Nour El Rayes: "Belligerent Optimism and Future Work in Lebanese Alternative Music"

Belligerent Optimism and Future Work in Lebanese Alternative Music

In this talk, I argue that alternative music in Lebanon is a privileged site for imagining and reconfiguring the country's future. With the goal of decentering frameworks that center suffering or resistance in favor of vitality and joy, I look to the music of Lebanese bands Soapkills, Scrambled Eggs, and Mashrou' Leila as exemplifying what I call a "belligerent optimism." Through the framework of belligerent optimism, this talk considers how the sonic, aesthetic, and presentational qualities of these bands' music become imaginative tools for envisioning a different-and perhaps better-Lebanon. More broadly, through my own belligerent optimism, I seek to map a path towards theorizing radical action as possible in the absence of remarkable or revolutionary events and with a stubborn indifference towards engagement with ossified identity categories.

Admission is free - No need to purchase tickets to attend.