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<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">X-Junkmail-Status: score=0/50,
host=sentoku.ucr.edu<br><br>
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<div align="center">The SEATRiP Speakers Series presents <br>
<b>Dr. Jane M. Ferguson<br>
Australia National University, Canberra<br>
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<br>
<div align="center">Rocking in Shanland:<br>
Burmese Popular Music and Ethnic Insurgent Band Practice<br><br>
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Although Burma has the dubious distinction of possessing some of the
longest-running internal conflicts in modern history, one often
overlooked aspect is the role of popular culture and its consumption
within these struggles. Although it might seem to be an anomaly, even the
most adamant of ethnic Shan separatists can, and often do, have great
affinity for Burmese popular music. Based on over two years' ethnographic
fieldwork amongst a community of Shan insurgents and their affiliates,
this paper will examine the ways in which a key genre of Burmese popular
music, /copy thachin/ is interpreted, played, and ultimately re-signified
by politicized Shan amateur musicians in a rock band at the Thai-Burma
border. Limited fieldwork carried out in Yangon amongst Burmese
songwriters will flesh out the history and structure of the Burmese
popular music industry. Finally, I will demonstrate that borderland zones
constitute important generative spaces for certain kinds of popular
culture practice, especially when these practices can, and often do,
produce contentious political consequences. <br><br>
<div align="center">Friday, October 9, 2009 - 1:00-2:00pm - INTS
3107<br><br>
</b>(following the SEATRiP Fall Welcome Reception - same location from
12:00-1:00pm)<br>
For inquiries, please contact Mariam Lam at
<a href="mailto:mariam.lam@ucr.edu">mariam.lam@ucr.edu</a> or
x21391.<br><br>
<br>
</div>
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