ABOUT THIS BOOK

Transforming Vòdún examines how musicians from the West African Republic of Benin transform Benin’s cultural traditions, especially the ancestral spiritual practice of vòdún and its musical repertoires, as part of the process of healing postcolonial trauma through music and ritual. Based on fieldwork in Benin, France, and New York City, Sarah Politz uses historical ethnography, music analysis, and participant observation to examine three case studies of brass band and jazz musicians from Benin. The multi-sited nature of this study highlights the importance of mobility, and diasporic connections in musicians’ professional lives, while grounding these connections in the particularities of the African continent, its histories, its people, and its present.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Sarah Politz is Assistant Professor of Music at The City College of New York.

REVIEWS

“Transforming Vòdún contributes to the literature on Beninese jazz and brass bands and vòdún, approaching these topics from the viewpoint of postcolonial trauma studies, diaspora studies, and music and ritual. For all of these reasons, the manuscript will be of interest to ethnomusicologists and can be used in classes on African music, global pop music, jazz studies, and West African history.”
—Patricia Tang, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

— Patricia Tang

“This tour de force study of vòdún music and religion addresses how the two intersect, interpenetrate, and inform each other—and the world at large. A beautifully written book, at once intellectually rigorous and poetic, Transforming Vòdún is a must-read for scholars, students, practitioners, and the general public alike—anyone interested in global music, religion, and how Africa has shaped both.”
—Suzanne Blier, Harvard University

— Suzanne Blier

“This is a colorful, nuanced, and dynamically conceived manuscript that makes the sounds and concepts of one of West Africa’s most important music cultures accessible to the wider world. It is destined to sit among the classic works of African musical history.”
—Michael E. Veal, Yale University

— Michael E. Veal

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

List of Illustrations

Fon-language Pronunciation Guide

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part I: Multiple Temporalities

1. History and Healing in Vòdún Practice, Power, and Value

2. Making la Musique Moderne: Cultural Renaissance in Postcolonial Benin

Part II: Transforming Vòdún

3. Gangbé Brass Band: Producing Vòdún, Producing Livelihood

4. Eyo’nlé Brass Band: Transforming the Blues

5. Jomion and the Uklos: Hwedo-Jazz and Vòdún in the New African Diaspora

Conclusion: Trauma, Translation, Transformation

Bibliography

Glossary

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