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Selekā's profane potency: Kava artists and rebellious music in Tonga.
- Source :
-
Perfect Beat (Equinox Publishing Group) . 2020, Vol. 20 Issue 2, p134-154. 21p. - Publication Year :
- 2020
-
Abstract
- The Selekā art and kava collective is found in the heart of the Kingdom of Tonga's urban centre and capital. Selekā is a transformed nickname which is a play on the word kasele, meaning toilet or outhouse, an external othering and internal acceptance of divergence within Tongan society. Selekā is a site where urban Tongans paint and drink kava together while listening to rebellious music, incorporating some of the aesthetics and politics of these musical genres into their group. They have a broader musical playlist than most kava clubs in Tonga, which includes punk, rock and metal. This article explores the character of Selekā as a radical critique to Western introduced social constructs such as puritan respectability, which have become part of Tonga's modern cultural norms. Selekā performs and generates mana (potency/prestige) through noa (profanity/neutralization) by desecrating the 'sacred' and recreating a new alternative. This act of rebellion is presented as a contemporary manifestation of an ancient Tongan practice where the 'profane' was used to identify and bring balance to the most tapu ('sacred'/protected). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 10382909
- Volume :
- 20
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Perfect Beat (Equinox Publishing Group)
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 152198039
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1558/prbt.40000