Reviews
“This book is a joy to read: conceptually innovative, empirically rich, and beautifully written, it takes us into the lives and thoughts of the people who create and circulate love songs in Somaliland. Combining musical and textual insights of a high order, Love Songs in Motion gives us new ways of thinking about intimacy, publicness, and creative work ‘in motion.’ It is one of the best ethnographies ever written on an African popular culture genre, and it will be an instant classic.”
Karin Barber, Emerita, University of Birmingham
“A beautiful and moving ethnographic account of the role and importance of hees jacayl, or love songs, in present-day Somaliland. Drawing on the author’s extensive and intimate experience in Somaliland, this finely crafted book presents a compelling alternative to ‘Afro-pessimist’ discourses in showing how the performance and circulation of hees jacayl is a hopeful, future-oriented act that fosters personal healing and postwar reconciliation and cultivates a sense of belonging in Somaliland.”
Amanda Weidman, Bryn Mawr College