Intonations: A Social History of Music and Nation in Luanda, Angola, from 1945 to Recent Times

by Marissa J. Moorman

Overview

Intonations tells the story of how Angola's urban residents in the late colonial period (roughly 1945-74) used music to talk back to their colonial oppressors and, more importantly, to define what it meant to be Angolan and what they hoped to gain from independence. A compilation of Angolan music is included in CD format.Marissa

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780821418239
Publisher:	Ohio University Press
Publication date:	10/15/2008
Series:	New African Histories
Edition description:	1
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Marissa J. Moorman is a professor in the Department of African Cultural Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is the author of Intonations: A Social History of Music and Nation in Luanda, Angola, 1945 to Recent Times. She is on the editorial board of Africa Is a Country, where she regularly writes about politics and culture.

Editorial Reviews

"Intonations makes a significant contribution to our understanding of how Angola became what it is today, and it also makes a serious case for why popular music is political in surprising and unsettling ways."--African Studies Review

"If you're a reluctant reader, do yourself a favour: buy a copy of this elegantly written and engaging book and listen to the fantastic CD included in the plastic sleeve at the back! Once you've swayed and shimmied to some of the greats, including Urbano de Castro, N'Gola Ritmos and Paulo Flores, you will be dying to know more. Moorman doesn't simply provide translations - often in two languages - of her chosen tracks, she shares her meticulous research to tell the story of how Angolans in Luanda's shanty towns used music to talk back to the colonisers. Her book is packed with information drawn from national radio archives and many extensive interviews with some of the country's foremost musicians. An academic historian, Moorman is a clean writer who has produced a very compelling piece of work. I refer to Intonations as 'my bible'."--The I. B. Taurus Blog

"Marissa J. Moorman presents a fascinating social and cultural history of the relationship between Angolan culture and politics. Intonations deals with the subversive possibilities of popular music in Angola's shantytowns during the struggle for independence.... The writing is fresh, clever, and the argument nuanced and layered...."--World of Music

"Through extensive interviews with singers and musicians and archival materials that survived civil wars, this well-written, engaging, and innovative study filled with illustrations, informative footnotes, and an audio CD is an outstanding contribution to the literature of independence movements. Summing Up: Highly recommended."--CHOICE

"This engaging and provocative study places urban Angolans at the center of the freedom movement narrative by exploring the emergence of the semba music scene in the musseques or shantytowns of Luanda.... the CD alone is worth the cover price."
-- Oral History Review

"The book on the subject (of the role of music in the Angolan independence movement.)"--Afropop Worldwide

"Marissa Moorman convincingly demonstrates that culture not only reflected, but was also constitutive of national identity. She shows that ordinary folks and non-political elites played as big a part in the construction of independent Angola as those involved in the liberation struggle....All in all, the book is clearly structured, conscientiously produced, and provides true reading pleasure."
-- Africa: Journal of the IAI

"The writing is fresh, tight, clever. The argument is nuanced and layered. It's analytical but also deeply personal. Intonations is a provocative and compelling book."
-- Anne Pitcher, author of Transforming Mozambique: The Politics of Privatization, 1975-2000

From the Publisher