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Some theoretical perspectives on African popular music

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 September 2011

Austin Emielu
Austin Emielu
Affiliation:
Department of the Performing Arts, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria E-mail: austinmaro@yahoo.com; austinmaro@unilorin.edu.ng
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Abstract

Popular music occupies a dominant position in the musical landscape of contemporary Africa, yet academic study of popular music is still in its infancy in most parts of Africa. This may be due in part to the absence of theoretical frameworks that stimulate popular music discourses from the African perspective. This paper is an attempt to fill this lacuna. Based on a critical and qualitative analysis of data gathered from field situations, participant observation, interviews and published literary materials on the subject matter, the paper theorises that the creation of African popular music is characterised by two significant processes: indigenisation and syncretisation. The paper further states that African popular music is a socially responsive phenomenon, sustained through the interplay of cross-cultural and trans-national social dynamics. The paper therefore proposes ‘social reconstructionism’ as a new theoretical paradigm for the analysis of African popular music. The paper also suggests that the term ‘African pop’ should be adopted as a generic name for all popular music forms in Africa.

Type
Articles
Information
Popular Music , Volume 30 , Issue 3 , October 2011 , pp. 371 - 388
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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