2012/08/21 by Tony Perman · 1 voice · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Music History and Culture #African studies and sociopolitical issues #Cinema and Media Studies
paper · doi:10.1080/17411912.2012.709815
openalex publication_date 2012/08/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Sungura is the most popular style of music in Zimbabwe, yet it has remained under-represented in the academic literature. The dominant theoretical frameworks including nationalism, globalisation, and cosmopolitanism fail to account for practices such as sungura that are multi-national, multi-ethnic musical styles detached from local understandings of tradition and the indigenous. By engaging in an historical examination of the emergence of sungura and its origins in Congolese rumba, Kenyan benga, South African township jive, and other regional influences, I explain how the social formation tied to sungura performance is distinct from those addressed in the academic literature. In particular, I explain how the multiple versions of cosmopolitanism currently in use each risk excluding the communities engaged in sungura.