Ethnomusicology
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Music and Politics: State Patronage of Traditional Music in Burma
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Music in Mainland Southeast Asia: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture
Music and Politics: State Patronage of Traditional Music in Burma
Gavin Douglas, MRi
Why has Burma’s bankrupt military dictatorship suddenly increased its funding and patronage of the traditional arts?
•Why did so many new projects begin in 1993?
•In what way does it benefit the ruling junta?
•What are the consequences for artists?
Shortly after the 1988 pro-democracy uprising the military regime governing Burma (controversially renamed Myanmar in 1989) abandoned their xenophobic, Marxist-socialist policies in favor of an ostensibly open-door capitalist market economy. Beginning in 1993, the regime set in place numerous nation-building projects aimed at valorizing national culture and the pre-colonial kingdom. Through these projects, the regime has sought to justify its own rule and repel the growing influence of other cultures. Included in these cultural state projects are new museums, historic renovations, archeological excavations, revival of traditional festivals, new universities and numerous other ventures all linked to the pre-colonial history of the country. New projects that are quickly changing the musical landscape include a new University of Culture, Standardized notation projects, and a national performing arts competition.
Publications and Presentations
Douglas, Gavin.
2007 “Myanmar’s Nation-Building Cultural Policy: Traditional Music and Political Legitimacy” in Authenticity and Cultural Identity: Performing Arts in Southeast Asia. Yoshitaka Terada (ed.)National Museum of Ethnology (NME) Senri Ethnological Reports 65, Osaka, Japan. Pp: 27-41.
2005 “Who’s Performing What? State Patronage and the Transformation of Burmese Music,” in Burma at the Turn of the Twenty First Century. Edited by Monique Skidmore. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Pp. 229-247.
2003 “The Myanmar University of Culture: For Patriotism and National Unity,” Journal of Chinese Ritual, Theatre and Folklore. Vol. 141 (September): 261-281.
2003 “The Sokayeti Performing Arts Competition of Burma/Myanmar,” The World of Music. Vol. 45 (1): 35-54.
2007 “Music and Politics in Burma” and “Cross-Cultural Aesthetics” poster presentation with UNCG MRi (music research institute) presented at the Society for Music Teacher Education (MTSE) annual conference. UNCG. Greensboro, NC. Sept 14, 2007.
2006 “Music and Political Authority: Patronage of Traditional Music under Burma’s Military Dictatorship,” Invited presentation at Cornell University. March 16, 2006.
2005 “Music and Dictatorship: State Patronage and the Control of the Past in Burma,” presented at the 38th World Council, International Council for Traditional Music. Sheffield, UK. Aug 3-10, 2005.
Burmese Music and the World Market
This project explores discrepancies between local Burmese aesthetics, the aesthetics of the world music market and the effects of globalization on Burmese music. Issues of misrepresentation and misunderstanding become complicated not only by the market-oriented system that distributes such products but by the limited control that musicians within Burma have over their own representation, and finally, by the international pro-democracy movement which flavors all things Burmese with the struggle for human rights.
Publications
Douglas, Gavin.
(forthcoming) “Mediated Tradition: Globalization of Burmese Music” Chapter found in festschrift for Robert Garfias. Title: Still to be Determined. Timothy Rice. Ed. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
2008 (in press) Essay Review of Burmese recordings. “Maha Gita, Princess Nicotine and Nai Htaw Paing Ensemble: Mon Music of Burma.” Journal of American Folklore. Fall 2007, #479.
2005 “Burmese Music and the World Market” Anthropology Today. Vol 21. Issue 6, December. Pp: 5-9.
Recent presentations:
2006 “The Slide Guitar in Post-Colonial Burma: Local Adaptations to a Global Instrument,” Annual meeting for the Society for Ethnomusicology. Honolulu, Hawaii. Nov. 2006.
2006 “Aspiring to the Diatonic Scale: U Khin Zaw’s Construction of Burmese Music Theory,” International Burma Studies Conference. Singapore. July 13-15.
2004 Plenary Session Speaker—Global Ethnomusicologies “Musicology in Burma/Myanmar: Some Observations,” Annual meeting for the Society for Ethnomusicology. Tucson, AZ. Nov 5th, 2004.
Music in Mainland Southeast Asia: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture
Forthcoming: Oxford University Press Global Music Series (Bonnie Wade and Patricia Campbell, eds.)
Music of Mainland Southeast Asia will introduce the reader to several traditions from this under-represented area through an exploration of three themes.
•music and cultural diversity
•music and political turmoil
•music and globalization
Each of these themes slices across national boundaries drawing parallels and contrasts between various traditions. Each, additionally, lends itself to a discussion of both the heritage/classical traditions, those of the ethnic minorities and the contemporary popular traditions.
