The Greenlandification in the 1970’s marked a major turn in the hegemonic identity discourse in Greenland. This turn remains dominant to this day, where Greenlandic identity is closely tied to Inuit identity. Popular music, as performed by the legendary rock band Sume, is widely recognized as the main mediator of this shift towards ethnic identity. Through a Foucauldian analytical perspective and a short history of Greenlandic music, this presentation aims to illustrate how discursive change was implemented though use of Greenlandic popular music in the 1970s, how it is sustained in the music scene today, and how it has been challenged by younger generations of popular music artists.
Andreas Otte is an Assistant Professor at the Institute for Learning, University of Greenland. He earned both his Master’s degree and Ph.D. degree from University of Copenhagen at respectively Musicology and Minority Studies. Andreas Otte’s regional interest lies within Greenland and the North Atlantic. Theoretically his music research is concerned with concepts such as globalization, nationalism, cosmopolitanism and performance of place. Apart from his academic interest in the Greenlandic music scene, Andreas Otte participates in this scene as both a fan and as a musician.
