Singing Peace, Harmonizing Discordant Tunes: Tracking a Transnational Trajectory of Peace

Abstract

Adopting a transnational approach that places Africa at the center of inquiry, this study traces a trajectory of peacebuilding discourse through the music of popular artists African China in Nigeria and Brenda Fassie in South Africa. It adopts a nonlinear, weblike structure that links different national spaces in the discussion of different stages in the peace trajectory. The essay identifies three stages of peacebuilding in the artists’ interventions. These stages begin with a prelude of violent conflict (early warning); they continue with the call by the artists to all stakeholders to take any measures necessary to make peace (even negotiation); and end in a final, celebratory stage that usually leads toward restoration of peace for freedom and development. In reading the lyrics, performances, and popular artists’ use of their celebrity through the prism of the three‐stage trajectory toward peace, this study contends that the inclusive, multiform mode of communication provided through popular culture is key to both freedom and development.