{"id":{"repo_id":"cape-town","oai_identifier":"oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41391"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cape-town/oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41391","repository":{"repo_id":"cape-town","name":"University of Cape Town","base_url":"https://open.uct.ac.za/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Madagascar's Musical Migrations: Instruments as Framework to Reimagine Early Indian Ocean Contact","abstract":"Madagascar's enigmatic settlement is one of the unsolved puzzles of human history. For more than a century, scholars have been narrating the story of remarkable pre-colonial Indian Ocean migrations from Southeast Asia, East Africa and West Asia to the world's fourth-largest island. With a recent increase in research by scholars from various disciplines, the details surrounding Madagascar's settlement are slowly taking form. Within this context, I enquire what the study of music can contribute towards these investigations. By foregrounding musical instruments, the tangible aspects of musical culture, I present important evidence linking Madagascar to these Indian Ocean regions. My approach is two-fold. Firstly, I conduct a classification-based organological study by comparing several Malagasy instruments to examples found in Southeast Asia, East Africa and West Asia. I argue, on the basis of strikingly similar forms and names with the same roots, that these Malagasy instruments are localised versions of instruments diffused to the island. Secondly, I foreground Madagascar's national instrument, the valiha, by examining its visual development and incorporation of symbolic imagery. By viewing it as an object that is not limited to making beautiful sounds, I reveal how the valiha embodies enormous amounts of knowledge. This knowledge, often relating to heritage and identity, situates the musical instrument as a potentially vital constituent to advance the study of Malagasy origins.","abstract_html":"Madagascar's enigmatic settlement is one of the unsolved puzzles of human history. For more than a century, scholars have been narrating the story of remarkable pre-colonial Indian Ocean migrations from Southeast Asia, East Africa and West Asia to the world's fourth-largest island. With a recent increase in research by scholars from various disciplines, the details surrounding Madagascar's settlement are slowly taking form. Within this context, I enquire what the study of music can contribute towards these investigations. By foregrounding musical instruments, the tangible aspects of musical culture, I present important evidence linking Madagascar to these Indian Ocean regions. My approach is two-fold. Firstly, I conduct a classification-based organological study by comparing several Malagasy instruments to examples found in Southeast Asia, East Africa and West Asia. I argue, on the basis of strikingly similar forms and names with the same roots, that these Malagasy instruments are localised versions of instruments diffused to the island. Secondly, I foreground Madagascar's national instrument, the valiha, by examining its visual development and incorporation of symbolic imagery. By viewing it as an object that is not limited to making beautiful sounds, I reveal how the valiha embodies enormous amounts of knowledge. This knowledge, often relating to heritage and identity, situates the musical instrument as a potentially vital constituent to advance the study of Malagasy origins.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Adams, Rashid Epstein"],"institution":"College of Music","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Nixon, Michael"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2018,"date_issued":"2018","date_published":"2018","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:49Z","subjects":["Music"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41391","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Nixon, Michael"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Adams, Rashid Epstein"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2025-04-17T08:34:19Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-04-17T08:34:19Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2018"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["College of Music"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis / Dissertation"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Masters"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Music"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41391"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Madagascar's enigmatic settlement is one of the unsolved puzzles of human history. For more than a century, scholars have been narrating the story of remarkable pre-colonial Indian Ocean migrations from Southeast Asia, East Africa and West Asia to the world's fourth-largest island. With a recent increase in research by scholars from various disciplines, the details surrounding Madagascar's settlement are slowly taking form. Within this context, I enquire what the study of music can contribute towards these investigations. By foregrounding musical instruments, the tangible aspects of musical culture, I present important evidence linking Madagascar to these Indian Ocean regions. My approach is two-fold. Firstly, I conduct a classification-based organological study by comparing several Malagasy instruments to examples found in Southeast Asia, East Africa and West Asia. I argue, on the basis of strikingly similar forms and names with the same roots, that these Malagasy instruments are localised versions of instruments diffused to the island. Secondly, I foreground Madagascar's national instrument, the valiha, by examining its visual development and incorporation of symbolic imagery. By viewing it as an object that is not limited to making beautiful sounds, I reveal how the valiha embodies enormous amounts of knowledge. This knowledge, often relating to heritage and identity, situates the musical instrument as a potentially vital constituent to advance the study of Malagasy origins."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Madagascar's Musical Migrations: Instruments as Framework to Reimagine Early Indian Ocean Contact"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Nixon, Michael"],"dc:creator":["Adams, Rashid Epstein"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2025-04-17T08:34:19Z"],"dc:date.available":["2025-04-17T08:34:19Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2018"],"dc:description.abstract":["Madagascar's enigmatic settlement is one of the unsolved puzzles of human history. For more than a century, scholars have been narrating the story of remarkable pre-colonial Indian Ocean migrations from Southeast Asia, East Africa and West Asia to the world's fourth-largest island. With a recent increase in research by scholars from various disciplines, the details surrounding Madagascar's settlement are slowly taking form. Within this context, I enquire what the study of music can contribute towards these investigations. By foregrounding musical instruments, the tangible aspects of musical culture, I present important evidence linking Madagascar to these Indian Ocean regions. My approach is two-fold. Firstly, I conduct a classification-based organological study by comparing several Malagasy instruments to examples found in Southeast Asia, East Africa and West Asia. I argue, on the basis of strikingly similar forms and names with the same roots, that these Malagasy instruments are localised versions of instruments diffused to the island. Secondly, I foreground Madagascar's national instrument, the valiha, by examining its visual development and incorporation of symbolic imagery. By viewing it as an object that is not limited to making beautiful sounds, I reveal how the valiha embodies enormous amounts of knowledge. This knowledge, often relating to heritage and identity, situates the musical instrument as a potentially vital constituent to advance the study of Malagasy origins."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41391"],"dc:publisher.department":["College of Music"],"dc:subject":["Music"],"dc:title":["Madagascar's Musical Migrations: Instruments as Framework to Reimagine Early Indian Ocean Contact"],"dc:type":["Thesis / Dissertation"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["Masters"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:49Z"}