Music as Cultural Criticism Essays -- Music Musical Culture History Es

Music as Cultural Criticism whole caboodle Cited Not IncludedIn his article Daily Life in minatory Africa Elements for a Critique, author Paulin Houtondji offers his perceptions of several aspects of life in Africa. His statements argon explicit, observant, harsh, and backed up with examples and anecdotes. Many African pop unisonians provide besides critical assessments of various aspects of African life, but they choose to do so in a much subtler way. Houtondjis criticism of Africa for its serious ill is similar to that of artists like musician E.T. Mensah, who uses upbeat music to lessen the bind of his subversive lyrics. In fact, so deceivingly happy is the sound of the music that missing the entire message of the song is highly possible. His candor and blatancy in expressing his opinion, however, also parallels the work of artists like Fela Kuti, Unsung Heroes, and Prophets of Da City. Though Houtondji and many an new(prenominal)(prenominal) musicians share the common goal of improving society, or at least(prenominal) highlighting its flaws, the parties focus on antithetic aspects of society, and probably garner different results. To a Western reader, Houtondji and his writings may seem more serious, scholarly, and crimson competent, even for such a simple reason as a societal bias towards the write word over the spoken. On the other hand, taking into account the low literacy rates in much of Africa, as well as the aural language, the situation may be the reversion in Africa. The spoken, or sung, word should try highly effective in addressing social wrongs, suggesting societal change, or employment people to action. Using speech communication as weapons is not uncommon, and they are effective both set to music and written.A preliminary reading of Houtondjis article leads to a c... ...such injustices. nomenclature are often used as effective weapons in written and verbal war. Though seemingly non-violent, these conflicts contain elements of violence, and can thus prove highly painful. In his article Daily Life in Black Africa Elements for a Critique, author Paulin Houtondji criticizes superficial problems in daily life in Africa, while hinting at the issues of the bigger picture. Similar to this approach, E.T. Mensah uses music to soften the gust of his loaded words. Other pop musicians, such as Fela Kuti, choose not to be sensitive to their audiences, and instead assault them with politi clamory charged lyrics, calling them to action and demanding social change. Both approaches and styles are effective, but an audiences receptiveness and perception may be the most important determine factors of an artists success in issuing a call for change.