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This book is a study of Jamaican music as a postcolonial text with special regard to processes of identity formation. It explores how an African identity is created within the music through the conscious enhancement and construction of African elements or through references to Africa on a symbolic level. The formation of an African identity can be observed in the songtexts as well as in the music compositions and represents a counter-discourse to the prevailing (neo)colonial discourse. In this sense, Jamaican music can be regarded as a force of resistance which also contributes to processes of decolonization.

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Andrea Wolvers studied African Studies, Ethnomusicology, Linguistics and English at the University of Cologne and the Addis Ababa University. She is interested in the study of languages, cultures and music of Africa and the African diaspora.

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