Download or read book Melanesian Mainstream written by Sebastian T. Ellerich and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2024-01-05 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Citizens of Vanuatu (ni-Vanuatu) perceive stringband music as a marker of national identity, an indicator of their cultural, stylistic, and musical heritage. Through extensive field and ethnographic research, Melanesian Mainstream offers a detailed historical record of the roots, context, evolution, and impact of stringband music. Beyond chronicling the genre’s history and cultural significance, this thorough monograph positions the genre’s musical hybridity, communal lyrics, and unique organizational structures as key factors in the anthropological understanding of ni-Vanuatu socio-cultural history.