Ethiopian Music and Musicians in the United States

FAIN: FA-53026-07

Kay K. Shelemay
President and Fellows of Harvard College (Cambridge, MA 02138-3800)

I will write a book about Ethiopian music and musicians in the United States, exploring musical performance as a creative process through which an immigrant community establishes and maintains ethnic, religious, and social boundaries. As members of one of the largest African communities forced to migrate in the late twentieth-century, Ethiopian American musicians are active agents within global networks stretching from the United States to their former homeland. Based on musical ethnography in Washington, D.C. and in Ethiopia, this project will shed light on the expressive culture of a subset of new Africans in the United States and contribute to a deeper understanding of music's role in helping form communities in transition.

Associated Products

Special Issue of Diaspora: Creating the Ethiopian Diaspora: Perspectives from Across the Disciplines (Book)
Title: Special Issue of Diaspora: Creating the Ethiopian Diaspora: Perspectives from Across the Disciplines
Editor: Kay Kaufman Shelemay and Steven Kaplan
Abstract: The volume bringing together essays from a Radcliffe Institute conference held in spring 2008. It provides an overview of the Ethiopian diaspora, primarily in the United States, from perspectives of scholars in history, anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, literature, political science, media studies, art history, and music. Following a general introduction providing background information about the genesis of the Ethiopian diaspora, each essay addresses the topic of cultural creativity in relation to topics ranging from Ethiopian diasporic social relations, electronic communications, literature, music, art and architecture, politics, and other angles.
Year: 2011
Primary URL: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/diaspora_a_journal_of_transnational_studies/
Primary URL Description: Diaspora is dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of the history, culture, social structure, politics and economics of both the traditional diasporas – Armenian, Greek, and Jewish – and those transnational dispersions which in the past three decades have chosen to identify themselves as ‘diasporas.’ These encompass groups ranging from the African-American to the Ukrainian-Canadian, from the Caribbean-British to the new East and South Asian diasporas.
Secondary URL: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/diaspora_a_journal_of_transnational_studies/toc/dsp.15.2.html
Access Model: Subscription
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Type: Edited Volume
ISBN: 1044-2057

"Introduction" (Article)
Title: "Introduction"
Author: Kay Kaufman Shelemay and Steven Kaplan
Abstract: This essay offers a general introduction to the volume's papers, providing the necessary background information about their genesis and relationship to other relevant publications within Ethiopian, Africa, and diaspora studies. The concept of diaspora and its relevance for the Ethiopian experience is discussed, providing a historical overview of Ethiopian movements abroad, culminating in the mass exodus sparked by the 1974 revolution. The essay explores the topic of cultural creativity in critical perspective offering definitions of creativity and its relationship to Ethiopian concepts, along with an overview of the essays, a note on technical matters, and acknowledgments.
Year: 2011
Primary URL: http://muse.jhu.edu/search/results?search_id=1002308372&action=reload
Access Model: Subscription
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Diaspora, A Journal of Transnational Studies
Publisher: University of Toronto Press

Ethiopian Musical Invention in Diaspora: A Tale of Three Musicians (Article)
Title: Ethiopian Musical Invention in Diaspora: A Tale of Three Musicians
Author: Kay Kaufman Shelemay
Abstract: This essay, based on ethnographic interview and observation, discusses the lives and careers of three prominent Ethiopian musicians from sacred, folkloric, and popular musical domains (Moges Seyoum, Tesfaye Lema, and Mulatu Astatke, respectively) whose individual initiatves have shaped the musical life of the Ethiopian diaspora during its formative years in the United States. These three carers provide an overview of musical activity with the Ethiopian American diaspora community since its inception and shed light on concepts of creativity as conceived both in the Ethiopian homeland and among the immigrant musicians profiled. The conclusion suggests that the ability of each man to negotiate the transition to diaspora life varied according to the musical domain in which he has engaged, his personal background, and the moment and circumstances of his arrival in the United States.
Year: 2011
Primary URL: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/diaspora_a_journal_of_transnational_studies/toc/dsp.15.2.html
Primary URL Description: Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies Volume 15, Number 2/3, Fall/Winter 2006 (published i 2011)
Access Model: Subscription
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies
Publisher: University of Toronto Press

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