What's Be Happen? A Bakhtinian Analysis of Aotearoa New Zealand's First Pacific Reggae Album

302 Pages·2016·2.79 MB·English

What’s Be Happen? A Bakhtinian Analysis of
Aotearoa New Zealand’s First Pacific Reggae Album

Elizabeth Turner

A thesis submitted to Auckland University of Technology in
fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy (PhD)

2016
School of Language and Culture
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Abstract
This thesis presents an analysis of Herbs’ record album What’s Be Happen? The album
has been recognised in Aotearoa New Zealand for being at the forefront of Pacific reggae,
for its ground-breaking social commentary on important issues and conflicts in New
Zealand in the 1970s and early 1980s, and for the culturally and historically significant
themes it addresses. The six-track album was released in 1981 in a period of social and
political conflict. There were protests over race relations and the treatment of migrants
from the Pacific Islands, over the historic and ongoing loss of Māori lands, and against
the scheduled tour of New Zealand by a racially-selected rugby team from apartheid
South Africa. The campaigns for change in this period were struggles over human rights,
associated ethical values, and the kind of society people wanted New Zealand to be.
Situated in the broad field of applied linguistics, the thesis also draws on other areas such
as the study of popular music to present an analysis and interpretation of the ways in
which the album constructs, comments on and contests political and social events and
conditions at that time.
The thesis is underpinned by Mikhail Bakhtin’s philosophy of language and discourse
that conceptualises utterances as ethical acts, and by Bakhtin’s overarching notion of
dialogism, which conceives meaning as a relational phenomenon contingent on social and
cultural context. The thesis mobilises Bakhtin’s categories of narrative style in the novel
and his concepts of the chronotope, heteroglossia and polyphony in the analysis of
narrative form, language choices, and aspects of Herbs’ performance. These Bakhtinian
concepts and analytical tools, in their encounter with other theories and concepts in the
thesis, are central to the analysis of constructions of social commentary, resistance and
protest in Herbs’ album.
The analysis shows that meaning is generated by a network of inter-connected, dialogic
relationships in and between Herbs’ music, lyrical content, the form and use of language
including the compositional structure of the lyrics, aspects of performed form, text and
images on the album cover, the order of the songs on the two sides of the record, and the
relationship of these features to the historical context. The thesis identifies five key
themes in the album: resistance, oppression, power and the struggle for liberation,
spirituality, and identity, of which the dominant theme is resistance. The study is a
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contribution to the analysis and appreciation of the cultural importance of Herbs in New
Zealand and the political salience of this album.
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Table of Contents
List of Figures ........................................................................................................................ viii
List of acronyms and abbreviations used in the thesis .............................................................. ix
Chapter One: Introduction ................................................................................................ 1
Herbs and their album What’s Be Happen? ............................................................................... 4
Extending Bakhtin’s theories and concepts to popular songs ..................................................... 9
Rationale for a predominantly Bakhtinian approach ............................................................... 10
Research questions ................................................................................................................ 14
Approaches to analysis........................................................................................................... 15
Musical performance and event ............................................................................................. 17
Personal statement ................................................................................................................ 18
Organisation of the thesis ...................................................................................................... 19
Chapter conclusion ................................................................................................................ 21
Chapter Two: Popular music and meaning ...................................................................... 22
Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 22
The cultural significance of popular music .............................................................................. 23
Protest and resistance in popular music.................................................................................. 26
Resistance and the music of the African diaspora ...................................................................................... 30
Reggae: its roots as resistance and message music .................................................................. 32
The rising up of Rastafari ............................................................................................................................ 35
Message music ...................................................................................................................... 42
Appropriation and hybridisation of a global genre ..................................................................................... 43
Music and identity ................................................................................................................. 44
Defining identity .......................................................................................................................................... 44
Dialogic theories of identity ........................................................................................................................ 47
Music, cultural identity and identification .................................................................................................. 50
New Zealand popular music and issues of identity ..................................................................................... 54
Appropriation of popular music forms .................................................................................... 56
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Recordings as primary texts ................................................................................................... 57
Music and meaning ................................................................................................................ 59
Previous studies of popular music and song lyrics ................................................................... 65
Chapter conclusion ................................................................................................................ 68
Chapter Three: Theoretical framework ............................................................................ 70
Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 70
Bakhtin: biographic details ..................................................................................................... 71
The evolution of Bakhtin’s theories and key concepts ............................................................. 75
Self, other and responsibility (answerability) ............................................................................................. 75
Dialogic relations ......................................................................................................................................... 81
Dialogic relations in discourse ..................................................................................................................... 82
Polyphony ................................................................................................................................................... 83
Historical and ideological becoming ........................................................................................................... 85
Unfinalisability ............................................................................................................................................ 86
Critique of formalism and structuralism ..................................................................................................... 88
The Bakhtin Circle and the so-called disputed texts ................................................................................... 90
Formalism and Bakhtin’s critique ................................................................................................................ 91
The chronotope ........................................................................................................................................... 93
Carnival ....................................................................................................................................................... 95
Dialogism ..................................................................................................................................................... 97
The multi-faceted notion of dialogic discourse ........................................................................................... 99
Authoritative and internally persuasive discourses .................................................................................. 101
Heteroglossia ............................................................................................................................................ 104
Bakhtin’s use of the term discourse (slovo) .............................................................................................. 105
Reflection, recapitulation and consolidation ............................................................................................ 108
Bakhtin as cultural and discourse theorist ............................................................................. 110
Critique of Bakhtin’s theories of discourse ............................................................................ 112
Chapter conclusion .............................................................................................................. 115
Chapter Four: Approaches to analysis ........................................................................... 119
Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 119
Exploring and identifying themes ......................................................................................... 121
Initial analysis of themes ........................................................................................................................... 122
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Previous studies involving thematic analysis ............................................................................................ 122
Analysing key themes ................................................................................................................................ 123
Researching the context ....................................................................................................... 124
Interviews with Herbs’ songwriters ...................................................................................... 126
Analysing interview transcripts ................................................................................................................. 127
Examining Herbs’ appropriation of reggae ............................................................................ 127
Examining Herbs’ songs ........................................................................................................ 128
Dialogism and intertextuality .................................................................................................................... 128
The chronotope ......................................................................................................................................... 131
Dialogic relations and narrative style in discourse .................................................................................... 135
Double-voiced discourse ........................................................................................................................... 137
Heteroglossia and polyglossia ................................................................................................................... 138
Analysing further features of form ........................................................................................................... 139
Analysing paratext ............................................................................................................... 139
Examining features of discourse ........................................................................................... 142
Chapter conclusion .............................................................................................................. 142
Chapter Five: Examining the social, political and cultural context .................................. 145
Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 145
Protest against social injustice in New Zealand ..................................................................... 146
Māori land rights ....................................................................................................................................... 147
Bastion Point ............................................................................................................................................. 150
Protests against the New Zealand government’s overseas and domestic policies, and social
injustices ............................................................................................................................. 154
Domestic social issues .......................................................................................................... 157
Consequences of economic downturn for Pasifika people and urban Māori ........................................... 157
The Haka Party Incident ............................................................................................................................ 162
Bob Marley and reggae in New Zealand ................................................................................ 164
Herbs ................................................................................................................................... 169
Herbs’ appropriation of reggae ............................................................................................. 173
Chapter conclusion .............................................................................................................. 175
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Chapter Six: Experience and identity ............................................................................. 177
Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 177
What’s Be Happen? .............................................................................................................. 179
Dragons and Demons ........................................................................................................... 185
Whistling in the Dark ........................................................................................................... 188
Reggae’s Doing Fine ............................................................................................................. 194
Chapter conclusion .............................................................................................................. 200
Chapter Seven: Protest and resistance .......................................................................... 205
Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 205
Azania (Soon Come) ............................................................................................................. 206
One Brotherhood ................................................................................................................. 217
Chapter conclusion .............................................................................................................. 223
Chapter Eight: What’s Be Happen? ............................................................................... 227
Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 227
Herbs’ album cover .............................................................................................................. 228
Taking sides ......................................................................................................................... 234
Discourse features across Herbs’ album ................................................................................ 235
Themes ...................................................................................................................................................... 235
Compositional form .................................................................................................................................. 241
Chapter conclusion .............................................................................................................. 245
Chapter Nine: Conclusion .............................................................................................. 249
Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 249
Methodological contribution ................................................................................................ 250
Herbs’ construction of social commentary, resistance and protest ........................................ 252
Political significance of Herbs’ What’s Be Happen? ............................................................... 256
Future research .................................................................................................................... 261
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 262
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Discography ................................................................................................................. 264
References.................................................................................................................... 267
Appendix A: Participant information sheet.................................................................... 285
Appendix B: Participant consent form ........................................................................... 288
Appendix C: Schedule of key interview questions .......................................................... 289
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List of Figures

Figure 1: Lyrics of “What’s Be Happen?” (Fonoti, 1981d)………………………………181
Figure 2: Lyrics of “Dragons and Demons” (Fonoti, 1981c)……………………………..185
Figure 3: Lyrics of “Whistling in the Dark” (Fonoti, 1981a)……………………………..189
Figure 4: Lyrics of “Reggae’s Doing Fine” (Fonoti, 1981b)……………………………..196
Figure 5: Lyrics of “Azania (Soon Come)” (France, 1981)………………………………210
Figure 6: Lyrics of “One Brotherhood” (Toms, 1981)……………………………………218
Figure 7: Front cover of What’s Be Happen? ……………………………………………230
Figure 8: Rear cover of What’s Be Happen? …………………………………………….233
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List of acronyms and abbreviations used in the thesis
ACORD Auckland Committee on Racism and Discrimination
ANC African National Congress
APEC (the forum for) Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
APRA Australasian Performing Right Association
APRA AMCOS Australasian Performing Right Association Australasian Mechanical
Copyright Owners Society
BE Black (American) English
CARE Citizens’ Association for Racial Equality
CDA Critical Discourse Analysis
CE Common (Current) Era
EP Extended Play (recorded album)
HART Halt All Racist Tours
IMNZ Independent Music New Zealand
LP Long Playing Record
PAC Pan-African Congress
R and B Rhythm and Blues
SE Standard (American) English
UHP Upper Hutt Posse
UN United Nations
US United States of America