Latin American Music : Interdisciplinary music research
Course description:
Latin America is a region with a vibrant, rich and diverse music culture. A long history of encounters sparkled by European colonization, slavery, mass migrations, tourism, and globalization has produced unique music forms that beyond being fundamental in daily life, have served to shape numerous identities and political values in the region. This music universe that has captivated most of the world with its dancing rhythms and eclectic ensembles, offers a powerful window into study of popular culture, of the negotiations between various ethnic groups, and ultimately shows us the multiple possibilities deriving of diversity and hybridity.
This course provides BA and MA students with a general overview of Latin American music in its cultural context. The focus is on popular, folkloric and religious musics and their hybrid forms including salsa, samba, bossanova, capoeira, rumba, conga, son, cumbia and reggeaton. Through a combination of historical, cultural, aesthetic and musical analysis the course investigates the following questions: What characterizes Latin American music? What issues and processes are responsible for the similarities and the differences within each subregion? What role does music play in socio-political life? And, how do we approach its study?
With a specific emphasis in Cuba and Brazil, the course provides students with knowledge about the musical techniques and designs of Latin-American music such as their rhythmic structures, call and response patterns, melodic design, musical form and aesthetic narratives, together with understandings of how these musics have shaped the formation of hybrid identities and various forms of nationalism and transnationalism.
The course is divided in three parts: The first deals with Latin America as a region. This introduces a historical, geographical and cultural context of the region, discusses aesthetic values, and introduces appropriate terminology referring to Latin American music. In addition various kinds of methods of analysis will be presented including musical, ethnographic, discourse and online-based analysis. The second and third sections deal respectively with the specific cases of Cuba and Brazil. These two sections cover such issues as: the history, aesthetics, and music structure of particular genres, music and nationalism, role of music in carnival, religious contexts, among others.
Lectures will be in English and Norwegian or only in English, depending on the students. Students may write their final projects in English, Norwegian, Swedish, or Danish.
Course Expectations:
Students are expected to do all reading and listening for the course before each class and to write weekly short essay responses. Readings will be compiled in a compendium and available on a course reader or online. Listening will be made available through the course website. The easiest way to succeed in this course is to attend lectures, do the reading and listening on a regular basis, be willing to participate, and consult with the instructors in office hours if you are unsure about a topic.
Evaluation:
The qualifying tasks to be allowed to take the final examination include:
- Consistent attendance and class participation
- Two weekly essays of one page each in response to readings and listening, respectively.
- A 4 to 5-page essay plus a 20 minute presentation linked-up to the final paper
Final exam: 10 to 12-page paper on a topic of the student's choice