Rooted Cosmopolitanism of Sámi Music CDs in the 2000s

• Main Author: Chen, Xinjie
• Other Authors: Brusila, Johannes, University of Helsinki, Faculty of Arts, Doctoral Programme in History and Cultural Heritage, Helsingin yliopisto, humanistinen tiedekunta, Historian ja kulttuuriperinnön tohtoriohjelma, Helsingfors universitet, humanistiska fakulteten, Doktorandprogrammet i historia och kulturarv, Harrison, Klisala, Moisala, Pirkko
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Helsingin yliopisto 2021
• Subjects: ethnomusicology; Norway; Northern Norway; Sámi
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10138/336058

The present research project concerns Sámi music CDs and their production in the first decade of the current millennium through the theoretical lens of rooted cosmopolitanism (e.g., Appiah 1997; Cohen 1992). The Sámi are an Indigenous people who have originally lived in Sápmi, the historical living area of the Sámi in northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. The Sámi music industry and recordings have developed as part of a cultural revitalization effort and have links with the global music industries. As an ethnomusicological study, the research investigates Sámi CD productions in the contemporary contexts of Sápmi, the Nordic countries, which here include Norway, Finland, and Sweden, and global music industries. In this research project, Sámi music CD productions refer to both tangible Sámi music CDs and the production process. The research defines Sámi music as music that is performed by Sámi musicians, regardless of language, music genres, and styles. It analyses musical sounds as well as visual and textual information on CD jewel cases and in the accompanying booklets of 180 tangible Sámi CDs published mainly in Norway, Finland, and Sweden in and around the 2000s. The dissertation considers Sámi CD productions in terms of the processes of creating, performing, recording, producing, and marketing contemporary Sámi music in the contexts of Sápmi, the Nordic countries, and the global music industry. The first chapter provides background on the Sámi recording industry and introduces the ideas of rooted cosmopolitanism in Indigenous- and music-focused research. Chapter two concerns the production of Sámi CDs, involving publishers, sponsorships, and in-kind supporters. Chapter three explores musical cosmopolitanism in a diversity of music genres and styles and examines intercultural interactions between Sámi and people from other cultural backgrounds to co-create certain CDs. Chapter four studies the language use of Sámi CDs, including the sung languages and languages used for CD jewel cases, liner notes, ...