Sullivan, S and Ganuses, W.S (2021) 'Recomposing the archive? On sound and (hi)story in Damara / ǂNūkhoe pasts, from Basel to west Namibia.' Oral History, 49 (2). pp. 95-108.
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Abstract
We explore interconnected texts in a ‘coloniser archive’ of stories, songs and historic narratives in Khoekhoegowab, recorded by German linguist Ernst Dammann and his wife Ruth in Namibia in 1953-1954 and housed in Basler Afrika Bibliographien, Switzerland. We outline the ‘re-ordering’ strategy enabling us to ‘release’ information caught by the Dammanns, and work towards culturally contextualised understandings of the pasts spoken of by their interviewees. We engage with a specific recording as a multivalent object prompting recall of both autobiographical and cultural/collective memory, sharing an initial recomposition of a song from this recording as an initiative to amplify its content and reach through a contemporary mix drawing on electronic music-making possibilities. We close by reflecting briefly on pragmatic copyright issues arising through this reworking of the archived Dammann recordings.
| Item Type: | Article |
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| Keywords: | Khoekhoegowab, sound recordings, recomposition, music, Namibia |
| Divisions: | School of Writing, Publishing and the Humanities |
| Related URLs: | |
| Date Deposited: | 18 Jun 2021 16:34 |
| Last Modified: | 15 Jan 2024 16:16 |
| ISSN: | 0143-0955 |
| URN: | https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/id/eprint/14159 |
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