The new millennium began with a fascination with fluidity, mutation, and crossover. Hybridity. Transnationalism. Diaspora. Archipelagos. Rhizomes. Interdisciplinarity. Historic turns. Cultural flows. These concepts mark the scholarship of the past twenty years and imbued the deconstruction of so much conventional wisdom with an optimistic cast. Yet as we enter the third decade of the 21st century, borders loom large, inserting or reinserting themselves in our aesthetic, cultural, and political lives. From the use of walls and fences to define physical and political boundaries; to the music industry’s attempted policing of genre crossers, like Lil Nas X and his 2019 summer mega-hit “Old Town Road;” to the striking blurring of historical boundaries as singing protestors in Santiago, Chile sing Victor Jara’s “El derecho de vivir en paz,” sonically slamming past and present together; borders—far from becoming obsolete—have achieved a new poignancy. This issue points to the persistence and reemergence of borders and boundaries in our discursive, epistemological, and physical world as forms of stasis and cultural policing while also considering ways that fronteras, or frontiers, can also embody fluidity and openness to change.
Americas: A Hemispheric Music Journal invites article submissions for a themed issue that explores the way that music, musicians, music-making, and listening are impacted by the construction, maintenance, and/or policing of borders. This issue takes the concept of borders in the broadest possible sense. We invite essays that explore music’s relationship to borders from diverse perspectives, including geographic, political, social, generic, sonic, analytical, performative, and temporal boundaries.
Articles of 6,000-8,000 words in length can be sent to americas@colorado.edu. Submissions should include text, footnotes or endnotes that are formatted in accordance with the most recent issue of the Chicago Manual of Style, an abstract, and any relevant figures, examples, or illustrations.
In addition, the journal solicits content for two innovative features. "Listening In" will present shorter essays of 2,000-3,000 words that explore musical scenes and the spaces and places that music is made. "Listening In" gives authors and readers an opportunity to experience performances, protests, and local soundscapes through a closer lens than traditional formats often allow. Authors are encouraged to relate their essays to the issue theme, but it is not required to do so. Our "Dialogues" section will feature interviews with composers, musicians, and others in the musical field whose direct perspective will be of interest to readers. We encourage the submission of edited interview transcripts of 1,500-2,000 words. While it is encouraged that the interviews fit with the issue theme, it is not required that they do so.
Inquiries about this issue or general inquiries about the journal should be sent to the Editor-in-Chief at susan.thomas-1@colorado.edu
Deadline for submission: Friday, May 29
Americas: A Hemispheric Music Journal is an annual, peer-reviewed journal of music research published by the University of Nebraska Press. Americas takes its view of American music broadly, including the diverse soundscapes within the United States as well as the wider Americas, including the Caribbean. Each issue of the journal explores a specific theme.