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In the Cambodian American community of Lowell, Massachusetts-home
to the second largest Cambodian population in the U.S.-the sounds of the past are
alive in the present. In local clubs, businesses, and family homes, one is likely
to encounter the pop music of 1950s-1975 Cambodia. Jomreang pe'dam, "the songs
from the beginning" as this genre is referred to in Khmer, peaked in the years
following ... read moreCambodian independence from France in 1953, and thrived until the Khmer
Rouge genocide from 1975 to 1979. In both Lowell and Cambodia, jomreang pe'dam
historically index this tumultuous and deeply traumatic period of the recent past.
However, due to their sustained presence in Cambodian social life, the old songs
simultaneously represent Khmer cultural heritage, continuity, and survival. This
thesis explores jomreang pe'dam in the present-day Cambodian American diaspora as
archival, reflexive, and variable means of accessing Cambodian cultural and
autobiographical memories.
Thesis (M.A.)--Tufts University, 2019.
Submitted to the Dept. of Music.
Advisor: Richard Jankowsky.
Committee: Stephanie Khoury, and Rabbi Jeffrey
Summit.
Keywords: Music, Social research, and Southeast Asian
studies.read less
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