Mashindano! Competitive Music Performance in East Africa

edited by Frank D. Gunderson

'Mashindano' - from Kiswahili, Kushindana (to compete) - is a generic term for any organised competitive event. Here it relates to popular entertainment activities within which cultural groups competing for recognition by their communities, as leaders in their fields.

Nineteen leading scholars contribute new studies on this little researched area, making a long overdue contribution to musical scholarship in East Africa, with a focus on Tanzania. The authors address key questions: What are the various roles played by competitive pratices in musical contexts? How do music competitions act as mechanisms of innovation? How do they serve their communities in identity formation? And what, specifically, do competitive music practices communicate, and to whom? Local dance contests, choir competitions, popular entertainment, song duels, and sporting events are all described. Work is drawn from ethnomusicology, history, musicology, anthropology, folklore, and literary, post-colonial, and performance studies.

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Reviews

'...stimulating in that it comprises a volume of essays by differing authors, with differing experiences, and with differing areas of expertise...not only accessible but also enthusiastic.': The World of Music

'An important contribution to the literature on East African music and dance...wide range of disciplinary and theoretical approaches...it is a significant contribution to a long-perceived vacuum.': British Journal of Ethnomusicology