Anchors and Sails: Music and Culture Contact in Corsica

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Abstract

The chapter explores the extent to which Corsica's pivotal position in the Mediterranean has affected the development of indigenous musical styles and practices. I begin with a brief examination of the types of influences and affinities that have been postulated for Corsica’s musical evolution. It is only in the island’s more recent history, however, that it is possible to document with a surer confidence instances of direct intercultural contact on a specifically musical plane and it is to an exploration of some of the most recent cases that I turn my attention in the second half of the chapter. In the course of this discussion with its more global frame of reference, I aim to offer an insight into the motivations behind contacts that have been actively courted and the implications of both literal contacts and perceived affinities at both a practical and a politico-philosophical level. Finally I refocus on the question of 'Mediterranean' music as I examine the impulse on the part of contemporary Corsican musicians to explore the specifically Mediterranean roots of their island’s music and, in some cases, to forge links with musics and musicians from other Mediterranean traditions based on a perception of shared heritage.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Mediterranean in Music
Subtitle of host publicationCritical Perspectives, Common Concerns, Cultural Differences
EditorsDavid Cooper, Kevin Dawe
Place of PublicationLanham, MA
PublisherScarecrow Press
Pages155-177
Number of pages23
Edition1
ISBN (Print)0-8108-5407-4
Publication statusPublished - 2005

Publication series

NameEuropea: Ethnomusicologies and Modernities
PublisherScarecrow Press
Volume3

Keywords

  • Corsica
  • Culture contact
  • World music fusion
  • Mediterranean identities
  • Music of oral tradition

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