Overview

An exemplary investigation into music and sustainability, Singing and Survival tells the story of how music helped the Rapanui people of Easter Island to preserve their unique cultural heritage. Easter Island (or Rapanui), known for the iconic headstones (moai) that dot the island landscape, has a remarkable and enduring presence in global popular culture where it has been portrayed as a place of mystery and fascination, and as a case study in societal collapse. These portrayals often overlook the remarkable survival of the Rapanui people who rebounded from a critically diminished population of just 110 people in the late nineteenth century to what is now a vibrant community where indigenous language and cultural practices have been preserved for future generations. This cultural revival has drawn on a diversity of historical and contemporary influences: indigenous heritage, colonial and missionary influences from South America, and cultural imports from other Polynesian islands, as well as from tourism and global popular culture. The impact of these influences can be perceived in the island's contemporary music culture. This book provides a comprehensive overview of Easter Island music, with individual chapters devoted to the various streams of cultural influence from which the Rapanui people have drawn to rebuild and reinforce their music, their performances, their language and their presence in the world. In doing so, it provides a counterpoint to deficit discourses of collapse, destruction and disappearance to which the Rapanui people have historically been subjected.

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9780190297060

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Reviews

Bendrups weaves a remarkable story from historical sources and his own fieldwork that reveals how the people of Easter Island have used opportunities presented to them over the past 150 years to survive, to sing, and to create new music on their own terms. --Anthony Seeger, Distinguished Professor of Ethnomusicology, Emeritus, UCLA A remarkable story of how a decimated population of 110 people became a thriving community. Dan Bendrups brilliantly relays how the traditional music of this group combined with music from Catholic missionaries, from Chile, and from other Polynesians to form a unique tradition that helped them survive - and that now attracts thousands each year to their Tapati festival. --Adrienne L. Kaeppler, Smithsonian Institution

"""Bendrups weaves a remarkable story from historical sources and his own fieldwork that reveals how the people of Easter Island have used opportunities presented to them over the past 150 years to survive, to sing, and to create new music on their own terms."" --Anthony Seeger, Distinguished Professor of Ethnomusicology, Emeritus, UCLA ""A remarkable story of how a decimated population of 110 people became a thriving community. Dan Bendrups brilliantly relays how the traditional music of this group combined with music from Catholic missionaries, from Chile, and from other Polynesians to form a unique tradition that helped them survive - and that now attracts thousands each year to their Tapati festival."" --Adrienne L. Kaeppler, Smithsonian Institution"

Author Information

Dan Bendrups is an ethnomusicologist who investigates the role of music in sustaining cultural heritage. His research spans communities and cultures in the Americas and the Asia-Pacific, as well as migrant communities in Australia and New Zealand. He lectures in research education and development at La Trobe University, Australia, where he is also a member of the La Trobe University Institute of Latin American Studies.

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