Interpreting Court Song in Uganda

A critical interpretation of essential Kiganda royal court songs that examines how the meanings of their lyrics enter into dynamic dialogue with contemporary national politics in Uganda. Lyric interpretation, which Damascus Kafumbe defines as a process of creative renewal that infuses vitality into...

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1. Verfasser: Kafumbe, Damascus
Format: Online
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: University of Rochester Press 2026
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Online-Zugang:https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/171546
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author Kafumbe, Damascus
author_browse Kafumbe, Damascus
author_facet Kafumbe, Damascus
author_sort Kafumbe, Damascus
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description A critical interpretation of essential Kiganda royal court songs that examines how the meanings of their lyrics enter into dynamic dialogue with contemporary national politics in Uganda. Lyric interpretation, which Damascus Kafumbe defines as a process of creative renewal that infuses vitality into songs, enables interpreters and analysts to derive a multiplicity of meanings from songs instead of being limited to a single literal narrative. As he and his research collaborators demonstrate, the process extends the life of a song by allowing it to generate new versions, meanings, and relevance. Kafumbe examines how lyric interpretation serves to renew the lives of twenty-one songs from the repertoires of royal court musicians of the Kingdom of Buganda, arguing that the meanings of these songs are not singular, static, and monolithic but rather dynamic and multivalent. Through extensive research within past and present contexts, Kafumbe presents a series of unique perspectives on the ways Kiganda court songs reflect varied kinds of power relations. These meanings, which surface via lyric interpretation, come from daily interactions among citizens and between leaders and subjects. This interpretive process helps illuminate truths and clarify myths about the power dynamics that shape political life in present-day Uganda, highlighting the relevance of court song lyrics to contemporary national contexts. By engaging with the book's wide range of voices, readers will learn to appreciate these songs, their historical and contemporary contexts, and their composer-performers' stories and interpretations more fully. This book is available as Open Access under the Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1715462026-02-12T10:37:15Z Interpreting Court Song in Uganda Kafumbe, Damascus Music / Ethnomusicology thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AV Music::AVA Theory of music and musicology A critical interpretation of essential Kiganda royal court songs that examines how the meanings of their lyrics enter into dynamic dialogue with contemporary national politics in Uganda. Lyric interpretation, which Damascus Kafumbe defines as a process of creative renewal that infuses vitality into songs, enables interpreters and analysts to derive a multiplicity of meanings from songs instead of being limited to a single literal narrative. As he and his research collaborators demonstrate, the process extends the life of a song by allowing it to generate new versions, meanings, and relevance. Kafumbe examines how lyric interpretation serves to renew the lives of twenty-one songs from the repertoires of royal court musicians of the Kingdom of Buganda, arguing that the meanings of these songs are not singular, static, and monolithic but rather dynamic and multivalent. Through extensive research within past and present contexts, Kafumbe presents a series of unique perspectives on the ways Kiganda court songs reflect varied kinds of power relations. These meanings, which surface via lyric interpretation, come from daily interactions among citizens and between leaders and subjects. This interpretive process helps illuminate truths and clarify myths about the power dynamics that shape political life in present-day Uganda, highlighting the relevance of court song lyrics to contemporary national contexts. By engaging with the book's wide range of voices, readers will learn to appreciate these songs, their historical and contemporary contexts, and their composer-performers' stories and interpretations more fully. This book is available as Open Access under the Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND. 2026-02-12T10:37:11Z 2026-02-12T10:37:11Z 2025 book 9781805433323 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/171546 eng University of Rochester Press 26aea9a8-2a5b-42fc-9228-6635e6a52000 9781805433323 288 open access
spellingShingle Music / Ethnomusicology
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AV Music::AVA Theory of music and musicology
Kafumbe, Damascus
Interpreting Court Song in Uganda
title Interpreting Court Song in Uganda
title_full Interpreting Court Song in Uganda
title_fullStr Interpreting Court Song in Uganda
title_full_unstemmed Interpreting Court Song in Uganda
title_short Interpreting Court Song in Uganda
title_sort interpreting court song in uganda
topic Music / Ethnomusicology
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AV Music::AVA Theory of music and musicology
topic_facet Music / Ethnomusicology
thema EDItEUR::A The Arts::AV Music::AVA Theory of music and musicology
url https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/171546
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