Mashindano! Competitive Music Performance in East Africa

Edited by Frank Gunderson and Gregory Barz. Mashindano, from the Kiswahili kushindana (to compete), is a generic term for any organised competitive event. Here it refers to popular entertainment activities in which cultural groups compete 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 practices in musical contexts? How do music competitions act as mechanisms of innovation? How do they serve their communities in identity formation? What 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.