Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

9-2025

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Music

Advisor

Eliot Bates

Committee Members

Jonathan H. Shannon

Anaar Desai-Stephens

Farzad Amoozegar

Subject Categories

Ethnomusicology

Keywords

ethnomusicology, Iraq, Maqam, Iraqi Maqam, community archives

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the practice of recording, collecting, and sharing recordings of the Iraqi Maqam. Through a close analysis of the recordings’ content, their performance context, journeys of circulation, and modes of exchange, I argue that the role of Iraqi Maqam amateur archivists has been indispensable in preserving the musical tradition during wartime (1980‒2011) and in post-war Iraq (post‒2011). I also document the process of individual remembering mediated through recordings, explore the shared nostalgia expressed in relation to the content and context of these recordings, and assess the attempts at preserving and reviving this endangered musical tradition through audio archives.

I also demonstrate how, as repositories of performances and events, these recordings and archives have preserved memories of spaces that hold significant relevance to the cultural heritage of Baghdad. I illustrate how these recordings, by being organized and shared, have evolved into sites of commemoration, safeguarding part of the city’s past through its urban musical tradition. Through oral history interviews and archival research, I show how the practice of collecting recordings was driven by a profound passion for the musical genre, while the ethos of generosity underpinned the recordings’ circulation. A shared sense of nostalgia and a fear of the tradition’s loss later motivated their preservation, ultimately transforming them into organized sources where the safeguarding of the cultural legacy of the Iraqi Maqam manifests.

This research presents three multi-sited case studies spanning four countries, integrating a multi-method ethnographic approach that combines participant observation, ethnographic and oral history interviews, archival research, online ethnography, and discourse analysis. The first case study, centered on the process of archival construction in exile, reveals the role of recordings in sustaining connections among Iraqi Maqam enthusiasts in the diaspora. The second case study examines how collections of recordings serve as vehicles for transmitting both musical and non-musical knowledge of the Iraqi Maqam. Finally, the third case study explores the role of online archives and the sharing of recordings through streaming platforms and social media. I show how the recent digital dissemination facilitates accessibility without geographic limitations and reinforces a collective memory around the Iraqi Maqam and its urban milieu. Through these case studies, this ethnomusicological research aims to contribute to the understanding of community archiving practices and the modalities through which sentiments of love, nostalgia, and the fear of loss empower individual knowledge of the Iraqi Maqam and sustain collective memory of the history of the tradition and its urban and social milieu, particularly during and in the aftermath of war, and across national borders.

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