compare and contrast at least three features of how our source materials dealing with Jamaica and Egypt have shown us how the consumption and production of popular music is useful historical evidence. Do not simply retell similar and different details related to Umm K. and Ivan M. as characters/figures/lives, rather, use ideas and examples from these case studies as evidence of the production and consumption of popular music, evidence that will allow you to make/support/clarify larger claims about society, culture and historical experiences within both Jamaica and Egypt. Your carefully designed discussion must include some coverage of gender expectations/identities and power relations and at least two relevant themes/topics of your choice. You should only use the required sources we have worked with in our course for your essay, plus the specific required usage of supporting primary source articles from one JJ database— New York Times Historical File. Be certain to make use of at least 4 relevant New York Times articles from this database in developing your work. All of these articles should be accessed and assessed through keyword searches in which you hunt for matches/corroboration among the ideas and supporting examples developed in your essay and the issues and events described in the articles of the NYT. *You might consider ways in which shifting power relationships, expectations, and identities (ex. class, social geography (ex. rural/urban) functioned in these contexts.
*And/or you might consider how the sacred spaces (Koranic School/Evangelical Church) and secular (Cabaret/Dance Hall/Radio) spaces operate in these contexts.
*And/or you may want to consider the transnational (ex. how music travels beyond national borders).
*And/or you might consider debates about top-down versus bottom-up (review Corbett’s discussion of Adorno/Frankfurt School versus the Birmingham School) and assess how these contexts confirm or challenge these theories of how popular music works to reinforce the class system within capitalism or to give an important voice to forms of resistance. Concerning this last theme, note that if you choose “both” it only shifts the problem around and then you still should be able to explain how and to what extent is it “both”.
These are conceptual suggestions and approaches, not requirements. Work towards using popular music as evidence that will allow you to make/support/clarify larger claims about society, culture, and historical experiences within both Jamaica and Egypt. To pass, each paper should use at least two references from each film, and at least a reference from every reading, including required NYT supporting sources.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLfONsv8BEI