Lecture 12 - Musics of Oceania, Colonialism and Hybridity

didgeridoo

wooden trumpet (aerophone) fashioned from a branch hollowed out by termites, developed by indigenous ppl of australia, it has a guttural sound (plays relax the lips, blowing air until they vibrate), low rumble with drone overtones, buzzy timbre, pulsations, rhythms and volume changes are produced by movement of tongue and mouth and differing the force of air blown, use circular breathing, only one played at a time so fundamental pitch differ, played during ceremonies and for entertainment so has spiritual value, body may contain indigenous art and symbolism

wangga song

from australia, individually owned dance song, received in dreams from spirits, although in some cases singers claim to have composed songs without spirit interventions, performed for ceremonial and non ceremonial contexts, sung by one or two men accompanying themselves on clapsticks (idiophones) while another plays the didjeridu, vocal descents similar to melodies in north american indigenous songs, improv does not normally play a role, special owords with meaning attributed at times, meaningless vocables for the articulation of rhythm, basic structural (textual, melodic) framework present

what is the basic structure of the wangga song?

stretch of singing with didgeridu accompaniment, clapsticks enter and the didjeridu continues, clapsticks continue into next vocal subsection with didgeridu accompaniment until the end of each item, bushfire has one text phrase repeated 5-6 times within one descent

hungry listening

settler’s starving orientation toward sound or listening that fixes or fixates on resources provided by indigenous musical context, focuses on compositional ethics and responsabilities by looking at the history of indigenous song collecting in canada and the way that canadian composers have attempted to repurpose these songs as aesthetic ressources, encourages us to assume critical listening positionality

critical listening positionality

listening from both indigenous and settler colonial perspectives, introduces concept of indigenous art and music to foreground resistance to integration and to signal the affectively awkward, incompatible or irreconcilable nature of such meetings, to disrupt intercultural music’s implications of union, hybridity, syncretism and reconciliation, indigenous songs as sovereign actors and living beings that sound a nation’s sovereignty

how did colonial encounters reshape hula and haka?

now performance as metonymy so indigenous people perform for the colonizer’s gaze, disjuncture between metonymic group and the actual one, representation is theatrical so the orient is the stage where the whole east is confined, there ar figures whose role is to represent the larger whole from which they emanate, orient seems to be, not an unlimited extension beyond the familiar european world but rather closed field, a theatrical stage affixed to europe

hawaian drum dance chant (instrumentation)

one or two drums, large single headed standing drum (pahu) and small drum, hand held (kilu)

hawaian drum dance chant (voicing)

one voice, ornamentation, syllabic sections, vibrato is extended in some sections, vocal timbre is full, deep and resonant, portamento (sliding between pitches)

hawaian drum dance chant (rhythm)

tempo is steady, get a solid earthy feel, interruptions come to shift sections or introduce a line of poetry

hawaian drum dance chant cultural considerations

considered completely free from outside influence, important for hawaian music identity as it maintains indigenous language, spiritual beliefs, history and social customs, comes from poetry (mele, for prayers, some for history and some for rituals), pahu drums accompany the mele to hold spiritual power

popular music of hawaii example

traditionally use percussion instruments, chanting, simplicity, storytelling, the voice has falsetto and vibrato elements with tight harmonied adapted from yodelling, ukulele invented in 79, based on braga brought to hawaii by portuguese same year, official modern instrument of hawaii

susap

comes from papua new guinea, uses a lamellophone, its usually improvised, functions to maintain social relationships, speech surrogate (helps men save face and gives women cover/agency) and also can just be for entertainment

lamellophone

plucked idiophone, bamboo mouth harp, twangy timbre, wobbly, boing effect, flexible tongue (lamella) plucked to produce sound, fundamental pitch does not change

rhythm

steady plucking pattern, more closely related to speech than song, rhythms based on intent, short patterns are more speech like, slower wobbly patterns allow space for overtone shifts

performance as metonymy (balme reading)

hula and haka come from stand in for entire cultures, colonial audiences treat a single performance form as a shorthand representation of hawaiian or maori identity, reducing cultural complexity to a few recognizable signs

colonial gaze (balme reading)

indigenous performances are shaped by expectations of european observers, colonized peoples are required to perform themselves in ways that are legible, contained and familiar to colonial spectators

theatricalization (balme reading)

balme argues that colonialism turns cultures into stages, performance becomes a controlled spectacle with fixed costumes, gestures and settings, making cultures observable and manageable

folklorization (balme reading)

cultural practices are froze in an imagine pre formed modern past, signs of modernity are erased so performances appear ancient, timeless and authentic, even when they are newly created or adapted

invented/reinvented tradition (balme reading)

what later appears as traditional hula or haka is often a product of historical crisis, indigenous leaders intentionally revived and reshaped performance to respond to colonial pressure and cultural threat

hybridity and syncretism (balme reading)

hula and haka incorporated new elements (european instruments, clothing, performance contexts) while still being recognized as indigenous. Tradition emerges as mixed, adaptive, and dynamic, not pure.

indigenous agency (balme reading)

Although shaped by colonial forces, Hawaiians and Māori were active participants, not passive victims. They adapted performance strategically for political assertion, cultural survival, and internal community cohesion.

performance and identity formaiton

Performance becomes a tool for constructing collective identity, both for outsiders (nation, empire, tourism) and insiders (intertribal unity, cultural continuity).

authenticity as a problematic concept (balme reading)

challenges the binary between “authentic” tradition and “inauthentic” tourist performance. All performances are historically situated and shaped by audience, purpose, and power relations.

costume and the body (balme reading)

Dress, props, and bodily presentation are key sites where cultural meaning is negotiated, moving from everyday clothing to theatrical costume depending on audience and context.

performance in moments of crisis (balme reading)

Hula and haka were transformed during periods of political, cultural, and demographic threat, making performance a form of cultural resilience and negotiation.