We are thrilled to announce the publication of a new article, "Cambodian American Listening as Memory Work," by PMA graduate student Brian Sengdala, in the independent, peer-reviewed journal American Music.
"Prologue
This story is about singing. Often, singing is performed by some kind of vocalization, at times wordless, and at times full of verbiage. I came to better understand singing through the introduction of the language that remembering and learning from my elders offered me. Within that new context, I tried to figure out what to do with these songs. By telling this piece as a story and singing it as a song, I also want to point out that this narrative does not take the form of an essay that an academic readership might expect, and that the orality of its prose stems from traditions of writing from an undercommons "in, but not of," the university.1 As such, this article refuses extraction organized by signposting and—like in any relationship—requires time. As I revisit with you later, I invite you here to be in relation with this story and to remember with me."
Read the full article here.
Brian Sengdala's area of research is Cambodian and Asian American studies, race, performance, sound, music, memory, refugeehood, and disability.
Congratulations Brian!
