The politics of drums
Popular cultures and post-colonial protest in Martinique
by Lionel Arnaud, 2021
Summary
Bèlè, danmyé and kalennda are dances and music inherited from black Africa, from European influence and from the constraints of the slave system, which are the focus of renewed attention in Martinique. Associations and activists are endeavouring to transform these practices from despised "folklores" into instruments of political, social and cultural recognition. For more than half a century, the residents of Bô Kannal, one of the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Fort-de-France, have been leading the way in this direction, using carnival as an instrument of cultural visibility, promotion and reinvention. But how is it that an apparently impoverished group, made up of individuals with precarious status, has managed to develop a long and intense cultural mobilisation, away from the institutions?
This book is based on a close study of the players and practices of the Tanbo Bô Kannal (TBK) association. From 2011 to 2018, Lionel Arnaud took an insider's look at the practical ways in which TBK members resist the cultural stranglehold of the dominant society. By immersing the reader in the history, living space and organisational methods of these cultural activists, he shows how obstacles to cultural action can be transformed into real incentives for social change.
Author
Lionel Arnaud is Professor of Sociology at the University of Toulouse and a member of the Laboratoire des Sciences Sociales du Politique (LaSSP, Sciences Po Toulouse/Université Toulouse 3).
He is the author of several books on cultural policies and movements in France and around the world. He recently published Acting through culture. Actors, issues and changes in cultural movements (ed. L'Attribut, 2018).
Native of Martinique, musician, Jean-Michel Terrine is a self-taught photographer. He has been with the group Tanbo Bô Kannal for ten years.
Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: From Bèlè des mornes au Bèlè cities
Chapter 2. Bô Kannal, a "cultural conservatory
Chapter 3. From "conscientisation" to politicisation?
Chapter 4. From cultural action to urban governance of cultural associations
Chapter 5. Acting for culture in Martinique: The new (moral) economies of tradition
Conclusion
Appendix
Reviews and speeches
International reviewsOctober-December 2023, no. 101, Pierre Odin, p. 189-193.
"The ethnographic vein of the book is expressed in the care taken to recreate the artistic and cultural abundance of the district that inspired the author [...] This book makes an important and necessary contribution to our knowledge of cultural practices in Martinique and to our understanding of their political dimension".
Cahiers d'ethnomusicologieDenis-Constant Martin, 2022, no. 35, pp. 312-315.
"Once the framework [...] has been established, this study will examine three main themes: the relationship between music and choreographic practices and the construction of identity; the relationship between music and socio-political action; and finally, adaptation to the changes brought about by the transformation of political and administrative organisations, and by the impact of the cultural industries.
Journal of Festive Studies2022, vol. 4, Jerome Camal (University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States)
The CliothèqueSeptember 2021, Caroline Villordin
"Traditional music from the West Indies has found its letters of nobility with its sounds, which are recognised throughout the world. Lionel Arnaud's richly documented book highlights the use of drums as a means of understanding West Indian society from 1945 to the present day".
Esquisses blogCarnet d'hypothèses du LAM, March 2022, " Music and identity, from the United States to Martinique. Interview with Keivan Djavadzadeh and Lionel Arnaud "LAM and the Centre Émile Durkheim (Bordeaux), 25 November 2021.
Blog Un œil sur la citéCarnet d'hypothèses Mesopolhis/Sciences Po Aix, April 2022, " Singing and dancing in Martinique. Understanding the cultural mobilisations of Tanbo Bô Kannal ".
Fort-de-France City Hall - #LIVE
Opening of the Meeting around the book : " 𝗟𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀, 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗲𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗲𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲 "Fort-de-France City Hall, Wednesday 9 November 2022. (Facebook, City of Fort-de-France)
University of the West IndiesAmphi Frantz Fanon, 10 November 2022
Lionel Arnaud, September 2022, " The rhythms of resistance
Tanbou Bô Kannal or the aesthetic affirmation of a people ", Colophon records