Music as Resistance in Africa

Music is an art form used to express emotions and convey ideas. These qualities have made it a beneficial medium for articulating and circulating messages for social change throughout history. On the African continent, music has been used to protest apartheid, colonialism, political marginalisation and, in more contemporary times, femicide, gender-based violence, respectability politics and police brutality. In this seminar, music from Africa that has been used as a form of resistance will be positioned as a cultural text through which African societies can be analysed. The music will be read in conjunction with the sociopolitical and cultural contexts to understand its use as a resistance medium. This seminar does not require prior music training, as there will be no musical analysis.