Week 1: How might paying attention to sound/soundscapes help us think about all of the ways that capitalism destroys our relationships to each other, as well as about how people continue to form new relationships with each other? Think about this question by engaging Goffe’s concept of extra-coloniality.
Sound is a very social thing, that connects communities and creates culture. A connection about music can form a long-lasting bond…complaint-worthy city noise can cause an issue within the lives of an entire block. Overall, sound and soundscapes are important in creating the feel of any community.
On one hand, Goffe discusses a way in which capitalism, and capitalism related to sound, can destroy our relationships with one another. He mentions how Miss Pat of VP records’ father used to play political ads on his PA system, not based on whether he agrees with the particular group’s ideologies, but by “whoever paid the highest price. Sound was part of the political aparatus akin to the warring sound clashes; the range of a loudspeaker was a way of staking claim to a political territory for the Jamaica Labour Party or People’s National Party” (Goffe, 124). Sound and the sound system were used to push political agendas. Capitalism, and one party having more funds than the other, is completely to blame for the intrusion into people’s lives and explains why broadcasts like these may be completely out of line with the feel of the community. The strain a political strife can have on a community is intense and is entirely do the capitalism within our society,
On the other side, Goffe discusses how sound and soundscapes can lead to new relationships. In general, it is often reflected on how much of a social scene the bodegas that this new Caribbean blend of all genres of sound was being played at became. These small shops became social hubs where different people of different background came together to enjoy the sound. Goffe also mentioned that this new form of music also had a way of delivering different cultures to the more ‘mainstream’ English audience. Specifically he mentions how “[Byron] Lee’s song was packaged to make West Indian culture easy to digest for the UK and US audiences” (Goffe, 117).
In general, sound and its implications is pushed by both money and culture, one of which can lead to the destruction of relationships, and the other can lead to the creation of them.
Week 2: How can you use the concept of settler colonialism to construct a new map of East Asia that links the histories of Hawaii and China to US and Japanese imperialism? What happens when you add the Caribbean and British imperialism to the mix (think back to Goffe)?
According to Saranillio, settler colonialism is “a historically created system of power” which makes Indigenous people strangers in their own land and replaces them with settlers who consider themselves as “superior and thus more deserving over these contested lands and resources” (284). It can be equated to genocide, “whether through physical extermination or cultural assimilation,” the effect is essentially the same, the culture and people of the native lands in question lose everything (Saranillio, 295).
As a result of settler colonialism, the maps we know today are not an accurate reflection of where people are really from, or the importance of different locations. Using this concept, we can craft a new map of East Asia, one that considered the influence and impact of US and Japanese imperialism. For example, Hawaii is a complicated mixing area, filled with different cultures. At the end of the 19th century, more and more Asian, Chinese specifically, immigrant became to migrate to the United States. They reached California later one, but Hawaii was the primary destination. Though the native Hawaiians and Asian immigrant were pitted against each other by the white sugar plantation owners, the began to cohabitate area of the island (Saranillio, 294). This lead the Chinese immigrants to become a more settled entity within Hawaii, creating a Chinatown. Due to their long and thoroughly integrated history within Hawaii, the area could be included within the map of East Asia. This same concept can be applied to the Caribbean with Chinese and Indian immigrants. There was such a large population of Asian immigrant, that an entire community and culture was formed, allowing it to be significant enough of a presence to be included in the map of East Asia as well.
Examining the ‘Open Door Policy,’ is another thing that could alter the East Asian map. It explains the involvement of both Germany as well as the United States having access to a port in China, labeling it a free port. These two western countries were ‘leased,’ but essentially took control of a part of East Asia, which allowed them access to many East Asian countries and alters their history.
