1. Choose a favorite theme from the album "The Living Road" by Lhasa de Sela, and comment why you like it and how you find it related to the concept of "diaspora" as discussed by Brent Hayes Edwards in the first pages of our anthology.
She does not claim one single home, her road is her home. Her music also sounds almost nomadic, representing her and her journey as an American Mexican Canadian woman. Finally, I believe her choice of singing in her three languages is more than a matter of aesthetics, its the diaspora itself as an action.
André Gonçalves: "Soon this space will be too small" - It relates to a concept of forced movement related to a diaspora. The fact that the current place of living is no longer bearable, the necessity of going elsewhere, potentially a better place. Diaspora in its many uses does not require the forced movement, in many cases it relates to a voluntary one. Fhe movement in the song is not explicitly forced but the consequence of staying there is the destruction of the individual, as she refers to her own body and bonesbeing burned otherwise.
Using the concept of the road as a metaphor for life, Lhasa de Sela achieves describing throughout her twelve songs the different themes everyone encounters along this journey: identity, love, loss, transformation. However, the most interesting one seems to be that of limits, whether physical, geographical or, especially, linguistic, as she successfully demonstrates how to overcome them by singing in all of the three languages she knows due to the diaspora that shaped her life.
Listening to "Anywhere on This Road" gave me an insight on Lhasa's journey and feelings regarding being a citizen of the world and not belonging . She says "I live in this country now I'm called by this name I speak this language It's not quite the same For no other reason Than this it's my home And the places I used to be far from are gone". The antology gives us different concepts and definitions of diaspora, some saying that it is a forced exile from a place and others saying that it is just the spreading of people. This song gives you the inside perspective of a person that lived this process and how it feels, instead of looking at it from a top perspective. 151914
I chose “Soon This Place Will Be Too Small” by Lhasa de Sela because, to me, it most closely reflects the concept of diaspora. I learned that she wrote the song inspired by her father’s experiences, expressing the idea that life moves in constant cycles of departure and renewal. Birth itself forces us to leave a place of comfort—the womb—and enter the unknown, and death can be seen as a similar passage. Diaspora, in many ways, mirrors this movement: it is the act of leaving a familiar environment and stepping into uncertainty. As a nomadic artist who grew up moving between cultures and countries, Lhasa de Sela seemed to relate to this feeling of displacement and transition. Her personal history gives the song an added layer of meaning, making it resonate strongly with the emotional and existential dimensions of diaspora. (Leonor Rodrigues, 163586)
She does not claim one single home, her road is her home. Her music also sounds almost nomadic, representing her and her journey as an American Mexican Canadian woman. Finally, I believe her choice of singing in her three languages is more than a matter of aesthetics, its the diaspora itself as an action.
ReplyDeletejoana braz
DeleteAndré Gonçalves: "Soon this space will be too small" - It relates to a concept of forced movement related to a diaspora. The fact that the current place of living is no longer bearable, the necessity of going elsewhere, potentially a better place. Diaspora in its many uses does not require the forced movement, in many cases it relates to a voluntary one. Fhe movement in the song is not explicitly forced but the consequence of staying there is the destruction of the individual, as she refers to her own body and bonesbeing burned otherwise.
ReplyDeleteUsing the concept of the road as a metaphor for life, Lhasa de Sela achieves describing throughout her twelve songs the different themes everyone encounters along this journey: identity, love, loss, transformation.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the most interesting one seems to be that of limits, whether physical, geographical or, especially, linguistic, as she successfully demonstrates how to overcome them by singing in all of the three languages she knows due to the diaspora that shaped her life.
Listening to "Anywhere on This Road" gave me an insight on Lhasa's journey and feelings regarding being a citizen of the world and not belonging . She says "I live in this country now
ReplyDeleteI'm called by this name
I speak this language
It's not quite the same
For no other reason
Than this it's my home
And the places I used to be far from are gone". The antology gives us different concepts and definitions of diaspora, some saying that it is a forced exile from a place and others saying that it is just the spreading of people. This song gives you the inside perspective of a person that lived this process and how it feels, instead of looking at it from a top perspective. 151914
I chose “Soon This Place Will Be Too Small” by Lhasa de Sela because, to me, it most closely reflects the concept of diaspora. I learned that she wrote the song inspired by her father’s experiences, expressing the idea that life moves in constant cycles of departure and renewal. Birth itself forces us to leave a place of comfort—the womb—and enter the unknown, and death can be seen as a similar passage.
ReplyDeleteDiaspora, in many ways, mirrors this movement: it is the act of leaving a familiar environment and stepping into uncertainty. As a nomadic artist who grew up moving between cultures and countries, Lhasa de Sela seemed to relate to this feeling of displacement and transition. Her personal history gives the song an added layer of meaning, making it resonate strongly with the emotional and existential dimensions of diaspora.
(Leonor Rodrigues, 163586)