Jordanian Musiqa Sha’abie: An Expression of Ethnical Authenticity in the Stream of Global Pop Music

Abstract

This paper aims to establish some theoretical links between ethnical self-identification, popular culture, and the concept of heritage tradition. Live music in contemporary Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan links to and is observed as based on local songs, otherwise known as Sha’abie. Thus, this article will investigate the combination of contextual, traditional, geographic, and religious factors, assisting the cultural comprehension of a Musiqa Sha’abie. It will answer the questions of why and how the musiqa sha’abie finds its principal place within the framework of popular music in Jordan, meanwhile providing new insights into the problem of how music constructs and defines identities. Synchronically, the paper will explain how the Jordanian music has been shifted from its rural roots and thus becoming Westernized, a product of globalization, and an aesthetic reflection of complex manifestation of stereotyped cultural homogeneity. Accordingly, I will trace the impact of the social and historical background of Jordanian culture into its broader context of postmodern music to find legitimacy to the local pop expression, referred to as Sha’abie.

Keywords: ethnos, musiqa sha’abie, dabkeh, gina al horani, Jordanian pop music, maqam

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-23-07

Publication date:August 31st 2020