Who can sing this song (and how)? Memory, activism and the (Trans)cultural appropriation of spirituals
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5885159 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Marit Van De Warenburg (0000-0002-1950-0588, Utrecht, The Netherlands, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Pages | 1-15 |
| Publication date | 2025-09-26 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Heritage Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1352-7258 • E-ISSN: 1470-3610 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13527258.2025.2557843 |
| OpenAlex | W4414534535 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 22 |
In recent years, intangible carriers of memory have been at the forefront of discussions over what popular media dub ‘cultural appropriation’. Such discussions often relate cultural transmission to unequal, racialised power balances: who is to reproduce cultural forms that arose from pasts of exploitation and subjugation? This article reframes the contested transmission of musical carriers of memory as a site at which critical negotiations around heritage take place, exploring how debates surrounding appropriation offer a space to rethink implication. The article analyses the debates surrounding two specific reuses of spirituals: the use of ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’ as a British rugby chant and the ‘Negro Spiritual Royalties Project’, a U.S.-based campaign scrutinising the usage of spirituals in predominantly white churches. Firstly, the article demonstrates that cultural appropriation debates function as instances of memory-activism and reframes these debates as attempts to steer remembrance in order to address the contemporary repercussions of the past. Secondly, it proposes that such appropriation debates bring forth questions about historical implication and, sometimes, lead to redistributive practices. The article highlights the potential of cultural appropriation debates for rethinking contested exchanges across cultures but also points to the limits of contestation as a memory-activist tool
Appropriation · Folk song · Narrative · Popular music · Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights · Social Issues and Sustainability · Tourism, Volunteerism, and Development
Memory Activism
Mapping the Colonial Past in the Public Space. A Comparison between Belgium and the Netherlands
Cultural Appropriation Without Cultural Essentialism
Spirituals and the Birth of a Black Entertainment Industry
Black Culture and Black Consciousness
From Cultural Exchange to Transculturation
Challenging the meaning of the past from below
Racial minorities in a marginalized sport
The appropriating subject
An Origin for the Negro Spiritual
What is (the wrong of) cultural appropriation
Remembering Hope
Citizenship Violence and the Afterlives of Dutch Colonialism
Putting the Appropriator Back in Cultural Appropriation
Collective Memory and Cultural Identity
The Spirituals and the Blues
Denoting Difference
Anthem
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |