of California Press, 2002)
Harvey Neptune, CALIBAN AND THE YANKEES: TRINIDAD AND THE UNITED STATES OCCUPATION (University of North Carolina Press, 2007)
Laura Putnam, RADICAL MOVES: CARIBBEAN MIGRANTS AND THE POLITICS OF RACE IN THE JAZZ AGE (University of North Carolina Press, 2013)
Dixa Ramírez, COLONIAL PHANTOMS: BELONGING AND REFUSAL IN THE DOMINICAN AMERICAS FROM THE 19TH CENTURY TO THE PRESENT (New York University Press, 2018)
Raquel Rivera, Wayne Marshall, and Deborah Pacini Hernández, eds., REGGAETON (Duke University Press, 2009)
Ned Sublette, THE WORLD THAT MADE NEW ORLEANS: FROM SPANISH SILVER TO CONGO SQUARE (Chicago Review Press, 2009)
|
Examinations and Assignments:
Major assignments include two short papers, a final paper proposal, and a final research paper. |
| Instructor(s): Walker,Andrew Times: .M.W... 10:20AM-11:40AM; Location: TST101; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 25 | | SR major: 4 | JR major: 4 | | |
| Seats Available: 1 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 5 | JR non-major: 4 | SO: 4 | FR: 4 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
|
|