Kustumbre, modernity and resistance the subaltern narrative in Chamorro language music

Abstract

This dissertation traces the history of Chamorro music from pre-colonial accounts of Chamorro songs, through the peak years of the recording era in the last three decades of the twentieth century. The revival of Chamorro music traditions in post-war Guam is demonstrated to be a significant cultural movement that has largely gone unnoticed by scholars in fields that deal with issues of history, culture, colonialism and music. The focus of this study is the life stories of singers and songwriters who were born during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s and grew up amidst the radical post-World War II transformation of the American Territory of Guam. They were also the first generations of Chamorros to live all or most of their lives as American citizens. Through the utilization of oral histories and songs as primary sources, this dissertation brings to light perspectives that have generally been left out of most studies of Guam's past, which have focused on written source material and the actions of political leaders. In doing so, this dissertation brings attention to a subaltern narrative in Guam history, which demonstrates that non-elite Chamorros have played an under-recognized role in perpetuating indigenous continuities in Chamorro language and culture. This dissertation also addresses common perceptions that Chamorro songs are inauthentic because of the heavy adaption of western styles. This adaptive approach to western influences is shown to be a continuation of long established strategies of resistance to colonial hegemony that is consistent with the syncretic cultural system known as kustumbren Chamorro.