“A riddim resisting against the system”: Bob Marley in Aotearoa

Abstract

Bob Marley and his music have had an extraordinary impact in Aotearoa/New Zealand. This thesis explores Marley’s particular influence within Maori, Pacific Island, and working class communities. The oral histories collected for this thesis trace (among other things) the growing interest in his music from the early 1970s, personal encounters with him during his visit to the country in 1979, and the emergence of local bands playing his music and adapting it to create new hybrid forms of local reggae. The main emphasis is on the extent to which the political messages in Marley’s music resonated with local protest movements. The music became an integral part of Maori land marches and occupations, the 1981 anti-Springbok Tour movement, and a range of other political demonstrations. It was also a catalyst for the formation of alternative religious communities such as Auckland’s 12 Tribes and the rural group of Rastafarians in Ruatoria. Themes of de-colonisation and community activism link these developments, and demonstrate the strong political dimension of Marley’s music as it was interpreted by Maori and Pacific Island listeners and by local political groups. The thesis is a study of reception employing an unusual combination of methods, some derived from the theorists Paul Gilroy, Edward Said, Linda Tuhiwai Smith and Donna Awatere-Huata. It also draws upon this student’s own experience as a young Pacific Islander involved in street culture and political activism, who shared an enthusiasm for Marley’s music with his peers. The thesis is an attempt to undertake a very different kind of research from the usual media studies ‘reception’ or ‘audience’ study. The interaction between Marley’s music and local communities – understood here through the concept of spirals of culture – is so active that we need new ways of thinking about reception in relation to the complexity of local cultures. The strong ‘spiritual’ dimension of Maori and Pacific Island responses to Marley is also an aspect that reception studies have seldom been able to cover adequately. The thesis offers some new insights into Marley and his music, and at the same time seeks to record some of the little-known oral history of under-privileged communities in Aotearoa. It is also an experiment in developing an approach that always puts the community first and proceeds with a strong awareness of the potential ethical dangers involved in academic research.