New Music Styles among Inuit
Principal Investigator: Pelinski, RAmon (2)
Licence Number: 12278
Organization: Universite de Montreal
Licensed Year(s): 1992
Issued: Jan 01, 1992
Project Team: Self

Objective(s): The goal of the projected field work is collecting data about new music styles and its socio-cultural context among the Inuit. Information will be sought about the impact of Western music on native music traditions, the ways in which Inuit have reacted musically to the presence of kabloonait music in the north, the economic and socio-cultural context in which such reactions take place, and the role of mass media in the dissemination of Western and Inuit music styles.

Project Description: As a consequence of contact between kabloonait and kabloona music, the younger generation of Inuit have begun inventing new song styles. I am investigating how these songs relate to questions of Inuit identity, what impressions all Inuit have of the songs, what groups sing the songs (and on what occassions), what are the lyrics, and to what extent have the songs been distributed (i.e., forms of distribution and technology used to listen).