Abstract
This chapter sets the investigation on music and translation within the contemporary global context that determines how music is produced and disseminated. It examines the tensions between local and global, cosmopolitan and national and universal and specific settings. It argues that the process of translation, particularly in vocal popular music, can both lead to broad standardisation, and defy this standardisation. It considers the dominant place of English in musical cultures, showing that this dominance has not prevented artists from performing in their native language, emphasising the fact that, in the twenty-first century, consumers dictate production and that Anglo-Saxon music has been permeated by influences from minority cultures, particularly from Africa. These influences have allowed Anglo-Saxon music to re-mediate and re-invent itself in ways that have been key to its success and creativity.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Biopolitical production, in this context, refers to products and actions that offer alternatives or resistance to normalised or oppressive models of creation, performance and fabrication.
- 2.
It is interesting to remark that out of the 154 countries present when this convention was adopted in 2005, two voted against it: the USA and Israel.
- 3.
A cover song, sometimes just named cover, is a new interpretation of an existing song. It can entail new treatment of the music or different lyrics but its transformation relies primarily on a different performance style by the singer(s) who appropriate it.
- 4.
Texture in music refers to the combination of tempo, dynamics, melody, harmony and timbre which gives it its individuality.
- 5.
Sampling in music refers to the process of taking parts of existing recorded music, ‘samples’, and reusing them as part of a new recording.
- 6.
The concept of ‘habitus’, introduced by Pierre Bourdieu (1981/1990), designates the acquired habits, skills and preferences through which individuals perceive and engage with their social environment. It tends to be shared by people from similar social backgrounds. In relation to music, some individuals would never attend opera for instance, which they would judge as highbrow and elitist.
References
Adorno, T. W. (1941). On popular music. Studies in Philosophy and Social Sciences, IX(1), 17–18. Reprinted in Adorno, T. W. (2002). Essays on music. Selected, with introduction, commentary, and notes by Richard Leppert. New translation by Susan H. Gillespie. Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 437–469.
Adorno, T. W. (1967). Ohne Leitbild. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag. Translated as Adorno, T. W., & Rabinbach, A. (1975). Culture industry reconsidered. New German Critique, 6, 12–19. Reprinted in Adorno, T. W. (1991/2001). The culture industry (pp. 98–106). London: Routledge.
Anderson, B. (1991). Imagined communities. London: Verso.
Appadurai, A. (1996). Modernity at large: Cultural dimensions of globalization. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Appadurai, A. (2013). The future as cultural fact: Essays on the global condition. London: Verso.
Arendt, H. (1951/1979). The origin of totalitarism. New York: Harcourt Brace & Company.
Attali, J. (1977/2006). Bruits. Essai sur l’économie politique de la musique (2nd ed.). Paris: Fayard. Translated by Massumi, B. (1985). Noise: The political economy of music. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Axel, P. (2007). La révolution musicale. Liberté, égalité, gratuité. Paris: Pearson Village Mondial.
Baker, C. (2010). Sounds of the borderland: Popular music, war and nationalism in Croatia since 1991. London: Ashgate.
Bartók, B. (1912/1976). Comparative music folklore. In B. Suchoff (Ed.), Béla Bartók essays (pp. 155–158). London: Faber & Faber.
Bartók, B. (1919/1976). Music folklore. In B. Suchoff (Ed.), Béla Bartók essays (pp. 159–163). London: Faber & Faber.
Bartók, B. (1931/1976). The influence of peasant music on modern music. In B. Suchoff (Ed.), Béla Bartók essays (pp. 340–344). London: Faber & Faber.
Bauman, Z. (1998/2013). Globalization: The human consequences. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Benhabib, S. (2001). Transformation of citizenship: Dilemmas of the Nation State in the era of globalization. Amsterdam: Kohinklijke Van Gorcum.
Biddle, I., & Knights, V. (2007). Music, national identity and the politics of location: Between the global and the local. London: Routledge.
Bielsa, E. (2005). Globalisation and translation: A theoretical approach. Language and Intercultural Communication, 5(2), 131–144.
Bielsa, E. (2010). Cosmopolitanism, translation and the experience of the foreign. Across Languages and Cultures, 11(2), 161–174.
Bielsa, E. (2014). Cosmopolitanism as translation. Cultural Sociology, 8(4), 392–406.
Bielsa, E. (2016). Cosmopolitanism and translation. Investigations into the experience of the foreign. London: Routledge.
Bourdieu, P. (1981/1990). Le sens pratique. Paris: Éditions de minuit. Structures, habitus, practices. The logic of practice (R. Nice, Trans., pp. 52–79). Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Brocklehurst, S. (2013). How Auld Lang Syne took over the world. BBC Scotland News, December 31. Retrieved December 21, 2018, from http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-25402099
Burnard, P., Mackinley, E., & Powell, K. (2016). Introduction and overview. In P. Burnard, E. Mackinley, & K. Powell (Eds.), The Routledge international handbook of intercultural arts research (pp. 1–10). London: Routledge.
Byrne, D. (1999). I hate world music. The New York Times, October 3. Retrieved June 21, 2018, from http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9901EED8163EF930A35753C1A96F958260,&pagewanted=all
Byrne, D. (2012). How music works. London: Canongate.
Calvocoressi, M. D. (1931). M. Ravel discusses his own work. The Boléro explained. Daily Telegraph, July 11, pp. 476–478.
Clayton, M., Herbert, T., & Middleton, R. (Eds.). (2012). The cultural study of music: A critical introduction (2nd ed.). London: Routledge.
Coleman, M. (2014). Sir Mix-a-Lot takes “Baby Got Back” classical with Seattle Symphony. Rolling Stone, June 8. Retrieved June 21, 2018, from https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/sir-mix-a-lot-takes-baby-got-back-classical-with-seattle-symphony-63374/
Collins, F. L. (2009). Transnationalism unbound: Detailing new subjects, registers and spatialities of cross-border lives. Geography Compass, 3(1), 1–25.
Connell, J., & Gibson, C. (2004). World music: Deterritorializing place and identity. Progress in Human Geography, 28(3), 342–361.
Cordier, A. (2014). Post-war French popular music: Cultural identity and the Brel-Brassens-Ferré myth. London: Ashgate.
Delaney, B. (2015). Why has an indigenous artist won best world music in his own country? The Guardian, October 8. Retrieved June 21, 2018, from https://www.theguardian.com/music/commentisfree/2015/oct/08/why-has-an-indigenous-artist-won-best-world-music-in-his-own-country
Di Giovanni, E. (2008). Translations, transcreations and transrepresentations of India in the Italian media. Meta, Translator’s Journal, 53(1), 26–43.
Donaldson, R. C. (2014). “I Hear America Singing”: Folk music and national identity. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Edensor, T. (2002). National identity, popular culture and everyday life. Oxford: Berg.
Feld, S. (2000). A sweet lullaby for world music. Public Culture, 12(1), 145–171.
Fitzgerald, M., & O’Flynn, J. (Eds.). (2014). Music and identity in Ireland and beyond. London: Ashgate.
Fulcher, J. (2011). The new cultural history of music. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
GCHQ. (2015). The spy in the classroom. The Linguist, 54(1, February/March), 8–9.
Gebesmair, A., & Smudits, A. (Eds.). (2002). Global repertoires. Popular music within and beyond the transnational music industry. London: Ashgate.
Gentzler, E. (2008). Translation and identity in the Americas: New directions in translation theory. London: Routledge.
Gershwin, G. (1927). Jazz is the voice of the American soul. Theatre Magazine, 45 (3.1.1, March), 14, 52B. Reprinted in Suriano, G. R. (Ed.). (1998). Gershwin in his time. A biographical scrapbook, 1919–1937 (pp. 47–49). New York: Gramercy Books.
Glissant, É. (1981). Le Discours antillais. Paris: Seuil. Translated by Michael Dash, M. (1989). Caribbean discourse: Selected essays. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia.
Glissant, É. (1990). Poétique de la relation—Poétique III. Paris: Gallimard.
Glissant, É. (1996). Introduction à une poétique du divers. Paris: Gallimard.
Glissant, É. (1997). Traité du Tout-Monde—Poétique IV. Paris: Gallimard.
Global Music Report. (2018) Annual State of the Industry. Retrieved June 21, 2018, from https://www.ifpi.org/downloads/GMR2018.pdf
Hahn, J. (2014). The politics of race in rap. The Harvard Political Review, June 6. Retrieved June 21, 2018, from http://harvardpolitics.com/books-arts/politics-race-rap/
Horkheimer, M., & Adorno, T. W. (1944/1947). Kulturindustrie, Aufklärung als Massenbetrug. In Dialektik der Aufklärung: Philosophische Fragmente (pp. 128–176). Amsterdam: Querido. Translated by Jephcott, E. and edited by Schmid Noerr, G. (2002). The culture industry: Enlightenment as mass deception. In Dialectic of enlightenment: Philosophical fragments (pp. 94–136). Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Katan, D. (2014). Uncertainty in the translation professions: A time to transcreate? Cultus, The Journal of Intercultural Mediation and Communication, 7, 10–19.
Kraidy, M. (2005). Hybridity: The cultural logic of globalization. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Lebrun, B. (2009). Protest music in France: Production, identity and audiences. London: Ashgate.
Lewis, T. (2014). Benjamin Clementine: The barefoot troubadour who speaks his mind. The Guardian, August 9. Retrieved June 21, 2018, from http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/aug/09/benjamin-clementine-barefoot-troubadour-singer-songwriter-interview
Lipsitz, G. (1994/1997). Dangerous crossroads: Popular Music, postmodernism and the poetics of place. London: Verso.
Lipsitz, G. (2011). Midnight at the barrelhouse: Why ethnomusicology matters now. Ethnomusicology, 55(2, Spring/Summer), 185–199.
Littleton, C., & Spangler, T. (2018). Merger mayhem. Media companies scramble to bulk up in order to survive. Variety, April 24. Retrieved December 21, 2018, from https://variety.com/2018/biz/features/media-mergers-att-time-warner-disney-fox-viacom-cbs-1202783951/
Mangiron, C., & O’Hagan, M. (2006). Game localisation: Unleashing imagination with “restricted” translation. JoSTrans, The Journal of Specialised Translation, 6, 10–21.
Marc, I. (2015). Travelling songs: On popular music transfer and translation. Journal of the International Association of the Study of Popular Music, 5(2), 4–21.
Marsh, P. (2012). The new industrial revolution: Consumers, globalization and the end of mass production. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Meintjes, L. (1990). Paul Simon’s Graceland, South Africa, and the mediation of musical meaning. Ethnomusicology, 34(1, Winter), 37–73.
Mitchell, T. (2001). Global noise: Rap and hip-hop outside the USA. Middleton, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
Mitsui, T. (2013). Music and protest in Japan: The rise of underground folk song in 1968. In B. Kutschke & B. Norton (Eds.), Music and protest in 1968 (pp. 81–96). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Moon, S.-I., Barnett, G. A., & Lim, Y. S. (2010). The structure of international music flows using network analysis. New Media & Society, 12(3), 379–399.
Morra, I. (2013). Britishness, popular music, and national identity: The making of modern Britain. London: Routledge.
Mulligan, M. (2014). The great music industry power shift. MIDiA, Music Industry Blog, June 4. Retrieved December 21, 2018, from https://musicindustryblog.wordpress.com/2014/06/04/the-great-music-industry-power-shift/
Nederveen Pieterse, J. (2015). Globalization and culture: Global mélange (3rd rev. ed.). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Nettl, B. (1983/2005). The study of ethnomusicology: Thirty-one issues and concepts (3rd ed.). Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
Neves, J. (2012). Multi-sensory approaches to (audio) describing the visual arts. MonTI. Monografías de Traducción e Interpretación, 4, 277–293.
Oxford Dictionaries. (2016). What can the Oxford English Corpus tell us about the English language? Retrieved August 19, 2016, from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/words/what-can-corpus-tell-us-about-language
Peoples, G. (2015). How “Playola” is infiltrating streaming services: Pay for play is “definitely happening”. Billboard, August 19. Retrieved December 21, 2018, from http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/6670475/playola-promotion-streaming-services
Pym, A. (2014). Exploring translation theories (2nd ed.). London: Routledge.
Regev, M. (2013). Pop-rock music: Aesthetic cosmopolitanism in late modernity. Cambridge: Polity.
Rice, T. (2014). Ethnomusicology: A very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Scruton, R. (1997). The aesthetics of music. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Scruton, R. (2009). Understanding music. London: Bloomsbury.
Serres, M. (2011). Musique. Paris: Éditions du Pommier.
Sidaway, J. D. (2012). Geography, globalization, and the problematic of area studies. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Advance online publication, April 11. https://doi.org/10.1080/00045608.2012.660397.
Slobin, M. (1992). Subcultural sounds: Micromusics of the West. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
Special Eurobarometer 386. European Commission. (2012). Europeans and their languages. Retrieved December 21, 2018, from http://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/archives/ebs/ebs_386_en.pdf
Stokes, M. (1994). Introduction: Ethnicity, identity and music. In M. Stokes (Ed.), Ethnicity, identity and music: The musical construction of a place (pp. 1–27). New York: Berg.
Stokes, M. (2004). Music and the global order. Annual Review of Anthropology, 33, ips47–72.
Stokes, M. (2007). On musical cosmopolitanism. Macalaster International, 21, 3–26.
Stokes, M. (2012a). Four reflections on musical globalization. In M. Solomos (Ed.), Musique et globalisation: Une approche critique (pp. 89–97). Sampzon: Editions Delatour.
Stokes, M. (2012b). Globalization and the politics of world music. In M. Clayton, T. Herbert, & R. Middleton (Eds.), The cultural study of music: A critical introduction (2nd ed., pp. 106–116). London: Routledge.
Stubbs, D. (2009/2011). Fear of music: Why people get Rothko but don’t get Stockhausen. Winchester: Zero Books.
Susam-Saraeva, Ş. (2015). Translation and popular music: Transcultural intimacy in Turkish-Greek relations. Vienna: Peter Lang.
Tagg, P. (2012). Music’s meanings: A modern musicology for non-musos. New York and Huddersfield: The Mass Media Music Scholars’ Press.
Thiebergien, B. (2012). Le transculturel dans la création musicale contemporaine. In M. Solomos (Ed.), Musique et globalisation: une approche critique (pp. 51–57). Sampzon: Editions Delatour.
Toynbee, J., & Dueck, B. (2011). Migrating music. London: Routledge.
Tsing, A. L. (2004). Friction: An ethnography of global connection. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Vainiomäki, T. (2012). The musical realism of Leoš Janáček: From speech melodies to a theory of composition. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Faculty of Arts of the University of Helsinki. Retrieved December 21, 2018, from https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/36087/themusic.pdf?
Wallis, R., & Malm, K. (1984). Big sounds from small peoples: The music industry in small countries. London: Constable.
Creative Works
Afro, T. (Tewodros Kassahun). (2005). Yasteseryal. Washington, DC: Nahom Records.
Björk (Guðmundsdóttir, B.). (1997). Jóga. Homogenic. London: One Little Indian.
Björk (Guðmundsdóttir, B.). (1993). Human behaviour. London: One Little Indian.
Björk (Guðmundsdóttir, B.). (2011). Biophilia. London: One Little Indian.
Bowie, D. (1971). Life on Mars? Hunky Dory. London: RCA.
Brassens, G. (1964). Les copains d’abord. Amsterdam: Philips.
Burger King. (2009). Spongebob got back. Retrieved December 21, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lE-NdYL3sPw
Canteloube, J. (1951/2001). Anthologie des chants populaires français (4 vols.). Paris: Durand.
Chopin, F. (1833). Étude op. 10 n°5 in G flat major. Paris: M. Schlesinger.
Cohen, L. (1968). So Long, Marianne. Songs of Leonard Cohen. New York: Columbia Records.
Coulton, J. (2006). Baby Got Back. Thing a Week One. New York: Jonathan Coulton.
Dion, C. (1991). L’Amour existe encore. Dion chante Plamondon. New York: Columbia.
Enya. (2005). Amarantine. New York: Warner Music.
Escobar, M. (1962). El Porompompero. Barcelona: Belter.
Evora, C. (1991). Mar Azul. Paris: Lusafrica.
Fat Princess. (2009). Video game. Tokyo: Sony Interactive Entertainment.
Fonsi, L., & Yankee, D. (2017). Despacito. Santa Monica: Universal (a remix partly in English was also issued with Justin Bieber).
Friends. (2002). Season 9, episode 7. Halvorson, G. director. First aired November 14, 2002.
Gershwin, G., & Grofé, F. (1924/1942). Rhapsody in Blue. New York: Warner Brothers. Available in full score and arrangement for two pianos on the IMSLP Petrucci Music Library. Retrieved June 21, 2018, from. http://imslp.org/wiki/Rhapsody_in_Blue_(Gershwin,_George)
Hightower, M. (2007). Baby Got Back. MPH Tower. Retrieved June 21, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkJdEFf_Qg4
Maluma & Nego do Borel. (2017). Corazón. New York: Sony.
Minaj, N. (2014). Anaconda. The Pinkprint. New Orleans and New York: Young Money and Cash Money Republic.
Nichols, J. (2017). Baby Got Back. Never Gets Old. Nashville, TN: Red Bow Records.
Prince. (1984). When Doves Cry. Purple Rain. Burbank, CA: Warner Brothers.
Rasmussen, E. (Ed.). (2007). The RSC Shakespeare. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Rautavaara, E. (1972). Cantus Arcticus, Concerto for Birds and Orchestra, Op. 61. Helsinki: Fennica Gehrman.
Ravel, M. (1928). Boléro, Op. 81. Paris: Durand.
Río, Los del. (1993). La Macarena. A mí gusta. Munich: Ariola Records.
Rubio, P. (2009). Ni Rosas ni Jugetes. Gran City Pop. Santa Monica, CA: Universal Music.
Shark tale. (2004). Jenson, V., Bergeron, B. & Letterman, R. (Director). Glendale: Dreamworks Animation.
Sharp, C. (Ed.). (1916). English folk songs, collected and arranged with pianoforte accompaniment. London: Novello. Reprinted as Sharp, C. (Ed.). (1976). One hundred English folk songs. New York: Dover Publications.
Simon, P. (1986). Graceland. Burbank, CA: Warner Brothers.
Sir Mix-a-Lot. (1992). Baby Got Back. Mack Daddy. Los Angeles: Def American.
The Beatles. (1968). Hey Jude. Hey Jude. London: Apple Corps.
The Beatles. (1970). Let It Be. Let It Be. London: Apple Corpb.
The Simpsons. (2014). Groening. M. creator. Married to the Blob, Tree House of Horror. Series XVII, Season 18, episode 4 (Lyrics of ‘Baby Likes Fat’ by Gaffney, P.). Los Angeles: 20th Century Fox.
Traoré, R. (2013). Beautiful Africa. New York: Warner/Nonsuch Records.
Valkeapää, N.-A. (1993). Goase dusse (The Bird symphony) Kautokeino, Finland: DAT Publishing.
William, W., & Balvin, J. (2017). Mi Gente. Paris/Santa Monica: Scorpio Music/Universal (A remix was issued partly in English with Beyoncé).
Video Interview
Cosier, C. (2017). Ethiopian singer Teddy Afro goes global. BBC News, June 14. Retrieved June 21, 2018, from https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/40188584/ethiopian-singer-teddy-afro-goes-global
Websites
All The Lyrics. Retrieved June 21, 2018, from https://www.allthelyrics.com/
Bussongs, Lyrics to nursery rhymes and kids songs, Nature section. Retrieved June 21, 2018, from http://bussongs.com/nature-songs.php?all=1
L’écologie en chansons (French site on songs relating to the environment). Retrieved June 21, 2018, from http://chansons.ecolo.pagesperso-orange.fr/Inventaire.htm
Lyrics Translate. Retrieved June 21, 2018, from https://lyricstranslate.com/en
Momes.net (French site for children’s resources includes thematic listings of songs and nursey rhymes on animals and the environment). Retrieved June 21, 2018, from http://www.momes.net/Comptines/Comptines-sur-la-nature
Musixmatch. Retrieved June 21, 2018, from https://www.musixmatch.com/
Special Eurobaromoter 386. (2012). Europeans and their languages. Retrieved June 21, 2018, from ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_386_en.pdf
Statista, The Statistics Portal. (2014). Preferred language for a song to be sung in according to Americans in 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2018, from http://www.statista.com/statistics/354262/language-songs-sound-best/
Statista, The Statistics Portal. (2015). Number of people interested in English-language rock and pop music in Germany from 2012 to 2015. Retrieved June 21, 2018, from http://www.statista.com/statistics/381953/interest-in-english-language-rock-and-pop-germany/
Statista, The Statistics Portal. (2016). Live music industry revenue in the United States from 2010 to 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2018, from http://www.statista.com/statistics/491884/live-music-revenue-usa/
Statista, The Statistics Portal. (2017). Global recorded music revenue from 1999 to 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2018, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/272305/global-revenue-of-the-music-industry/
UNESCO. (2005). Convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions. Retrieved December 21, 2018, from http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=31038&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
UNESCO. (2015). 10 years on—A convention protecting and promoting the work of creative professionals. Retrieved December 21, 2018, from http://en.unesco.org/creativity/node/9680
YouTube. (2014). Top 10 flash mobs. Last updated June 3, 2014. Retrieved December 21, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7F7FD269F9DA24F8
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Desblache, L. (2019). Music, Centres and Peripheries. In: Music and Translation. Palgrave Studies in Translating and Interpreting. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54965-5_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54965-5_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-54964-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-54965-5
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)