Nationalism

Turino defines “Nation” and “State” as two separate terms not synonymous with each other. “State” is defined as a territory where a form of government (i.e. army or judicial body) presides. A “Nation” is then defined as a group of people with a shared history, language, and a goal toward political sovereignty. With this information I would like to examine the song “Not in Our Name” by DJ Spooky (remix, featuring Saul Williams).

Link to song:  http://www.rhapsody.com/dj-spooky/celestial-mechanix-the-blue (select Disc 1, Track 7)

Link to original speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ_o660d0oc

“Pledge of Resistance” (Not in Our Name) is actually the title of a poem written in 2003 by Saul Williams, a politically charged artist who opposed and still opposes the Bush Administration, the War on Terrorism, and the War in Iraq. The poem itself references many contemporary issues especially pertaining to the Bush administration (George W. Bush to be exact) of the late 1990‘s and earlier 2000‘s. Using the words “not in our name” exemplifies how a nation and sate can be seen as separate but yet combined together as one. When the lyrics say “another world is possible, and we pledge to make it real,” that speaks to the change the people want to make to their own government.

Having this political message as a part of a song really helps spread the message the original poem was trying to do. This is due to our use of music (main stream, pop culture America) as a background or soundscape. For example, I first heard this song while listening to one of my “stations” on Pandora.com, a website dedicated to helping the listener find other music that they might like by selecting either an artist or song they presently like. At the time I was using the music as more of a soundscape until this song came on. Something about it, perhaps the vocal quality and the issues being talked about, really made me listen. I stopped focusing on whatever I was doing and listened for a few minutes to the lyrics. This would generally not happen if it was still in the form of a speech or poem. It would then have not been on the website I was on. I imagine one would need to actually try to find a specific speech or poem rather then have it just come across the computer so naturally. Song is a great method to use for getting politicized messages out to the public. While, the genre I was listening to was not main stream pop, it was rather popular electronic music among some crowds within pop culture.

The ways by which musical nationalism is accomplished varies from country to country.  Sometimes governments fund musical productions to try and create an increase in national support by the citizens for certain political policies. This can be accomplished with or without the people’s approval. Musical nationalism can be represented on a grand or small scale. A grand representation of musical nationalism would be the musical piece “The East Is Red”. This piece was put on by the Chinese government during the administration of premier Zhou Enlai and was premiered in China during the 1960s throughout the entire country. “The East Is Red” was a piece that was created in support of communism after the creation of the Peoples Republic of China. This play showed the struggles of the Chinese people and created a common identity that everybody could relate to. Musical nationalism can also be varied and diverse where different regions, cities and towns have their own music; or on the contrary where whole countries are basically unified through the same music. In some situations the government controls the music played by local radio stations. Through this censorship, political and nationalist views are created without the consent of the people.   (the only picture I could find of “The East Is Red)

In a completely different scenario musical nationalism could be coming from people expressing a feeling of pride in their country, for example; singing the national anthem at the beginning of sporting events or singing “God Bless America” during the seventh inning stretch of a baseball game. (fans at a baseball game)

In the article by Sue Tuohy“ The Sonic Dimensions of Nationalism in Modern China: Musical Representation and Transformation” it says that music can not only depict emotions but can also represent a community and through this action a nation can represent itself. Take jazz for example. During the period of the 1930s through the 1950s jazz developed completely independent of the government, although it was greatly influenced by the social and economic plight of the African-American’s political situation. Jazz is a combination of many musical cultures, predominantly a spilt between the harmonic structure of European classical music and African polyrhythm. Once jazz became a cultural phenomenon it gained the interest of the government and they started to support and advertise it, primarily because it made money. Jazz brought people of all colors and nationalities together, which was a huge step forward at that period in time.

 (New Million Dollar Theater in Los Angeles, CA.

America has many musical styles that have mixed origins similar to jazz. In saying this I would say America’s identity through music is represented by its great amount of diversity. In conclusion I would say that a nation has a direct musical affect on any music that is played within it and all music has a direct effect on its nation.

 

 

 

 

Often, when we talk about musical nationalism, we refer to a state’s efforts to a national identity through music. But what if the nation isn’t a state? This is the case of the Basque Country – Euskal Herria, or Euskadi, a culturally and linguistically autonomous region in the Pyrenees of northwestern Spain and southwestern France.

Throughout history, as long as there have been states, the Basque people have never autonomously governed themselves. However, they have always held on to a distinct culture, language and lifestyle. As Lewy D’Avartiague said in 1896, “The Basques are one of the unique people-islands to be found on the face of the earth, completely different in every sense from the peoplse around them, and their language, surrounded by Aryan languages, forms an island…” (Kurlansky 1). A major mystery around the Basque people is that no one knows where they came from. Their language is completely unrelated to any of the other languages around them. “Euskera (or Basque), a non-Romance language… has long puzzled linguists because of its seemingly untraceable origins” (Medrano 6). In the midst of Spanish, French, and Portuguese, Basque is the only non-Romance language. Neither is it a Germanic language. Many attempts have been made to connect Basque to a larger language family, but most have been discredited. The fact that their language is unique in relation to other European languages has been a source of pride for Basque people and also a justification of separatist and nationalist ideals.

Basques have never assimilated to the mainstream cultures around them. As Kurlansky states, “For several centuries, while everyone around them spoke Latin languages, the Basques spoke Euskera. While neighboring cultures followed the male line, the female line of Basques inherited property and titles because women did the farm work, while men went off to war. While everyone else was Christian, the Basques worshiped the sun and moon and a pantheon of nature spirits” (Kurlansky 36).

In more recent times, Basque people have been fighting for their right to autonomy in a space governed by the French and Spanish. The modern idea of Basque nationalism emerged in the end of the 19th Century and beginning of the 20th Century with Carlism and the new centralized governments of Spain and France. Carlism was a political ideology that sought to keep the Bourbon line of Carlos V in power in the Spanish throne. Many Basque people believed that Carlists would maintain their right to relative autonomy in relation to the state (Woodsworth 31). Sabrino Arana, sometimes called the “Inventor of Basque Nationalism,” came from a Carlist family (Woodsworth 32). In 1894, he founded the Eusko Alderdi Jeltzalea, or the Partido Nacionalista Vasco (PNV), the Basque Nationalist Party (Woodsworth 34). Many of Arana’s nationalist notions centered around the purity and superiority of the Basque race over the Spanish and French who he saw as immigrants and invaders to the area. Arana started out as a fervent separatist who was fighting for the right to an autonomous state for the Basque people. However, near the end of his life, he was advocating “maximum autonomy within the Spanish state” (Woodsworth 34). Still today, there is major disagreement between those Basques who favor complete independence, and those who are happy with cultural and regional autonomy within a governing state (Woodsworth 34).

In the 20th Century, the Basque people suffered much persecution at the hands of the Spanish dictator, Francisco Franco who ruled from the end of the Spanish Civil War until 1975 (Medrano 138). The Basque’s long opposed Franco and under his rule, it was made illegal to speak Basque, in an attempt to destroy Basque autonomous culture (Medrano 139). Since the establishment of a democratic Spain in 1975, Basque people have been trying to work within the established order to fight for autonomy (Medrano 144). The Basque Nationalist Party has been very active in recent years. However, one of the most influencial Basque nationalist groups is ETA, Euzkadi Ta Azkatusuna, or Basque Homeland and Liberty, a group often labeled as “terrorist” internationally. ETA was founded in 1959 and very influenced by Marxist ideals and leftist revolutions such as the Cuban revolution of that same year (Woodsworth 1959). ETA took a very militant attitude towards the struggle for Basque autonomy and was very active during the Franco era.

The struggle for Basque autonomy is reflected in most aspects of modern Basque culture, music included. Basque musicians often perform highly politicized music, and even when not explicitly political, their music generally draws on iconic Basque instruments and styles to express Basque nationalism. One example of an explicitly political Basque song is “Gora Herria” or “Long Live the Homeland” by Fermin Muguruza.

“Gora Herria” by Fermin Muguruza

Fermin Muguruza is a Basque popular musician who plays the trikitixa, mixing traditional Basque styles with popular rock and hip hop. He makes it very clear that he is a defender of Basque nationalism and autonomy and social justice. Often, he has been accused of being a part of ETA, but has denied these accusations, though has expressed solidarity with ETA activists in songs such as “Sarri, Sarri” which applauds two ETA members’ escape from prison.

“Sarri Sarri” By Fermin Muguruza

The trikitixa is one of the most iconically Basque musical traditions. Trikitixa refers to a music and dance style, but also to an instrument, the diatonic button accordion of the Basque Country (Allemendi 1). Two of the most well known contemporary trikitixa musicians are Joseba Tapia and Kepa Junkera. Both of these musicians have been very associated with Basque nationalism and identity. Tapia is known for sticking more closely to the “traditional” roots of Basque music. Here is an example of his group Tapia eta Leturia performing “Txekiar Telebistan” in an iconically Basque style.


“Txekiar Telebistan” By Tapia eta Leturia

Tapia also writes and performs explicitly political songs relating to Basque nationalism and separatism. One of his compositions is the song “Wafa,” refering to the first Palestinian female suicide bomber. The song takes a very complex and controversial stance, celebrating the Palestinian need for independence and the sacrifice of people working towards that, but at the same time, never condoning the violence of “terrorism.”

Kepa Junkera performs a much more showy version of Basque music, as you can see in this clip of a highly staged and orchestrated performance for television.

Throughout Basque history, the struggle for autonomy has been portrayed in music not only through explicit political lyrics and action, but also through the maintenance of a very distinct Basque culture and identity. Basque music is a source of pride and a means for group inclusion.

Bibliography

Allemendi. “What is trikitixa?” Euskal Herriko Trikitixa Elkartea. 2008. <http://www.trikitixa.net/index.php?id=197>

Gallop, Rodney. A Book of the Basques. University of Nevada Press. Reno & Las Vegas. 1970

Kurlansky, Mark. The Basque History of the World. Walker & Company. New York. 1999.

Medrano, Juan Díez. Divided Nations: Class, Politics, and Nationalism in the Basque Country and Catalonia. Cornell University Press. Ithaca and London. 1995.

Woodworth, Paddy. The Basque Country: A Cultural History. Oxford University Press. 2008.

“What is trikitixa?” Euskal Herriko Trikitixa Elkartea.

I spent my junior spring semester 2007 abroad in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, and later returned to Nicaragua during last winter term 2008. Each time I was in Central America, I heard music everywhere–from people’s radios, blaring from taxis, pumping from buses in the streets. However, much of the music, as Scruggs references in his Nicaraguan article, was from Mexico or the United States, and while I did not want to pass judgment on the musical tastes of any of the countries in which I traveled, it saddened me to hear Michael Jackson and Maná in the streets instead of music written and produced by Nicaraguan artists within the popular realm.

However, when I did hear “authentically” Central American music was when I was witness to or participating in political parades or events–like Turino references, explicit examples of nationalist construction. This was made infinitely clear to me when I was in El Salvador, on March 24th, the then-27th anniversary of the death of the Archbishop Óscar Romero, known colloquially as “Monseñor Romero,” who is the biggest national hero of the Salvadoran people. Monseñor Romero began to advocate for the Salvadorans who were being oppressed, intimidated, and killed by the government during the 1970s through the military and by death-squads. He began as a social conservative and after he saw the plight of his people and after religious figures (who were teaching Liberation Theology throughout El Salvador) were assassinated, he began preaching social justice and the right for every Salvadoran to have universal human rights. He was killed while giving mass on March 24th, 1980, by Roberto D’Aubuisson, and each year on that date there is a huge parade and an entire night of festivities to celebrate his life–there are long musical performances as well, by artists from all over Latin America.

Many things that Turino and Scruggs highlighted in both of these articles took place in El Salvador. To begin with, Romero would give mass over the radio so that guerillas and campesinos (roughly translated as “peasants”) all over the country could listen to what his message would be. He was also a source of news, as the press was censored, and so people would be able to find out what was actually happening in the country through his radio broadcasts. Shortly after his death, the Salvadoran civil war broke out and during this time, music was being disseminated over the radio that was actively revolutionary, and advocated the cause of the FMLN (the revolutionary guerillas) against the U.S.-backed governnment military troops. (Reagan was spending $1 million a day to keep the troops fighting in El Salvador, to maintain U.S. influence and control by keeping the then-current, maleable administration in power.)

At one of the marches I participated in in El Salvador, there were entire albums sold at the end devoted to “Revolutionary Music,” much of which was written about/from El Salvador and would have been broadcast during the war; it was forbidden to listen to the stations on which it was broadcast during the war. To me, this signifies the power of music was a mobilizing tool, and the creation of an alternative nationalist identity (the one of the guerilla, the FMLN fighter, “of the people,”) through the songs and lyrics of the music, that was particularly threatening to the Salvadoran regime, led by Arturo Molina, at the time.

Here is the march music, “Himno de la Unidad,”; the lyrics are, “El Pueblo, unido, jamás será vencido,” translating to “The people, united, will never be defeated.”

Here is the homily that Romero delivered the day before he died, pleading with the army to stop killing innocent civilians:

I include this one because it was included on the CD of “Revolutionary Music,” even though it is purely a textual audio file.

I think that the use of music to further the revolutionary cause and create an alternative national identity in El Salvador was particularly useful, not only through its dissemination by radio, but as a way to use the lyrics to give social commentary on the political situation as governed by the oppressive regime in power, and to give voice to an alternative expression of national identity through a differing vision through the future as expressed through song. Scruggs highlights this in his article, the clash between the dictatorship in Nicaragua and the FLSN, but I think it is an important aspect of the creation of an alternative nationalist identity, through song, that is so compelling here. The last tune I want to leave you with is by Los Guaraguao, a group from Venezuela that writes extremely political, revolutionary music, and whose song “Casas de Cartón,” talks about the social injustice of watching the rain from small cardboard/metal houses, which was the living environment of many people in El Salvador at the time and which continues to this day. It was premiered in the movie “Voces Innocentes,” or “Innocent Voices,” a documentary-like film about the use of child soldiers during the Salvadoran war, and the fact that this song was prohibited to be sung or listened to on the radio at that time gestures towards its political power. Los Guaraguao actually sang this song at the Monseñor Romero memorial celebration in El Salvador while I was there in 2007.

            Last weeks discussion on Nationalism shed some new light onto a poignant high school experience of mine. In 2003 when the U.S entered the war in Iraq, a few of students in my high school (literally a few-3 of us), including myself, immediately stopped participation in the morning ritual of standing to face the flag and reciting the pledge of allegiance. I had never even given this ritual a second thought until I experienced such strong negative emotions towards my government, and it seemed like the least I could do in the face of these feelings. I was pretty sure my fellow students felt as ambivalent as I did about standing and reciting the pledge, and at the very most would simply ask me why I didn’t rise. But that was not the case.            A couple days of quiet, personal protest later, I encountered, amongst the majority of my peers during orchestra rehearsal, a petition asking that the three of us be kicked out of the school, and I watched almost everyone sign it. I knew that no matter how many signatures the culprit(‘s) received that I wouldn’t get kicked out of school; I was more confused than anything. On what grounds did they even think I should be kicked out of school? No one ever said anything to me or my friends directly, there was just talk around school about how our lack of support for the war, which manifested in my fellow students as participating in the pledge, was anti-nationalist of us, especially during a time when “my country needed my support.” I remember asking myself: Is it my goal to be anti-nationalist? What does that even mean? Does nationalism mean supporting every decision you government makes, especially if it is based on popular sovereignty? That was the argument of my fellow students. At the time I couldn’t articulate what nationalism really was, or what it even meant to me, I just knew that I didn’t support my governments decision and I had a right to free speech. I couldn’t understand what possibly warranted such a petition; what was so confusing about the issue of nationalism? I maintained that it existed but didn’t know how I felt about it, and my fellow students seemed to be so sure of how they felt. Unfortunately, the petition signers had more “guidance” (misguidance) than I did. The history teacher and my cross-country coach was a self-proclaimed “non-biased” teacher. It was proclaimed more often when the war began because he was a marine. (Just a side note-he also gave every senior he ever taught or coached the gift of Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” as a graduation gift). He was quite biased in his lectures as far as I could tell. I felt at the time that if I had not sought any information regarding the conflict in Iraq outside of the classroom that I would have agreed with him, adhered to his ideas of nationalism (which included reciting the pledge every morning), and supported the war. For the first time I no longer trusted the classroom. I could see how “nationalism” was being taught and propagated.            Turino’s inclusion of the importance of education in propagating nationalism in “Nationalism and Latin American Music” hit home for me. The same is true for the credence he gives to cultural nationalism. The importance of my participating in the pledge to my fellow students is testimony to that. But what I was not familiar with is how recent a construct it is. It makes sense to me that we are still struggling to articulate nationalism because of the nature of the phenomenon and its basis in rhetoric because it’s still so new and hasn’t been fully deconstructed. The currency of its propagation is sentiment, and therefore the language and methods used are so rhetorical in nature that to articulate feelings about nationalism in any other way is a challenge for high school students and adults alike.            Jane Sugarman’s analysis of Albanian Nationalism in “Imagining the Homeland” focuses on the evocation of the war hero and pastoral imagery in poetry and song text to foster nationalism. The same images come to mind when I think of nationalist songs in America. The “Star Spangled Banner” being the official national anthem, referring to the Revolutionary War, and certainly one of the most popular nationalist songs is Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America”, often considered the unofficial national anthem. I’ve often wished that “God Bless America” was our national anthem specifically because it referred to America’s beautiful scenery and not war. But since last weeks discussion I’ve contemplated the rhetoric in both. I’ll post the lyrics as opposed to an mp3 or video as evidence: God bless AmericaLand that I love,Stand beside her, and guide herThrough the night with a light from above From the mountains, to the prairiesTo the oceans white with foam,God bless America,My home, sweet home The lyrics are entirely rhetorical. Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land” was inspired by “God Bless America” precisely because of it’s rhetorical nature. He considered it to be unrealistic and complacent. Guthrie fights fire with fire here by writing one of the most popular Americana songs with lyrics that refer to more that beauty and victory and in this way expresses the feeling of disillusion attached to nationalism due to its construction in culture, in this case music specifically. (this video is at the top of the page, I don’t know why) 

All of the discussion in the past week regarding nationalism has intrigued my interest in the United States’ own engagement with musical nationalism.Reading about nationalism can be particularly interesting in thinking about the United States’ own form of musical nationalism, both today and when the country was founded.

Turino discusses in his article “Nationalism and Latin American Music,” that musical nationalism often comes across in national anthem songs. There are certain iconic songs in America, that we are all taught when we are young, which are considered unifying, patriotic songs for the United States of America. “America the Beautiful” is one of these songs which was written in 1895. “You’re a Grand Old Flag” is another, written in 1906 for a stage musical about George Washington Jr. The two patriotic songs that were associated with the national anthem are “My Country Tis of Thee” and the “Star Spangled Banner.” “My Country Tis of Thee” was first performed in 1831 and was considered the US National Anthem before the “Star Spangled Banner” was officially adopted as the anthem in 1931.

Turino argues that newly formed Latin American states in the 19th C. often used anthems to legimate their state. These countries did this by making an anthem sound more like the anthems of already established countries, rather than making it distinctive. This is particularly interesting in light of the song “My Country Tis of Thee,” which is sung to the tune of “God Save the Queen,” Britian’s own national anthem. Even in 1831, about 55 years after American Independence is achieved, it seems remarkable to me that a popular song, emblematic of American identity, would be written to England’s anthem! This reinforces Turino’s concept of legitamacy for newly independent nations. The US embraced a song to represent unity,
that also represented the country the USA fought so bitterly against in order to achieve independence.

The Turino article expalins that there are two kinds of musical nationalism, state or elite generated forms and reformist or popular forms. In relation to these patriotic songs it is important to differentiate whether the state creates these songs or just reinforces their meaning for national unity. In the US it is the latter; the government continues to play the national anthem at most important events. Both “My Country Tis of Thee” and “The Star Spangled Banner” were sung at the Presidential Inauguration in January. The first, perfomed by Aretha Franklin (see you tube clip above) and the second by the Navy Band Sea Chanters at the end of the inauguration ceremony. At a ceremony such as this these patriotic songs, which most American know by heart, are used to bring the country together and create a sense of unity.

In the US, music can also be used to challenge the state that often does not accurately represent the people. There is a long history in the United States of using popular music to speak out against the state and the actions worldwide that end up reflecting Americans. One contemporary example of this in pop culture is Pink’s song “Dear Mr. President,” in which she blantantly lays out her concerns with Bush as a person and the actions he took in office.

The United States often uses music to encourage American nationalism through patriotic and anthem-like songs. These tactics can be viewed similarly to the way ethnomusicologists, like Turino, examine the use of musical nationalism in other countries. In addition, music can be used by the people to challenge the state and force everyone to examine what kind of nation America is and is becoming.

Given that India as we know it now is a relatively new country (1947), attempts at projecting unity and national pride amongst the many different peoples of India are still quite evident, especially in popular music and media.

 This first video is a modern interpretation of India’s National Anthem, “Jana Gana Mana” done by music icon A.R. Rahman.  The original anthem was composed in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore, and was adopted by the Indian Government (and translated into Hindi) in 1950. The video begins with a montage of musicians from all areas of the country, with both classical and folk instruments. India is a country that is very much socially divided, whether it be on basis of caste, religion, language, native area, degree of cosmopolitanism, last name, etc… This patriotic piece brings many of these elements together, “celebrating the differences” as the Albania article mentioned. The differences in the people in the montage are signaled with differences in clothing, instruments, and accent (these elements reveal religion, class to some extent, and native region). The YouTube comments are quite interesting- many times, people mention the phrase “unity through diversity”.  The comments also reveal that the song invokes a sense of national pride amongst listeners, and provokes a lot of political discussion (especially regarding Pakistan). As mentioned in the Albania article, a sense of nationalism in instilled in the video through the use of military images, a sign for India’s historic fight against British colonialism. This reminder may bring various ethnic groups together through the feeling of a shared history. These militaristic images also show a sense of masculinity in Indian nationalism-  India is always referred to in feminine terms, and here the men are shown defending “her”. Following typical trends of nationalist imagery, this video shows only pastoral scenery.   

This song is from the Bollywood movie “Pardes”. Like the previous video, pastoral images are included, as are people of various regions (though all settings are in North India). In addition, there are many images of historic landmarks and tourist destinations, reminded viewers of the things that people outside of India recognize it for. Relating back to the reading, this shows how people outside of a nation’s boundaries help to define it.  My personal experiences in India have shown me the vast diversity in the population. Whenever I visit India, the first things I notice have to do with the various social stratifications and fragmentations. As someone who is somewhat familiar with the country but was not born and raised there (I was born and raised in Ohio), I am very curious about nationalist media pieces like this one. It is quite interesting to see which traits are commonly projected in music and videos with nationalist sentiment (of which there are many). It is also interesting to think of the things that are left out: typically class (and/or caste) is never mentioned or implied, urban settings (where there is a lot of pollution) are not shown, and poverty and overpopulation are never hinted at. Of course, these things will never make one feel proud of their homeland, but it raises the question, what is a country and how does it relate to its projected image? If there are so many parallels in the projection of nationalist sentiment around the world, what makes these images unique to a particular region? Are they only just different signs for the same vague message, and in what ways do institutions, like education systems and government, instill in us an ability to read these signs?