Department of Anthropology
Associate Professor
224 Waldo Hall
541-737-3851
Email:
david.mcmurray@oregonstate.edu
| Ph.D. |
Anthropology, University of Texas - Austin |
1992 |
| M.A. |
Anthropology, University of Texas - Austin |
1983 |
| B.A. |
History, University of Texas - Austin |
1978 |
Research
Teaching and Research Interests
- Areas: Middle East, North Africa, U.S.,
Mediterranean World, Western Europe
- Topics:Transnational Communities; Popular
Culture; Critical Theory; Anthropological Perspectives on
Colonialism, Nationalism and Conflict; Migration; Islamic Culture;
Ethnicity/Minority Populations; Historical Anthropology; Visual
Anthropology
Research Relating to my 'Politics of Music' Course
I wrote the text pictured here to accompany my course, ANTH 210,
Comparative Cultures. It's not a commercially published text, just
a series of case studies on the politics of music. I chose to
compare Brazilian popular music with Jamaican, Cambodian, Hawaiian,
Moroccan, and the music of North African immigrants in France. I
want to expand that class by adding sections on Cuban music, Irish
music, South African music, Cambodian music, and Scottish and
Acadian musics of Canada. I am always searching for ways to expand
the number of case studies. I am currently working on the following
ones:
The Politics of Music
Click on book to see larger photo.
Cuban Section
Let me just mention what I'm thinking about with the Cuban music
segment: This should be fascinating and easy to do because of the
extraordinarily high profile of Cuban music in the USA, dating back
to before Ricky Ricardo and American exposure to Cuban music via "I
Love Lucy" episodes. Good sources exist covering the historic roots
of Cuban music. I'm not sure how to approach the topic yet, but I
seem drawn in part to the need to mention the extreme political
polarization of the music. Think of Jose Marti's poetry being put
to the melody for Guantanamera, which is then brought up to the US
and given to Pete Seegar to record. He puts it out in 1966 and it
becomes something of an anthem. I wonder if it was seen at the time
as a protest against the blockade of Cuba by the US? I wonder if
the US left took it up as a mark of solidarity with Cuba? Any
ideas?
On the other side, I am having more difficulty finding pieces
addressing what's happening today. Lots of fluff has been written
in the wake of the enormous success of Ry Cooder's Buena Vista
Social Club CD and video. What about the anti-Castro side of Cuban
music? For obvious reasons, none of that surfaces in groups located
on the island. Does it play a large part in Cuban music in the
Cuban diaspora? I have been told that musicians in Miami use the
'guajira" style of music to sing out against Castro and to comment
on current events such as the Elian controversy, but I haven't been
able to find any examples in CD format. Others tell me some salsa
groups attack Castro. I have also been told that Gloria Estefan's
Mi Tierra album needs to be understood as a cry against Castro's
Cuba in the form of praise for the pre-revolutionary music of the
island. She also has a song called "Cuba Libre" which is obviously
anti-Castro. Anything else I am overlooking? What about the punk
band Arranca? Anyone familiar with their music? What about Nil
Lara? Any help you could give me on the topic of Cuban music would
be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Irish Section
Another college student active in Sinn Fein circles in the USA
has offered to help out on this one. I am anxious to get started
and want to go back, if possible, all the way to the Cromwell
period to pick up the story of the brutalization of the Irish at
the hands of the British. Anyone with ideas for texts to be mined
for details or knowledge of the music of the Orange side of things,
please get in touch, as that is a more difficult but equally
interesting side of the politics of music in Ireland. If you want
to read a particularly interesting article on Bono, Van Morrison,
Bob Geldorf, etc., and the place of pop in the Irish question, see
Bill Rolston's "'This Is not a Rebel Song': The Irish Conflict and
Popular Music" in Race & Class 2001. 42(3): 49-67.
Publications
Publications (I'm only listing publications since the year 2000,
not including book reviews, conference proceedings, etc.)
Careful, the question of copyrights on internet is still very
fuzzy; the self-archiving of documents seems licit; but be careful
to always refer to the printed version since many differences may
exist between the internet and the printed versions.
