Sound matters
- This essay proposes a reorientation in postcolonial studies that takes account of the transcultural realities of the viral twenty-first century. This reorientation entails close attention to actual performances, their specific medial embeddedness, and their entanglement in concrete formal or informal material conditions. It suggests that rather than a focus on print and writing favoured by theories in the wake of the linguistic turn, performed lyrics and sounds may be better suited to guide the conceptual work. Accordingly, the essay chooses a classic of early twentieth-century digital music – M.I.A.’s 2003/2005 single “Galang” – as its guiding example. It ultimately leads up to a reflection on what Ravi Sundaram coined as “pirate modernity,” which challenges us to rethink notions of artistic authorship and authority, hegemony and subversion, culture and theory in the postcolonial world of today.
Author details: | Lars EcksteinORCiDGND |
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-98393 |
ISSN: | 1866-8380 |
Title of parent work (German): | Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Philosophische Reihe |
Subtitle (English): | postcolonial critique for a viral age |
Publication series (Volume number): | Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Philosophische Reihe (119) |
Publication type: | Postprint |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2016/10/19 |
Publication year: | 2016 |
Publishing institution: | Universität Potsdam |
Release date: | 2016/10/19 |
Tag: | Galang; Great Britain; M.I.A; Sound; South asian diaspora; music; pirate modernity; postcolonial critique; transculturality |
Issue: | 119 |
Number of pages: | 13 |
Source: | Atlantic studies 13 (2016) Nr. 4, S. 445-456. - DOI: 10.1080/14788810.2016.1216222 |
Organizational units: | Philosophische Fakultät / Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik |
DDC classification: | 8 Literatur / 80 Literatur, Rhetorik, Literaturwissenschaft / 800 Literatur und Rhetorik |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Publishing method: | Open Access |
Grantor: | Taylor & Francis Open Access Agreement |
License (German): | CC-BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International |