Includes bibliographical references (pages 123-137) and index.
Contents:
Introduction: introducing Bruno Mars -- New Music Nostalgia, Or, Is What's Old New Again? -- Blurred Boundaries, or Reading between the Lines -- The Performative Politics of Blackness -- The Sonic Politics of Pleasure, Or Love and Joy in a Time of Trauma and Tragedy -- (Re)fashioning Race and Music.
Summary:
In this book, Melinda A. Mills argues that Bruno Mars is uniquely positioned to create "new music nostalgia" via musical remixes that borrow from his heritage and build from his musical talent, performative expertise, and hybrid cultural, ethnical, and racial identities. Attending to the ways that Mars is precariously positioned in relation to all the racial and ethnic groups that constitute his known background, Mills argues that Mars employs his artistic agency to advocate for social justice by engaging in the performative politics of blackness. Through his musical entertainment and the everyday practice of joy, Mars models a way of moving throught the world that counters its harsh realities, of reconceptualizing race, and of reimagining the future.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.