Making Aboriginal Men and Music in Central Australia

Description

This detailed ethnographic study explores the intercultural crafting of contemporary forms of Aboriginal manhood in the world of country, rock and reggae music making in Central Australia. Focusing on four different musical contexts – an Aboriginal recording studio, remote Aboriginal settlements, small non-indigenous towns, and tours beyond the musicians' homeland – the author challenges existing scholarly, political and popular understandings of Australian Aboriginal music, men, and related indigenous matters in terms of radical social, cultural and racial difference. Based on extensive anthropological field research among Aboriginal rock, country and reggae musicians in small towns and remote desert settlements in Central Australia, the book investigates how Aboriginal musicians experience and articulate various aspects of their male and indigenous sense of selves as they make music and engage with indigenous and non-indigenous people, practices, places, and sets of values. Making Aboriginal Men and Music is a highly original, intimate study which advances our understanding of contemporary indigenous and male identity formation within Aboriginal Australian society. Providing new analytical insights for scholars and students in fields such as social and cultural anthropology, cultural studies, popular music, and gender studies, this engaging text makes a significant contribution to the study of indigenous identity formation in remote Australia and beyond. Title Page......Page 4 Copyright Page......Page 5 Contents......Page 8 List of Illustrations......Page 9 Acknowledgements......Page 10 Preface......Page 11 Multisited and gendered fieldwork ......Page 16 Mongrel men and music ......Page 14 Chapter 1 Real and imagined Aboriginal music, men and place......Page 20 Framing Aboriginal music and men......Page 22 Shifting terrains......Page 25 Music and identity work as mediation......Page 27 Music and identity......Page 29 Men and masculinities......Page 30 Indigenous masculinities......Page 33 Masculinities and intercultural mediation......Page 35 Mediating ‘Real’ Aboriginal men and music......Page 37 Central Australia......Page 39 Indigenous-settler relations and segregation......Page 42 Aboriginal desert communities......Page 44 Persistent ‘Othering’......Page 47 Ideological landscapes......Page 49 Upcoming chapters......Page 50 Chapter 2 Desert musics......Page 54 Gospel influences......Page 55 Country rules......Page 57 ‘Oldfella’ country men......Page 58 ‘Real’ country men......Page 63 Desert rock and reggae......Page 64 Papunya Rock and Warlpiri Reggae......Page 66 Central Australian and Top End music......Page 69 Central Australia and the South-east......Page 72 Chapter 3 Music and men in the Aboriginal studio......Page 78 A day at the studio......Page 80 The studio blackfella sociality......Page 85 The studio ethos – ‘Slack and Black’......Page 88 Blackfella creativity and skills......Page 90 Bush men playing the studio......Page 92 Accruing blackfella male respect......Page 95 Chapter 4 Men making the studio......Page 98 ‘Healthy’ competition......Page 100 Blackfella congeniality......Page 102 Blackfella etiquette......Page 103 Competing masculinities......Page 106 Blackfella allegiance......Page 109 Blackfella male studio vernacular......Page 110 Studio sex – between men......Page 113 Tidy Aboriginality and modern black males......Page 116 Chapter 5 Playing Aboriginal communities......Page 122 Lajamanu Battle of the Bands......Page 123 The oldfella acts......Page 126 The hit and miss acts......Page 127 The headline acts......Page 128 And the winner is…......Page 130 Competing Warlpiri men......Page 132 Representing self and relatedness......Page 134 The musical crafting of manhood......Page 138 Performative mediations......Page 140 Chapter 6 Blackfellas playing whitefella towns......Page 142 Todd Tavern, saturday......Page 143 Post-talk......Page 145 Moving community and gender to town......Page 146 Performing place and people in town......Page 148 Organizing town gigs......Page 151 ‘Too Much’ blackfellas......Page 152 Todd Tavern, Friday......Page 153 Repairing musical image, restoring male respect......Page 155 Mediating contradictions......Page 160 To organize a blackfella tour......Page 164 On the road......Page 166 Narrating blackfella men in other blackfella places......Page 169 Blackfella musicians in other places......Page 170 Blackfella musical brotherhood imagery......Page 172 Too much blackfella ‘Others’......Page 175 Blackfellas in whitefella places......Page 178 Tensions and alterations......Page 180 Blackfella modus operandi......Page 182 Meetings of modus operandi......Page 184 Exaggerating blackfellas and whitefellas......Page 186 Open endings......Page 189 Mediations......Page 192 Mongrel music and Aboriginal men......Page 196 Chapter 1......Page 200 Chapter 2......Page 203 Chapter 3......Page 204 Chapter 4......Page 205 Chapter 5......Page 206 Chapter 6......Page 207 Chapter 7......Page 208 References......Page 210 Discography......Page 225 Index......Page 228