Sounding Our Way Home: Japanese American Musicking and the Politics of Identity

Sounding Our Way Home: Japanese American Musicking and the Politics of Identity explores the musical choices of Japanese Americans to express their ethnicity and race and investigates how these choices relate to national belonging. The book highlights the ongoing struggle for acceptance and equal representation for people of color in the US.

Format: Hardback
Length: 277 pages
Publication date: 15 January 2024
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi

Sounding Our Way Home: Japanese American Musicking and the Politics of Identity is a groundbreaking work that delves into the profound impact of music on the lives of three generations of Japanese Americans. Spanning twenty-five years of archival and primary research, this captivating book offers a captivating narrative that explores the unwavering efforts of these individuals to find their way home through the power of musicking.

Through the lens of ethnomusicology, Susan Miyo Asai examines the musical choices of a population that has historically been considered outside the racial and ethnic boundaries of American citizenship. This volume emphasizes the notion of national identity and belonging, sparking a thought-provoking discussion about the challenges of nation-building in a democratic society.

Asai delves into the intricate politics of music, interrogating how musicking functions as a performance of social, cultural, and political identification for Japanese Americans in the United States. She explores the ways in which musicking serves as a means of expressing ethnicity and race, thereby making it an inherently political act at the intersection of music, identity, and politics.

Furthermore, Asai conducts a deep exploration into the relationship between Japanese American ethnic identification and cultural practices and national belonging. She sheds light on how musicking cultivates a narrative of shared history and aesthetic between performers and listeners, thereby situating not only Japanese Americans but all Asians within the black/white binary of race relations in the United States.

Sounding Our Way Home makes a significant contribution to the ongoing struggle for acceptance and equal representation for people of color in the United States. By documenting the history of Japanese American musicking across three generations, the book unveils the social and political discrimination that nonwhite immigrants and their offspring continue to face when seeking acceptance in US society and culture.

This book serves as a powerful testament to the resilience and creativity of the Japanese American community, highlighting their unwavering pursuit of identity and belonging amidst a society that often marginalizes them. It is a must-read for anyone interested in music, culture, and social justice, as it offers a profound insight into the complex dynamics of identity and the power of music to bridge divides and foster understanding.

Dimension: 235 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781496847638