Description
Book SynopsisExplores Berber cultural identity and performance in Algeria, France, and on the world music scene.
Trade Review. . . This astute and well-written book is essential reading not only for scholars and students of the Middle East and North Africa but also for anyone interested in how history and aesthetic forms combine to create heritage and cultural identity in the public sphere. . .
* American Anthropologist *
. . . Jane Goodman's Berber Culture on the World Stage: From Village to Video is an absolute gem. Her ability to untangle and articulate complex webs of interaction and levels of meaning is quite impressive. Goodman seamlessly balances the ethnographic with the theoretical, her prose effortlessly flowing from examples to the theories that they demonstrate. The distribution of the book's three sections, moving from history to text to performance, makes the work applicable in a number of classroom settings. Goodman's framework reflects the value of interdisciplinary research, giving readers a better understanding of her subject matter and providing them with intellectual tools with which to analyze and perceive their own academic and personal situations.
* Journal of Folklore Research *
. . . a most welcome addition to North African scholarship. . . . Such beautifully written depictions of cultural performances within cultural performances make 'Berber Culture on the World Stage' not only a provocative ethnography but also a compelling addition to the classroom, sure to captivate undergraduates through advanced scholars.Vol. 41 2009
-- Paul A. Silverstein * Reed College *
Goodman displays a deep grasp of the historical dynamics and local, national, as well as global political and social transformations of Kabyle culture and music. . . . Berber Culture on the World Stage is a valuable source for students and scholars of anthropology, North African studies, and ethnomusicology.
* Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Note on Orthography and Translation
Introduction
Part I. Circuits
1. The Berber Spring
2. Refracting Berber Identities
3. The Mythical Village
Part II. Texts
4. Collecting Poems
5. Authoring Modernity
6. Copyright Matters
Part III. Performances
7. Staging Gender
8. Village to Video
Epilogue
Notes
Works Cited
Index
