Exploring musical acculturation: The musical lives of South Sudanese Australians, Filipino ...

379 Pages·2016·21.47 MB·English

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EXPLORING MUSICAL ACCULTURATION:
THE MUSICAL LIVES OF SOUTH SUDANESE AUSTRALIANS, FILIPINO
AUSTRALIANS AND WHITE AUSTRALIANS IN BLACKTOWN
Samantha Dieckmann

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

Sydney Conservatorium of Music
The University of Sydney

2016
Statement of Originality
I declare that the research presented here is my own original work and has not been submitted to any
other institution for the award of a degree.

Signed

Date December 31, 2015
Abstract
The central aim of this thesis is to investigate the musical lives of three distinct
ethnocultural community groups. Using ethnographic and grounded theory methods,
this study explores the musical practices of South Sudanese Australians, Filipino
Australians and White Australians in Blacktown, New South Wales. By researching
musical participation in these three case study groups, this study aims to elucidate the
relationship between various factors underlying individual and collective musical
acculturation processes. Significant factors include the reasons for and attitudes
towards cross-cultural contact, the sociohistorical and situational factors determining
the context in which cross-cultural contact takes place, and the role of power and
dominance in shaping cross-cultural interactions. Other determinants include the
various ways ‘community’ is experienced, the maintenance and loss of heritage and
homeland cultures, and the musical activities that generate and reflect participants’
understandings and experiences of the preceding. The interplay between these areas of
inquiry positions this study at the nexus of music education, sociomusicology,
ethnomusicology, acculturation psychology, intercultural relations and urban
sociology.
It was found that the types of musical activities with which participants engaged
illustrated the importance they placed upon maintaining heritage traditions. This was
often related to their attitudes towards multiculturalism and integration into
mainstream Australian society. For all of the ethnocultural communities studied,
nationalism and transnationalism played a major role in acculturation processes. The
music with which South Sudanese Australian participants were occupied was
significantly influenced by South Sudan gaining sovereignty during the project’s data
collection phase. Many of the participants had migrated to Australia long before their
new homeland country was declared an independent nation-state, and music was used
to represent and facilitate debates surrounding South Sudanese nationalist discourse.
In the Filipino Australian case study, it was found that the collective self-
consciousness with which the participants assimilated into colonial cultural forms had
a marked effect on the music with which they engaged. The contradictions in their
music consumption patterns resonated with the ironies underlying Filipino nationalism
generally. Finally, music was similarly significant in the renegotiation of cultural
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boundaries and identity reconstruction for participants in the White Australian case
study. Within the highly diverse Blacktown region, interpretations of ‘Australian’ and
mainstream music were seen to contribute to the notion of White Australia as the
dominant community of the receiving society.

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Acknowledgements
I have had the privilege of being mentored by Associate Professor Kathryn Marsh
for the past ten years. Her supervision of both my honours and doctoral theses has led
to the most fruitful working relationship of my career, and I am fortunate to have her
advice and support both professionally and personally. Kathy will always have my
heartfelt thanks, not only for the various and significant opportunities she has afforded
me, but most importantly for her perpetual and earnest belief in my potential.
I have also enjoyed the encouragement of several other members of staff at the
Sydney Conservatorium of Music. In particular, I would like to thank Michael Webb,
James Humberstone, Peter Dunbar-Hall, Jennifer Rowley, David Larkin, Catherine
Ingram, Kathleen Nelson and Matthew Hindson. Their keen and perceptive questions
have helped clarify the direction of my research, and their interest in my work has
been a constant source of motivation. I would also like to acknowledge the enormous
privilege it has been to receive an APA scholarship and University of Sydney Merit
Award for this doctoral project, and thank the Commonwealth Government and the
University of Sydney for this financial assistance.
I extend sincere gratitude to all of the participants in this study, who generously
contributed their time and thoughts to this project. Whether they live, work or study in
Blacktown, it brings me great joy that we share the neighbourhood I call home.
I would especially like to thank my fellow doctoral students. When the process of
writing this thesis became particularly gruelling, your words kept me going. I could
not have endured without the sympathetic rallying cries of Alexis Kallio, Athena Lill,
Christine Carroll and Wendy Brooks. It is equally important to mention my friends
outside of academia, Tanya To and Zi Hao Li, whose regular efforts to raise my
morale have been greatly appreciated.
I will always be grateful for the love and encouragement of my parents Errol and
Ruby Sebastian, whose unwavering support is a foundation I continue to rely on. I
would also like to especially thank my grandparents, Cesario and Rosalinda Balasi,
and my uncle Bong Balasi, for sourcing requested books and music in the Philippines,
and for the time they spent translating Filipino songs with Mum and I. Thanks are also
due to Rowena Sebastian for offering her translation services, and Paul Dieckmann for
his design skills. I have called on the help of my aunties, the indefatigable Ana Rita
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Balasi and Jeanie Murphy, in ways too numerous to list here. My work and study over
the past five years would have been much more difficult without their generosity and
support. Finally, my brother Kevin Sebastian undertook the enormous task of proof
reading my thesis on very short notice. I am very grateful for his enthusiasm and
willingness to help, which were invaluable in getting this thesis over the finish line.
I am indebted to many people for either their direct contribution to this thesis, or
their indispensable encouragement throughout the process of producing it. Above all,
it has been the support of my husband Tyrel Dieckmann that has empowered me to
pursue and reach this goal. For his constant patience, generosity, understanding and
love, I will always be thankful.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract iii
Acknowledgements v
List of Tables xii
List of Figures xiii
List of Audio and Video Samples xiv

Chapter 1 Introduction 1
The Parameters of this Study 1
Musical Acculturation 1
Acculturation Psychology 4
Directionality and Dimensionality 6
Adopting the Fourfold Paradigm 7
Beyond the Fourfold Paradigm 10
Theoretical and typological flaws 10
Methodological faults 12
Faults in the key terminology 13
Acculturation in Multicultural Contexts 15
Multicultural Australia 18
Defining the Areas of Inquiry 21
Outline of the Thesis 23

Chapter 2 Methodology 25
Ethnographic Grounded Theory 25
Tracing Boundaries in the Multiple Case Study 27
Why Blacktown? 29
Insider–Outsider 36
Reflexivity 40
Data Collection Methods 42
Participant Observation 42
Limits to participation 43
Limits to observation 44
From Rapport to Reciprocity 47
Constructing the Field with Fieldnotes 50
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Semi-Structured Interviews 50
Related Media and Documentation 52
Data Analysis Methods 53
Coding 53
Attribute, structural and descriptive coding 54
Open, axial and selective coding 54
Dedoose 55
Beyond Themes, Into Theory 56

Chapter 3 Contextualising South Sudanese Australian Acculturation 57
Introduction 57
A Brief Modern History of South Sudan 57
The Sudanese Civil War and its Antecedents 59
The Sovereign State of South Sudan 64
South Sudan After Independence 65
South Sudanese Migration to Australia 67
Demographics 67
Reception in Australia 69
Acculturation Challenges 76
Cultural reorientations 76
Experiential reorientations 79
Barriers to integration 82
Returning to South Sudan 83
South Sudanese Australians 85
South Sudanese Australian Community in Blacktown 85
South Sudanese Australian Case Study 87
Summary 90

Chapter 4 The Musical Lives of South Sudanese Australians in 91
Blacktown
Introduction 91
Becoming South Sudanese 91
A Narrative of War 92
Concerning Arabism 97
Addressing Tribalism 108
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The Ongoing Project of South Sudanese Identity 116
Beyond South Sudanese Nationalism 117
Becoming African 118
Becoming Black 124
South Sudanese Australians and Emerging Identities 132

Chapter 5 Contextualising Filipino Australian Acculturation 134
Introduction 134
A Brief Modern History of the Philippines 134
Establishing the Boundaries of the Philippines and Filipino Identities 134
Neocolonialism in an Independent Philippines 138
Filipino Migration to Australia 140
Filipino Australians 146
Filipino Australian Community in Blacktown 146
Filipino Australian Case Study 149
Summary 152

Chapter 6 The Musical Lives of Filipino Australians in Blacktown 153
Introduction 153
Locating Filipino Musicality in Blacktown 153
Manifestations of a Colonial Mentality 153
Inherent Filipino Musicality 166
Musical Expressions of Filipino Nationalism 173
Engaging with Nationalist Music for Presentational Purposes 173
The Fundamental Irony of Philippine Nationalism, In Music 178
The colonisation of folk music 179
A simultaneous commemoration of Marcos and anti-Marcos 180
sentiments
Love songs as anthems for uprisings 183
Filipino Australians and a Cultural Identity Crisis 186

Chapter 7 Being White in Blacktown: The Musical Acculturation of 189
the Majority
Introduction 189
Designating Names to an Ambiguous Identity Category 189
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