Écouter le monde mais n’entendre que soi

Abstract

This essay problematizes some of the ways in which aesthetic preferences intersect with listeners’ perspectives on borders, boundary crossings, and constructions of authenticity as they encounter musical hybridity and processes of globalization. Using analytical ideas drawn from hybridity theory (Garcia Canclini, Kraidy, Young, Deleuze, Stross) and ethnographic data from the responses of university listeners who respond to two pop songs from Mali, the author suggests that “perceived authenticity” is a primary filter for the valuation of world musics. Although marketers exploit these perceptions, understanding that authenticity is more malleable and cyclic than its definition suggests reveals the complicated nexus between category boundaries, audience expectation, and the hybridizing processes of cultural interaction.