Braxton Soderman and Nicole Starosielski (2013) conceptualize media as networks comprised of nodes that are historically situated. Friedrich Kittler (1996) historicizes the urban city. Brian Larkin (2008) also collapses binaries and opts to analyze media infrastructures in Nigeria through nodes. Larkin traces the racism embedded in European accounts of Nigerians’ reactions to technologies, but he also acknowledges the feelings and confusion all people experience when they confront new technologies. Larkin interrogates binaries such as western/indigenize in his analysis of the colonial and postcolonial networks in northern Nigeria. In reading these three works, the concept of time stood out to me most. As I research and write for my thesis, I attempted to conceptualize time as I explored intergenerational musical productions. I have selected representations of music historicized. The picture below features a screenshot of a remake of a song by Sinn Sisamouth, the Elvis of Cambodia (featured on the right). On the left is a singer from the production company Klapyahandz who remake music Cambodian rock songs often adding rap. The younger musicians create historical networks by connecting the faces and sounds of Cambodian rock that proved powerful to the generation before them. Through their own renditions, they reshape and reorganize these networks in order to provide meaning in the contemporary period in Cambodia and in diaspora.
In Cambodia
In the US
Bochan Huy sings her rendition of “I’m
16.”
Huy writes on her blog:
When I first heard Ros Sereysothea sing
the words to this song, I felt she challenged the rigid gender roles of her own
culture and time by showing that women can have the power of choosing their own
experiences, as well as their suitors. Patriarchal societies like Cambodia have
long treated women as second-class citizens. Like most cultures, women have
come a long way in making their voices heard. In our rendition of “Chnam Oun
16” the theme of empowerment resonates throughout the music video and
transpires from the empowerment of women, to the survivors of war and genocide
and of all people. http://bochanmusic.tumblr.com/post/14512481626/chnamoun16bybochan
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