Abstract
Alessandra Ciucci's The Voice of the Rural: Music, Poetry, and Masculinity Among Migrant Moroccan Men in Umbria, provides in-depth and novel insights into an underexplored topic that merges the notions of rurality, masculinity, and belonging upon the canvas of the role of music in migration. This book is of particular interest to ethnomusicologists, anthropologists focusing on migration, music, aesthetics and transnational belonging, as well as interdisciplinary music and migration scholars. The extensive ethnographic accounts that illustrate the author's experience of the field and her interlocutors’ testimonies of their lifeworlds, and the style of writing that enables this dialoguing perspective of the topic make the book an enjoyable read. The insights offered are also of interest to anybody wishing to study and explore the potential for writing creatively and amplifying the (marginalized) interlocutors’ voices.
The book's discussion evolves around the notion of rurality, or l-ʿarubiya in Arabic. Rurality refers to the imaginaries of Moroccan migrants maintained through music and poetry of traditional vocal genres of Morocco. It also refers to the landscape and political economy of Umbria, with a specific focus on Alta Valle del Tevere that “hosts” Moroccan migrants, framing their everyday life, labor conditions, and visions of belonging. Thus, it enables the navigation in-between the two locations and bridges the migration-induced ruptures in migrants’ social lives. Considering professional musicians’ discourses about the music they perform, and listeners’ discourses about their everyday music engagements, Ciucci addresses a largely neglected aspect of migrant music involvements. Incorporating formal and vernacular discourses around the aesthetics and the sonic qualities that determine the value and meaningfulness of performed and recorded musical genres, Ciucci enriches the relevant literature by illuminating the dense interconnections between place, self, longing, and belonging as sensed and articulated through music.
Migration research largely focuses on the infrastructures, drivers, and impact of migration in local societies and to migrants themselves (Scholten, Pisarevskaya and Levy 2022). Furthermore, the mainstream discourses around it as well as policy orientations tend to unfold around the dipole of immigration/integration (see Titley 2012). Ciucci addresses neglected aspects of migrants’ existence, namely their aesthetic expressions, and amplifies their voices, reconstituting them as agentive actors who navigate their in-between-home-host settings positionality and craft their personhood by employing narratives of l-ʿarubiya. In this sense, Ciucci manages to “rehumanize migrants,” offering alternative views to that of victimhood and stigmatization (see Martiniello 2022). Consequently, Ciucci, apart from developing the bourgeoning ethnomusicological/anthropological literature of music and migration, contributes to international immigration debates by foregrounding the contestations underpinning migrants’ (non-)belongings to their home and host settings, emphasizing the exclusionary host policies and everyday experiences. Finally, she palpably outlines the continuous dialogue between the two homes, as maintained through aesthetics that sharply contrast the fractures of the social life that migration involves.
Ciucci introduces the reader to her topic by offering a comprehensive overview of the history and politics that have shaped Morocco, her interlocutors’ homeland, and its complicated and contested relations to the West (namely, colonialism), as well as the history and politics that have shaped Umbria (and Italy), her interlocutors’ land of residence, and the development of immigration policies that determine her interlocutors’ positionality and the conditions of living and labor in Italy that inevitably inform their aesthetic expressions. Having collected her data through ethnographic fieldwork, the narrative is shaped by her interlocutors’ conceptualizations of rurality and aesthetics.
The discussion of the book is structured around four ethnographic chapters that gradually zoom in to the aesthetic value of the musicopoetic genres exemplifying l-ʿarubiya, and how Moroccan migrants in Italy perceive them. The tone of each chapter is set by extensive ethnographic accounts that offer generous testimonies of migranthood and the meaningfulness of the music listened to (recorded and/or performed in venues and festivals) enhancing the experience-led narration and reconstructing the author's field bottom-up. The insights offered are further complemented by the musicopoetic analysis of the lyrical content and structure of specific songs, indicative of each genre considered. Although these parts may be less attractive to a nonexpert reader, they are integral to the discussion developed, as they set the canvas upon which Moroccan migrants’ senses of belonging and notions of personhood evolve.
Ciucci has paid special attention to translation and transliteration of the Arabic terms employed, showing the utmost respect to her interlocutors’ language, and acknowledging the decisive role that translation and transliteration play in language mediation, and the representation of Moroccan culture across other settings, and primarily in the West. The elaborate discussion developed throughout the chapters is further complemented by audio and video examples, with a particular emphasis on Chapter 4, that discusses the resonances of longing, intimacy, and belonging in music. All songs and videos can be accessed at the book's accompanying website, which enhances the accessibility of its content.
The comprehensive discussions and rich ethnographic accounts unfolding across the pages enable novel conceptualizations of international migration. Therefore, this book could benefit anybody interested in studying the value and meaningfulness of music among Moroccan migrants in Italy, as well as with a broader interest into the role of music in international migration, and its crucial role in articulating senses of belonging and crafting personhood across transnational settings.