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A Modal Heterotopia: Rethinking Makam Modality and Chordal Harmony in Interwar Rebetiko

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 September 2024

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Abstract

This article revisits the concepts of makam modality and chordal harmony, and argues for viewing interwar rebetiko as a musico-cultural amalgamation. I explore the transcendence of the theoretical incompatibility beyond the East–West dichotomy by employing the Foucauldian concept of heterotopia as a de-ideologised analytical tool. I conduct a case study of makam Sabâ and pertinent harmonisation on the guitar, by analysing two representative historical recordings from the 1930s and interpreting them within the contemporaneous musico-cultural context. As a result, I contend that the terms “equal-tempered makam” and “idiosyncratic harmonisation” mirror expressions of modal heterotopia within interwar rebetiko.

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Type
Research Article
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Yearbook for Traditional Music , Volume 56 , Issue 1 , July 2024 , pp. 81 - 104
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance

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