Final Report Summary - ROTVOSCIAME (THE ROLE OF TRADITIONAL VOCAL STYLES IN RESHAPING CULTURAL IDENTITIES RELATED TO AFRICAN DIASPORAS IN AMERICA AND EUROPE) The project’s main objectives were (1) to track the presence of vocal traditions that originated in the African continent but which developed differently in America and Europe; (2) to analyze how African-related vocal styles have been (and are) functional in reshaping new cultural identities within the framework of African diasporas; and (3) to consider the singing voice as a complex means of expression (not only a musical instrument nor just a vehicle for the language) as the ultimate locus where cultural connections still exist and operate. OBJECTIVE 1: The first result related to the objective 1 is an archive of historical voices concerning the African-American context. More specifically, the ex slave interviews, a massive collection of more than 3,500 interviews of African-Americans born in Slavery, a source that was never investigated before in this sense, provided excerpts that are fundamental to understand the origins, the use and the cultural meanings of vocal styles and vocal expressions. This analysis provided an insight into the history of perception and production of African-American vocality. Moreover, a digital elaboration consisting of a remarkably large number of descriptions of singing voices from the interviews was created and published online (http://www.afrovocality.com/voice-map/). In addition, a sound installation with a performative presentation related to the topic was organized for the 2014 Researchers Night. Another significant aspect of the research is the analysis of how a vocality that signifies blackness helps to understand slavery as we can imagine it today. This investigation led to the publication of an article on the vocality of ‘12 Years a Slave,’ the Academy-awarded movie by Steve McQueen.A book that analyzes the intersection betweens anthropology and history looking at themes that relate to voice and blackness will be completed by the end of the year and published in Italian. A seminar on historical European diaspora, with a focus on the repertoire of morescas songs of the Italian Renaissance has also been organized in January 2015 at the University of Salento. Together with the workshop organized in October 2013 and the publication of the proceedings of the events, it will represent the most important work on the cultural effects of the historical African diaspora in Europe as they relate to music.OBJECTIVE 2:The most interesting aspect of the second objective is the archive of interviews and fieldwork with vocalists who identify as black both in the United States (mainly in Chicago and the Midwest) and in Italy. The archives explores the width and implications of questions related to vocality and blackness. What emerges is the crucial role of the singing voice in shaping, defining, chronicling, and continuously recontextualizing the black experience in the United States and in Europe. The archive of the interview has been deposited at the Center for Black Music Research and at the University of Salento. Moreover, several excerpts are also published on the website (http://www.afrovocality.com/multimedia/). A short documentary (about 20min) based on the interviews and performances of three vocalists of African origins operating in Italy will be presented during the conference “Afroeuropeans: Black Cultures and Identities in Europe” (Münster, 16-19 November) and then published on the website.A seminal moment of the project was related to the two symposia organized in Chicago at the Concert Hall of the Columbia College. The symposia, titled ‘Black Vocality. Cultural Memory, Identities and Practices of African-American Singing Styles,’ held in September 2013 and November 2014, opened up a fundamental space of discussion. The vocality appeared as a tool for political actions and as a symbol of cultural memories, as the result of a work that requires singers (both professionals and amateurs) to tap into spirituality, tradition, cultural values, memory, arts and politics. Within the Italian context, during the returning phase, the research provided a useful perspective to political groups, associations, and scholars who engage with issues related to migration, race relation, blackness, and social justice, in Italy and Europe. Therefore, the researcher invested a significant amount of time trying building up conversations around the role of singing in shaping and expressing new “Afro-European” identities, while attending conferences and workshops. The blog ‘Dizioni Diasporiche’ (https://dizionidiasporiche.wordpress.com) opened up with a group of researchers, has to be intended as part of such activities. In so doing, what emerges through the work of ROTVOSCIAME is a significant space where the research can be continued in order to make a bigger impact on the way the global African diaspora is finding its own voices in Italy and in Europe.OBJECTIVE 3:The research successfully positioned itself into an interdisciplinary discourse around voice and vocality.The participation of the principal investigator to the University of Bologna course titled “Vocologia artistica” (studies on artistic vocality) opened up a new section of the research that takes in consideration questions of identity as they can be seen through the lens of speech therapy and medicine. What emerges is a substantial lack of a discourse around diversity and the different uses of voice, whether for the purpose of singing or of the language. The follow-up of the project can therefore be a set workshop for speech therapist and doctors around the vocality of diversity.In order to improve the discourse, the experimental fieldwork on the voice of black vendors on the beaches of the Salento area, one of the main touristic destination, proved to be particularly revealing. The experiment led to the publication of an article and to a sound installation (http://afrovocality.com/contemporary-calls/).On the same level of exploration of the potential challenge of voice, the work on the beatboxing techniques – explored as a international/global subculture that has its origins in the African-American culture – was presented for the course “Vocologia Artistica” and awarded with honorable mention from the committee. An article will also be published (as proceedings of the 2015 conference ‘La voce artistica,’ October 29th-November 1st). The work on beatboxing opened up another interesting set of possible investigations into the uses of voice as a machine, therefore contrary to the body-based theorization of the grain of the voice. An investigation that can have interesting implications in the world of voice studies and musicology. final1-logo-afro-vocality_06.jpg final1-sseptsketches023.jpg
