Playing with Meaning: Perspectives on Culture, Commodification and Contestation Around the Didjeridu

Abstract

The didjeridu has accumulated considerable symbolic capital in recent years. Its status as an icon of Aboriginality, musical tradition and ritual significance has embedded it firmly within the Australian national imagination. However, the didjeridu did not hold centre stage as a symbol of Indigeneity until fairly recently, when it moved from the periphery of the Australian continent to come to stand for Australianness at its centre. The didjeridu has crossed internal boundaries altering perceptions of music and music making in different parts of Aboriginal Australia. It has crossed national and international boundaries through adaptations of its shape, tone and rhythmic contours, and it has taken on new cultural histories as a result of its global appropriation by non-Indigenous peoples. Globalisation presents both a threat and an opportunity for the recontextualisation of Indigenous meanings around the didjeridu.

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