The journal Cadernos de Estudos Africanos announces the opening of a call for papers dedicated to the theme ‘Sound Revolutions’, marking the fiftieth anniversary of the independence of Guinea-Bissau in 1973, and Mozambique, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Angola in 1975.
The concept of ‘sound revolutions’ is understood as polysemic and can encompass a wide variety of sound experiences and subjectivities linked to historical processes of transition and/or political and social transformation. It can be called upon to invoke moments of rupture and collective mobilisation, as in the case of anti-colonial struggles, as well as to discuss colonial pasts, continuities and discontinuities that are expressed daily in the various post-colonial contexts.
Coordinated by Marco Roque de Freitas (INET-md / NOVA FCSH) and Cristina Sá Valentim (ICS / ULisboa), this special issue aims to explore the relevance of expressive culture – including sound, music and dance – in the procedures and practices of political subjectivity, nation-building, creation and recreation, preservation, negotiation and/or contestation, the claiming of identities, memories and heritage, and in the production of strategies of power for purposes of domination or resistance.
We aim to bring together contributions that analyse colonial power dynamics and their legacies in contemporary times, as well as post-colonial challenges in the configuration of performative practices in Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe, by covering a wide range of topics:
- Music, colonial science and violence;
- Music, colonial power and African agency/resistance;
- Cultural policies relating to music and dance by state entities or by movements who oppose them;
- Sound/music categorisation as a control mechanism;
- Broadcasting, cinema, press and other media, and propaganda;
- Music events on a local, national or international scale (such as culture festivals);
- Music, gender and sexuality;
- Entertainment industry;
- Phonographic industry;
- Social and employment status of musicians and artists;
- Practices of production, mediation, circulation and consumption of expressive culture within the World Music category;
- Sound organisation of colonial and post-colonial cities;
- Interactions between different ethnolinguistic groups mediated by music and dance;
- Production and/or reactivation of colonial and/or post-colonial sound archives;
- Challenges of digitisation and restitution/repatriation of musical instruments and sound recordings;
- Copyright and related rights;
Papers rich in ethnographic fieldwork that follow an interdisciplinary approach and propose theoretical, conceptual and/or ethical frameworks to understand the complexity of colonial and post-colonial dynamics, and the invocation of sound in processes of ‘nation-building’ in African contexts, particularly in the aforementioned five countries, will be particularly valued.
Articles can be co-authored, must have between 8,000 and 10,000 words and be submitted in either English or Portuguese language. Articles must be submitted until July 15, 2025, to cadernos.cei@iscte-iul.pt, with the subject line ‘Sound Revolutions’.
Instructions for publication are available at: https://revistas.rcaap.pt/cea/infoautores