"Party music", expression of identities, aesthetics and power in the African diaspora

Frank Marcon

pp. 289-298

in: Ivana Medi, Marija Dumnić Vilotijević, Ivana Medić (eds), Contemporary popular music studies, Berlin, Springer, 2019

Abstract

Using ethnographies conducted in discos in Lisbon (Portugal) and Salvador (Brazil), recognized for being "African" nightclubs or promoting the so-called "African" parties, I analyze the processes, aesthetic, the meanings and the dynamics of identity and difference in contexts of social arrangements mediated by music and dance in the diaspora. In the cases examined, the issue of ethnicity and generational cut are from privileged participant observation of their expressivities, their practices and their narratives. I focus especially on narratives about the life trajectories of DJs, producers and animators of these parties, as well as the narratives about music, dance, body, immigration and identities, prepared by producers and participants.