By combining an analysis of ethnographic fieldwork with discourse analysis and musical analysis of her music recordings from the field Hulshof ask how unyago and msanja songs are connected to Zanzibar society, with its gendered expectations, and how women negotiate, contest, or subvert existing gendered power relations through the performance of, and the discourse on, female wedding ngoma. During four field work periods in two parts of Zanzibar, Zanzibar City, the main town, and Jambiani in the countryside, where the two types of ngoma dominated, Hulshof studied the musical culture and collected recordings of the musical rituals and performances of unyago and msanja. While the rituals differed between the two places, the negotiations of gender in ngoma were not significantly different and the material is analyzed as one material by Hulshof. In the dissertation she draws on the recordings she herself made in Zanzibar as well as field notes, photos and other materials from the ethnography including her interviews and informal conversations with female participants. Hulshof had some named key participants that were well-connected musicians/performers helping her get in touch with others, visit performances, record and discuss the music. The study uses the researcher’s analytical tools to show how an engagement with the music, lyrics, and social context, can enhance our understanding of how Zanzibari women negotiate societal expectations surrounding marriage, sexuality, and gendered identity through music.
The chapters of the thesis trace different ways that the participants in Hulshof’s ethnography relate to female sexuality, marriage, and gender relations ranging from norms around the good wife, ambiguous negotiations of such norms, and finally representations of female desire in ngoma. Islam is the main religion in Zanzibar and in Zanzibari society there are distinct social spheres for men and women, each with their own norms and expectations with regards to speech, dress, and behavior. According to Hulshof unyago and msanja songs do not only represent these norms and expectations; they also negotiate and contest them. By thematizing the analysis of these processes, the thesis’ chapters thoroughly investigate the musical material and its ambivalences. Hulshof’s writing invites the reader (even the one with little previous knowledge) to understand the music and the social context.
The thesis includes rich descriptions of Zanzibari society, musical situations, and Hulshof’s encounters with her participants. For example, in the analysis and discussion of kanga, colorful printed fabrics with text messages that come in pairs, Hulshof points out how the kanga hold significance in ngoma by how it is worn by a woman and used in dance. She also analyses
There is a tension in the thesis between the analysis of music, discourse, and ethnographic material. Besides the ethnographic investigation of unyago and msanja songs and practices Hulshof also performs musical analysis of rhythm and scores, as well as discourse analysis of lyrics. Further, the meanings of the songs are discussed with the participants. The three methodological approaches are potentially enriching for the topic. However, sometimes the three materials and epistemologies do not fully function together. Pursuing knowledge about the music, discourse and lived experience are three different types of studies, sometimes leading to different conclusions. Combining such knowledge gives us a fuller picture of ngoma, but also leaves us with questions about the theories of knowledge behind the work. Theoretically the thesis takes it starting point in Michel Foucault’s concept heterotopia and understands music as an ‘other space’, a space which is both connected to Zanzibari society, as well as existing separately in it and from it. The Foucauldian perspective suits the material’s gendered negotiations but the thesis does not account for developments in studies of gender, sexuality and discourse in feminist theory and queer theory. While these developments are outside of the scope of the thesis, the scholarly approach to the field work still raises questions of how it could have been analyzed through the lens of more contemporary theories.
Hulshof’s overall argument in the thesis is that the music of female wedding ngoma informs our sense of space and holds the power to transform a space into one where different rules apply. She concludes that performance of, and discourse on, female wedding ngoma allow women to ‘walk the line’ towards knowledge about gendered expectations surrounding sexuality and marriage in Zanzibar, and at the same time the musical practice holds the possibility for women to contest existing gender power relations. The thesis thus provides the reader with rich knowledge about both the music and the culture of women in Zanzibar. ■