Dangerous mediations: YouTube, pop music, and power in a Philippine prison video

Mangaoang, Aine Dangerous mediations: YouTube, pop music, and power in a Philippine prison video. PhD thesis, University of Liverpool.

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Abstract

The cultural crossings between music, new digital media,prison and postcolonial Philippine culture form the basis of Dangerous Mediations, which provides a close, intertextual reading of a contemporary prison performance to question the assumptions behind seemingly familiar, entertaining audiovisual media content. Through the lens of critical cultural studies, and ethno/musicology, I examine the interplay between Michael Jackson’s renowned hit Thriller (1983) and a specific interpretation of this work by a group of 1500 Filipino inmates at the Cebu Provincial Rehabilitation and Detention Centre (2007). Rereading Jackson’s impact on popular music and culture in light of postcolonialism, penology, popular music studies,YouTube theory, and in relation to Philippine culture, I trace the evolution of this contemporary music and dance practice within Cebuano culture, as it is transformed and mediated online. I address the prevalent idea of music as an innately positive power, and through a close reading of this irresistible performance, I deconstruct prevailing (dangerous) stereotypes regarding the ‘inherently musical Filipino.’ Reflecting on how, why, and to what effect popular performance can pollinate across cultures and nations, I demonstrate how audiovisual digital platforms such as YouTube can play an important role in shaping our understanding and experiences of the world we live in. Focusing on the performances made by inmates, by Filipinos, by amateurs, I show that we are able not only to historicise the effects of the disenfranchised, but through a close reading of the intertextual, hybridised mediated performance, we may also gain access to and gradually understand that which might otherwise have remained invisible.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Additional Information:	Date: 2014-09 (completed)
Subjects:	?? HN ?? ?? M1 ??
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	11 Sep 2015 11:31
Last Modified:	17 Dec 2022 02:07
DOI:	10.17638/02009748
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/2009748