Tuning the kingdom
Subtitle: Kawuugulu musical performance, politics, and storytelling in Buganda
By: Damascus Kafumbe
Series: Eastman/Rochester studies in ethnomusicology; Eastman/Rochester studies in ethnomusicology
Published: 2018
Language: eng
Number of pages: 151
ISBN-13: 9781580469043
Copyright date: 2018
Subjects: Music; Music and identity politics
Description: "Tuning the Kingdom draws on oral and written accounts, archival research, and musical analysis to examine how the Kawuugulu Clan-Royal Musical Ensemble of the Kingdom of Buganda (arguably the kingdom's oldest and longest-surviving performance ensemble) has historically managed, structured, modeled, and legitimized power relations among the Baganda people of south-central Uganda. Damascus Kafumbe argues that the ensemble sustains a complex sociopolitical hierarchy, interweaving and maintaining a delicate balance between kin and clan ties and royal prerogatives through musical performance and storytelling that integrates human and nonhuman stories. He describes this phenomenon as 'tuning the kingdom,' and he compares it to the process of tensioning or stretching Kiganda drums, which are always moving in and out of tune. Even as Kawuugulu continues to adapt to the rapidly changing world around it, Tuning the Kingdom documents how Kawuugulu has historically articulated and embodied principles of the three inextricably related domains that serve as the backbone of Kiganda politics: kinship, clanship, and kingship"--Publisher's description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 137-141) and index.
Table of contents: title: Preface : a kingdom in and out of tune; title: Introduction : Kawuugulu musical performance, politics, and storytelling; title: The Kawuugulu Clan-Royal Music and Dance Ensemble; title: Kawuugulu and intra-clan politics; title: Kawuugulu and royal politics; title: Kawuugulu and inter-clan politics; title: Conclusion : a performative constitution.