Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Island Leverage: Vanessa Quai, Vanuatu, and Transnational Career Performance

2012; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 36; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/03007766.2012.655448

1740-1712

Philip Hayward,

Island Studies and Pacific Affairs

Abstract Performers from non-Western locations have a number of options when attempting to access Western music markets. This case analyzes the manner in which a performer from a tiny national market, remote from the Western music industry's North Atlantic center, succeeded in deploying her heritage and location to gain a foothold in regional and international markets without the involvement of a powerful Western company and/or patron to mold and mediate her access. Acknowledgments Research for this article was conducted with funding from Australian Research Council Discovery Grant DP0666232 "Melanesian Popular Music, Local Recording Industries and Copyright." Notes [1] Kastom is a term that roughly translates as "customary/traditional" in English but more accurately refers to a set of diverse indigenous practices that were recently re-conceptualized as an aggregate "to incarnate indigenous cultural authenticity in opposition to colonialism" (Miles Citation59). [2] While Marley did not perform in Melanesia during his 1979 "Survival" tour, his performances in Hawaii, New Zealand, and Australia significantly raised his profile across the Pacific. [3] The idea for the publication (CitationHayward, Vanessa) and its funding were entirely the initiative of Vanessa Quai's father and manager Nigel Quai. My involvement as a text editor, contributing writer, and designer for the volume arose from a specific request for assistance from the Quai family. [4] The following discussion draws extensively on interviews with members of the Quai family conducted from 2006 to 2009 and all direct quotations are, unless otherwise specified, taken from this source. [5] In this context, Vanessa's national origin—particularly as emphasized in the lyrics of her song entry—was a point of both exotic attraction and some confusion. When she was announced as contest winner and mounted the stage to receive her award, the Australian national flag descended (since the organizers did not have a Vanuatu flag). Compounding the slippage of identities, the Australian High Commissioner to Egypt hosted a celebratory reception for the Quais at which Vanessa sang for the Embassy staff. [6] Vanessa's involvement with Mangrove's Francophone operation and the nature of Vanuatu as an officially trilingual (Bislama, English and French) nation also contributed to her securing an invitation and sponsorship to participate in cultural events associated with the 4th Jeux de la Francophonie (Francophonie Games) in Ottawa, along with the Good News Proclaimers as her backing band. [7] This title derives from the Bible's Genesis 4:21 which describes Jubal, a descendant of Cain, as the father of all those who play harp and flutes and—by implication—a musical inspiration for all who followed after. [8] Fes Napuan is the annual Vanuatu music festival, held in the open air adjacent to the Vanuatu Kaljaral Senta. [9] This viewpoint was conveyed to the author by several musicians with regard to a period when they had achieved some prominence, only to experience something of a "backlash."