Hymns and Constructions of Race: Mobility, Agency, De/Coloniality examines how the hymn, historically and today, has reinforced, negotiated, and resisted constructions of race. It brings together diverse perspectives from musicology, ethnomusicology, theology, anthropology, performance studies, history, and postcolonial scholarship to show how the hymn has perpetuated, generated, and challenged racial identities.
The global range of contributors cover a variety of historical and geographical contexts, with case studies from China and Brazil to Suriname and South Africa. They explore the hymn as a product of imperialism and settler colonialism and as a vehicle for sonic oppression and/or resistance, within and beyond congregational settings. The volume contends that the lived tradition of hymn-singing, with its connections to centuries of global Christian mission, is a particularly apt lens for examining both local and global negotiations of race, power, and identity. It will be relevant for scholars interested in religion, music, race, and postcolonialism.
Edited by:
Erin Johnson-Williams,
Philip Burnett
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Weight: 666g
ISBN: 9781032394534
ISBN 10: 1032394536
Series: Congregational Music Studies Series
Pages: 258
Publication Date: 07 February 2024
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
1 Introduction: Constructing Hymns and Race Erin Johnson-Williams and Philip Burnett Part I: Mobility 2 Tonic Sol-fa Abroad: Missionaries, Hymn Singing and Indigenous Communities Robin Stevens 3 Chinese Hymns and Worship Practices as Global Mobility Huijuan Hua and Shujin Zhang 4 The Faith and Politics of Emily Kathleen Hooper (1878–1974): Complicating the Analysis of Christian Worship Music and Western Styles of Music in China Ellan A. Lincoln-Hyde Part II Agency 5 And Wash the Æthiop White: Whiteness as Salvation and the Reception History of Wesley’s Conversion Hymn Daniel Johnson 6 Anglican Ritualism and Xhosa Hymnody: The Training and Contribution of Reverend Daniel Malgas Andrew-John Bethke 7 We Become What We Sing: Hymnody as Control June Boyce-Tillman 8 Co-Writing our Hymn for Liberation Liz Gre Part III Coloniality 9 Performing Race and Place Through Hymn-Singing: A Brazilian Perspective Marcel Silva Steuernagel 10 Translations and Retranslations: Cherokee Hymnody and the Literary Endeavors of Elias Boudinot T. Wyatt Reynolds and Abraham Wallace 11 Sounding Coloniality and Voicing Resistance Becca Whitla Part IV Decoloniality 12 Decolonising a Hymn through its Mobility: A Case of Re-Location and Altered Musical Aesthetics Kgomotso Moshugi 13 Hybridizing Heritage: Hymns as Decolonial Practice amongst the Javanese Surinameses Jun Kai Pow 14 Challenging the Hymn Canon of ‘Christian Otherness’: The Nigerian Christian Songs Project as Means of Musical Decolonization Monique M. Ingalls, Ayobami A. Ayanyinka, and Mouma Emmanuella Chesirri Foreword: Singing Down the Dividing Walls C. Michael Hawn
Erin Johnson-Williams is Lecturer in Music Education and Social Justice in the Department of Music at the University of Southampton, UK. Philip Burnett is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in Music at the University of York, UK.
