Faire carrière dans le rap au Burkina Faso - Une anthropologie politique de la musique

Description

How can an anthropological study of those working in music serve as a gateway to understanding contemporary societies? Anna Cuomo chose to dedicate her doctoral thesis to the world of Burkinabè rap, which led to this book. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2010 and 2014-primarily in Ouagadougou-and later in France until 2017, the book traces the arrival of this musical genre and the emergence of a local style known as "tradi-modern," developing on the margins of rapidly growing African music industries (Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire).

The anthropologist examines the world of rap through the political, social, cultural, and economic conditions that shaped its emergence and functioning. By following the careers of Burkinabè rappers, she analyzes the interplay of various power relations and retraces the history of how politically engaged art has been defined in Burkina Faso. The artists' aesthetic choices and positions are situated within a broader postcolonial context, where the legacy of Thomas Sankara and relationships with France are central.

Through this lens, contemporary Burkinabè society is explored in both local and global terms. Anna Cuomo offers a critical, reflexive, and accessible political anthropology of music. She invites readers to follow her journey, where anthropological research unfolds through vivid descriptions of lived situations, with the author herself immersed in interactions and social relationships.

This book received the 2020 publication support award from the Musée du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac.