scholarly journals Samoan identity through music composition: The agony of asking

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Opeloge Ah Sam
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Music Composition ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Musical Composition ◽  
Creative Work ◽  
Creative Practice ◽  
Professional Musician ◽  
And Performance

<p>In this thesis, Samoan music and identity are woven together and expressed simultaneously through new composition, critical reflection, and performance. This thesis explores creative practice in both Samoa and New Zealand, and it engages with critical insights in order to produce a body of new creative work in music. Through these efforts, this thesis contributes a new original understanding for how to articulate Samoan identity in current musical composition.  In Samoa, cultural practices exist alongside global influences. These are found in song, language, contemporary music and dance in a variety of social contexts, and it is in this space of crossing boundaries where I explore my own identity as a Samoan-born, New Zealand composer, and a broader Samoan communal identity. The two contexts of my journey in Samoa and New Zealand offer sustained influences on my compositions both as a professional musician and educator. They provide very different expectations and cultures that I have negotiated, and have formed the basis of my creative work in this thesis. Adapting the Pasifika-centred framework of Epeli Hau’ofa in “Our Sea of Islands” (1993), in this thesis I provide a personal blueprint for a Samoan interpretation of creative practice in music, based on close readings and interpretations of concepts in new music composition.  Through this work I deconstruct my own colonial past to rise above cultural stereotypes, and instead move towards finding connections with local-based styles and values of music. In doing so, my creative output offers an original voice as a composer that is firmly based in Samoan realities, just as it extends to experiences and with a diversity of musical practices. Through my creative work I offer unique musical spaces and mediums that expresses my Samoan identity, in both music and culture. In this way, new composition is a means of navigating and negotiating musical creativity.  As I have discovered, I am not the only one moving in and out of these contexts as a Samoan musician and composer. I have worked together, alongside other Samoan composers such as Natalia Mann (based in Queensland, Australia), Metitilani Alo (based in Dunedin, New Zealand), Igelese Ete (based in Fiji) and Maori artists such as Riqi Harawira (based in Kaitaia, New Zealand) and artist BJ Natanahira (based in Kaitaia) sharing ideas and engaging in discussions around process of creativity and identity.  In creating our own musical voices, we also take control of the forms and shapes used to express our identities musically and culturally. As Thomas Turino points out in Music as Social Life (2008) this is about navigating and negotiating our identity according to the spaces we move within, and the music we associate with through composition and performance.  This is that journey.</p>

scholarly journals Samoan identity through music composition: The agony of asking

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Opeloge Ah Sam
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Music Composition ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Musical Composition ◽  
Creative Work ◽  
Creative Practice ◽  
Professional Musician ◽  
And Performance

<p>In this thesis, Samoan music and identity are woven together and expressed simultaneously through new composition, critical reflection, and performance. This thesis explores creative practice in both Samoa and New Zealand, and it engages with critical insights in order to produce a body of new creative work in music. Through these efforts, this thesis contributes a new original understanding for how to articulate Samoan identity in current musical composition.  In Samoa, cultural practices exist alongside global influences. These are found in song, language, contemporary music and dance in a variety of social contexts, and it is in this space of crossing boundaries where I explore my own identity as a Samoan-born, New Zealand composer, and a broader Samoan communal identity. The two contexts of my journey in Samoa and New Zealand offer sustained influences on my compositions both as a professional musician and educator. They provide very different expectations and cultures that I have negotiated, and have formed the basis of my creative work in this thesis. Adapting the Pasifika-centred framework of Epeli Hau’ofa in “Our Sea of Islands” (1993), in this thesis I provide a personal blueprint for a Samoan interpretation of creative practice in music, based on close readings and interpretations of concepts in new music composition.  Through this work I deconstruct my own colonial past to rise above cultural stereotypes, and instead move towards finding connections with local-based styles and values of music. In doing so, my creative output offers an original voice as a composer that is firmly based in Samoan realities, just as it extends to experiences and with a diversity of musical practices. Through my creative work I offer unique musical spaces and mediums that expresses my Samoan identity, in both music and culture. In this way, new composition is a means of navigating and negotiating musical creativity.  As I have discovered, I am not the only one moving in and out of these contexts as a Samoan musician and composer. I have worked together, alongside other Samoan composers such as Natalia Mann (based in Queensland, Australia), Metitilani Alo (based in Dunedin, New Zealand), Igelese Ete (based in Fiji) and Maori artists such as Riqi Harawira (based in Kaitaia, New Zealand) and artist BJ Natanahira (based in Kaitaia) sharing ideas and engaging in discussions around process of creativity and identity.  In creating our own musical voices, we also take control of the forms and shapes used to express our identities musically and culturally. As Thomas Turino points out in Music as Social Life (2008) this is about navigating and negotiating our identity according to the spaces we move within, and the music we associate with through composition and performance.  This is that journey.</p>

Pathways ahead for New Zealand hill country farming

2016 ◽  
Vol 78 ◽  
pp. 73-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
F.G. Scrimgeour
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Hill Country ◽  
The Status ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Hill Farming ◽  
The Hill

This paper provides a stocktake of the status of hill country farming in New Zealand and addresses the challenges which will determine its future state and performance. It arises out of the Hill Country Symposium, held in Rotorua, New Zealand, 12-13 April 2016. This paper surveys people, policy, business and change, farming systems for hill country, soil nutrients and the environment, plants for hill country, animals, animal feeding and productivity, and strategies for achieving sustainable outcomes in the hill country. This paper concludes by identifying approaches to: support current and future hill country farmers and service providers, to effectively and efficiently deal with change; link hill farming businesses to effective value chains and new markets to achieve sufficient and stable profitability; reward farmers for the careful management of natural resources on their farm; ensure that new technologies which improve the efficient use of input resources are developed; and strategies to achieve vibrant rural communities which strengthen hill country farming businesses and their service providers. Keywords: farming systems, hill country, people, policy, productivity, profitability, sustainability

Cytisine as an alternative smoking cessation product for Pacific smokers in New Zealand

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 89-95
Author(s):  
Vili Nosa ◽  
Kotalo Leau ◽  
Natalie Walker
Keyword(s):  
Smoking Cessation ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Partial Agonist ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Liquid Form ◽  
Pacific People ◽  
The Pacific

ABSTRACT Introduction: Pacific people in New Zealand have one of the highest rates of smoking.  Cytisine is a plant-based alkaloid that has proven efficacy, effectiveness and safety compared to a placebo and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) for smoking cessation.  Cytisine, like varenicline, is a partial agonist of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, and blocks the rewarding effects of nicotine. Cytisine is naturally found in some plants in the Pacific region, and so may appeal to Pacific smokers wanting to quit. This paper investigates the acceptability of cytisine as a smoking cessation product for Pacific smokers in New Zealand, using a qualitative study design. Methods: In December 2015, advertisements and snowball sampling was used to recruit four Pacific smokers and three Pacific smoking cessation specialists in Auckland, New Zealand. Semi-structured interviews where undertaken, whereby participants were asked about motivations to quit and their views on smoking cessation products, including cytisine (which is currently unavailable in New Zealand). Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim, with thematic analysis conducted manually. Findings: Pacific smokers reported wanting to quit for loved ones and family, but did not find currently available smoking cessation products effective. Almost all participants had not previously heard of cytisine, but many of the Pacific smokers were keen to try it. Participants identified with cytisine on a cultural basis (given its natural status), but noted that their use would be determined by the efficacy of the medicine, its cost, side-effects, and accessibility. They were particularly interested in cytisine being made available in liquid form, which could be added to a “smoothie” or drunk as a “traditional tea”.  Participants thought cytisine should be promoted in a culturally-appropriate way, with packaging and advertising designed to appeal to Pacific smokers. Conclusions: Cytisine is more acceptable to Pacific smokers than other smoking cessation products, because of their cultural practices of traditional medicine and the natural product status of cytisine.

Fast Foes: The affective consequences of interacting in a negative self-disclosure situation.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Gordils ◽  
Jeremy Jamieson
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Cardiovascular Responses ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Subjective Experiences ◽  
Self Disclosure ◽  
Negative Behaviors ◽  
Nuanced Understanding ◽  
Affective Consequences

Background and Objectives: Social interactions involving personal disclosures are ubiquitous in social life and have important relational implications. A large body of research has documented positive outcomes from fruitful social interactions with amicable individuals, but less is known about how self-disclosing interactions with inimical interaction partners impacts individuals. Design and Methods: Participants engaged in an immersive social interaction task with a confederate (thought to be another participant) trained to behave amicably (Fast Friends) or inimically (Fast Foes). Cardiovascular responses were measured during the interaction and behavioral displays coded. Participants also reported on their subjective experiences of the interaction. Results: Participants assigned to interact in the Fast Foes condition reported more negative affect and threat appraisals, displayed more negative behaviors (i.e., agitation and anxiety), and exhibited physiological threat responses (and lower cardiac output in particular) compared to participants assigned to the Fast Friends condition. Conclusions: The novel paradigm demonstrates differential stress and affective outcomes between positive and negative self-disclosure situations across multiple channels, providing a more nuanced understanding of the processes associated with disclosing information about the self in social contexts.

scholarly journals Emotions in Aotearoa New Zealand: Reflexive emotionalisation in a colonised context

2021 ◽  
pp. 026858092199530
Author(s):  
Mary Holmes
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
State Formation ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Emotional Experiences ◽  
Ongoing Process ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Novel Concept ◽  
Feeling Rules

Reflexive emotionalisation means increased thinking about and acting on emotional experiences in response to major changes to social life, such as those accompanying colonisation. This article explains and develops this novel concept, assessing its usefulness through an exploratory assessment of reflexive emotionalisation in the formation of Aotearoa New Zealand as a colonised settler state. It is argued that as cultures met and sought to coexist, emotions were vital. Focusing on reflexive emotionalisation in Aotearoa reveals how differences in feeling rules were navigated, sometimes in violent ways, as power shifted towards the colonisers. Feelings of belonging are important in that ongoing process of reflexive emotionalisation, the elucidation of which provides a new understanding of social change and settler state formation that avoids casting colonised peoples as passive objects of ‘progress’ brought by colonisers.

scholarly journals An unlikely partnership? New Zealand–South Korea bilateral cooperation and Antarctic order

Polar Record ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Flamm
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
South Korea ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Global Power ◽  
Political Interests ◽  
Vested Interests ◽  
The Status ◽  
Bilateral Cooperation ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Cold War

Abstract While the Antarctic Treaty System intended to keep Antarctica an area of international cooperation and science free from militarisation and international conflict, the region has not been completely shielded from global power transitions, such as decolonisation and the end of the Cold War. Presently, emerging countries from Asia are increasingly willing to invest in polar infrastructure and science on the back of their growing influence in world politics. South Korea has also invested heavily in its Antarctic infrastructure and capabilities recently and has been identified as an actor with economic and political interests that are potentially challenging for the existing Antarctic order. This article first assesses the extent and performance of the growing bilateral cooperation between South Korea and one of its closest partners, New Zealand, a country with strong vested interests in the status quo order. How did the cooperation develop between these two actors with ostensibly diverging interests? This article finds that what may have been a friction–laden relationship, actually developed into a win-win partnership for both countries. The article then moves on to offer an explanation for how this productive relationship was made possible by utilising a mutual socialisation approach that explores socio-structural processes around status accommodation.

scholarly journals Situating Indigenous Resilience: Climate Change and Tayal’s “Millet Ark” Action in Taiwan

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (24) ◽  
pp. 10676
Author(s):  
Yih-Ren Lin ◽  
Pagung Tomi ◽  
Hsinya Huang ◽  
Chia-Hua Lin ◽  
Ysanne Chen
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Collaborative Work ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Global Environmental

Whereas indigenous people are on the frontlines of global environmental challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and numerous other forms of critical planetary deterioration, the indigenous experiences, responses, and cultural practices have been underestimated in the mainstream frameworks of environmental studies. This paper aims to articulate a meaningful response to recent calls to indigenous and local knowledge on food as a source of resilience in the face of global climate change. By retrieving the values and practices indigenous people of Taiwan, specifically Tayal women, associate with human and non-human ecologies, our collaborative work with the indigenous community explores indigenous resilience and its relevance to indigenous cultural knowledge and global environmental concerns. Pivoting on the “Millet Ark” action, a Tayal conservation initiative of the bio-cultural diversity of millets, this study revolves around issues of how Tayal communities adapt to the climate change, how to reclaim their voice, heritage, knowledge, place, and land through food, and how to narrate indigenous “counter-stories” of resilience and sustainability. The cultural narrative of “Millet Ark” investigates indigenous way of preserving millet bio-cultural diversity and restoring the land and community heritage, inquiring into how Tayal people are adaptive and resilient to change and therefore sustainable through the cultural and social life of millets.

Cultural societies and information needs: Croats in New Zealand

2019 ◽  
Vol 68 (8/9) ◽  
pp. 652-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maja Krtalić ◽  
Ivana Hebrang Grgić
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Information Dissemination ◽  
Home Country ◽  
Immigrant Communities ◽  
Technological Changes ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this paper was to explore how small immigrant communities in host countries collect, disseminate and present information about their home country and their community, and the role of formal societies and clubs in it. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents the results of a case study of the Croatian community in New Zealand. To illustrate how cultural and technological changes affected information dissemination and communication within the community, the case study presents both historical and current situations. Methods used in this case study included a content analysis of historical newspapers published in New Zealand by the Croatian community, content analysis of current webpages and social networking sites, and interviews with participants who have management roles in Croatian societies and communities in New Zealand. Data were collected from December 2018 to February 2019. Findings Formally established clubs and societies, but also informal groups of immigrants and their descendants can play a significant role in providing their members with information about the culture, social life and events of the home country. They also play a significant role in preserving part of the history and heritage which is relevant, not only for a specific community but also for the history and culture of a home country. Originality/value The methodology used in the research is based on data from community archives and can be used for studying other small immigrant communities in New Zealand or abroad. The case study presented in the paper illustrates how the information environment of small immigrant communities develops and changes over the years under the influence of diverse political, social and technological changes.

Complexity as Practice: A Reflection on the Creative Outcomes of a Sustained Engagement with Complexity

Leonardo ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Davis
Keyword(s):  
Complexity Theory ◽  
Scientific Models ◽  
Creative Work ◽  
Research Practice ◽  
Creative Practice ◽  
Conceptual Problems ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Relationship

This article presents a reflection on a body of creative work carried out during four years of Ph.D. research that explored the relationship between complexity theory and music. The article highlights conceptual problems that arose during the creation of the work, especially those associated with the exploration of scientific models for the creation of art. The author does not attempt to offer any final solutions but rather presents the journey undertaken through the combined artistic and research practice as a way of documenting the strategies he developed during this period of creative practice.

The Ocean Run: Stage, Cast, and Performance in a Public Park Basketball Scene

2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael DeLand
Keyword(s):  
Social Life ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Practical Work ◽  
Personal Relationships ◽  
Team Formation ◽  
Public Park ◽  
Personal Meanings ◽  
Basketball Game ◽  
Santa Monica ◽  
And Performance

This article investigates the production and re-production of a recurring pickup basketball game at a public park in Santa Monica, California. I argue that it is best understood as a recurring “scene”—an ecologically shaped, biographically significant, interactionally accomplished, and narratively organized pattern of social life—colloquially known as the “Ocean Run.” Drawing on Kenneth Burke’s dramatism, I suggest that the scene is constituted by the interrelation of the park’s socioecological landscape (“stage”), the diverse personal meanings that players construct through their participation (“cast”), and the practical work of re-creating the scene through situated interactions (“performance”). The park stage facilitates a sense of intimacy for players with very different personal relationships to each other and to the scene. Those players then actively mix themselves up, re-creating the scene through an “improvisational” style of team formation. Place, people, and action are dialectically related in the patterning of public life. This method of analysis is replicable in a wide variety of public scenes and sets up concrete grounds for comparison and theoretical generalizability.

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