Topic: "Resilience and Resistance in the Folks Songs of Civil War El Salvador: Paths to a Decolonial Research Practice"
Emily Abrams Ansari, Assistant Dean of Research and Associate Professor, Don Wright Faculty of Music, Western University
Abstract: What are the obstacles to fully decolonizing our research practice in music, both when working with others and during the analysis and research process back home? In this talk I explore this question by describing my own experience of participating in a multidisciplinary, community-based research collaboration in El Salvador; a country significantly shaped by neo-colonial conflict and exploitation. Our work is primarily focused on the Salvadoran Civil War, which lasted from 1980 to 1992 and resulted in approximately 75,000 deaths. The research team brings together 17 partner organizations in El Salvador and scholars from Western University and KU Leuven from History, Anthropology, Psychology, Architecture, Hispanic Studies, and various Humanities disciplines. We strive for a decolonial, collaborative, and horizontal methodology that recognizes the interconnectedness of historical memory with contemporary social issues. As the musicologist on the team, I have to date run historical memory workshops on wartime music-making in three Salvadoran communities and begun to gather recordings for an archive of wartime folk songs. My first attempts at analysis back home have involved interpreting and contextualizing the folk songs of refugee songwriter Norberto "Don Tito" Amaya. These songs, I argue, offer a compelling means to consider responses to trauma in highly collective, anti-individualist societies, demonstrating music's powerful role in bolstering resilience and resistance simultaneously. But undertaking this work, and exploring the literature on music and trauma, repeatedly precipitated reflexivity about research encounters in a neo-colonial context. Beginning to confront my biases, I will show, has opened my eyes to what may be significant benefits not only for my own understanding and research, but also for the communities with whom we collaborate.
Room 134, Edward Johnson Building at 80 Queen's Park
Event is free and open to the public, and is followed by a casual reception.