Liberation, (De)Coloniality, and Liturgical Practices

Becca Whitla uses liberationist, postcolonial, and decolonial methods to analyze hymns, congregational singing, and song-leading practices. By way of this analysis, Whitla shows how congregational singing can embody liberating liturgy and theology. Through a series of interwoven theoretical lenses and methodological toolsincluding coloniality, mimicry, epistemic disobedience, hybridity, border thinking, and ethnomusicologythe author examines and interrogates a range of factors in the musical sphere. From beloved Victorian hymns to infectious Latin American coritos ; congregational singing to radical union choirs; Christian complicity in coloniality to Indigenous ways of knowing, the dynamic praxis-based stance of the book is rooted in the author's lived experiences and commitments and engages with detailed examples from sacred music and both liturgical and practical theology. Drawing on what she calls a syncopated liberating praxis, the author affirms the intercultural promise of communities of faith as a locus theologicus and a place for the in-breaking of the Holy Spirit.

Uses liberation postcolonial and decolonial scholarship as critical lenses to analyse hymns, congregational singing, and song-leading practices in historic mainline Protestant churches Shows congregational singing can embody a liberating praxis that nourishes a fuller expression of complex cultural identities Proposes germinative principles for a liberating liturgical theology

Auteur

Becca Whitla is Professor of Pastoral Studies at St. Andrew's College in Saskatoon, where she teaches worship and liturgy, preaching, and religious education.

Texte du rabat

Becca Whitla uses liberationist, postcolonial, and decolonial methods to analyze hymns, congregational singing, and song-leading practices. By way of this analysis, Whitla shows how congregational singing can embody liberating liturgy and theology. Through a series of interwoven theoretical lenses and methodological tools including coloniality, mimicry, epistemic disobedience, hybridity, border thinking, and ethnomusicology the author examines and interrogates a range of factors in the musical sphere. From beloved Victorian hymns to infectious Latin American coritos; congregational singing to radical union choirs; Christian complicity in coloniality to Indigenous ways of knowing, the dynamic praxis-based stance of the book is rooted in the author s lived experiences and commitments and engages with detailed examples from sacred music and both liturgical and practical theology. Drawing on what she calls a syncopated liberating praxis, the author affirms the intercultural promise of communities of faith as a locus theologicus and a place for the in-breaking of the Holy Spirit.

Contenu

Introduction: Flipping the Song Bird.- Chapter 1: Trans-forming Praxis: Initial Rubrics for Liberating Song Leading.- Chapter 2: Untangling the Threads of Our Stories.- Chapter 3: The Empire Sings.- Chapter 4: Singing Back against Empire (or the Subaltern Sings Back).- Chapter 5: Border Singing.- Chapter 6: Liberating the Song Bird.- 7. A Call to Conversation.