Musicking in the spirit: worship, community and the making of locality among Nigerian Pentecostals in the diaspora

Abstract

This research explores the relationship between music and locality by looking at practices, experiences, and perceptions of musicking among Nigerian Pentecostal communities in distinct diasporic settings. Employing a multi-sited methodology, I will conduct ethnographic fieldwork between the cities of Campinas and Sao Paulo (Brazil), Manchester (United Kingdom), and Lagos (Nigeria) to understand the ways in which local musicking informs and reflects the global circulation of popular religious movements, such as Nigerian Pentecostalism. In line with the Thematic Project 2016/05318-7 Local Musicking: new pathways in ethnomusicology, I approach locality as a place in-the-making, reflecting shared socio-musical practice and experience. Furthermore, being concerned with musicking in diasporic and religious communities, I extend this orientation to the discussion of translocality, as a place in-between: distinct geographic locales; and secular and spiritual states of being. In this sense, by looking at the ways in which musical practice shapes and is shaped by cultural practice between geographical and experiential localities, the research investigates (trans)localities of musicking. This examination can provide unique insights not only pertinent to the multi-faceted relationship of musicking and locality-production, but also to the role of this relationship in the moulding of globally-spread cultures. In addition, this research addresses a significant gap in the understudied, though massive, movement of Nigerian Pentecostal Christianity. Research outputs, including high-quality publications, conference presentations and an ethnographic website, will generate rich interdisciplinary dialogue and boost public awareness of the relevance of Ethnomusicology and the Anthropology of Music to wide audiences.