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“Piano Is My Homeland”: Subverting Violence Through Musical Resistance in Yarmouk Refugee Camp

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Sounds and the City

Part of the book series: Leisure Studies in a Global Era ((LSGE))

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Abstract

Employing the resistance story of Aeham Ahmad, a Palestinian-Syrian musician and activist who has gained most of his fame by playing a portable piano in the ruins of Yarmouk refugee camp under siege, this chapter investigates implications of arts to resist conflict in urban areas. Analyzing the lyrics of ten songs Aeham performed publicly at Yarmouk refugee camp when it was under siege, and incorporating a number of Aeham’s interviews with global media, this chapter highlights the possibilities of arts in the context of urbicide: the violence induced by war and expanded into cities. Civil resistance, like the music of Aeham Ahmad, can empower citizens to reclaim their rights to urban spaces. As a local act of resistance, Aeham’s music represents the everyday suffering and lived experiences of those trapped in Yarmouk. However, Aeham’s music also offers an alternative urbanity, beyond the representation of daily suffering, for change, hope, and solidarity for reconstructing and reordering urban spaces, post conflict.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    S. Ali Mostolizadeh

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  1. S. Ali Mostolizadeh
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Correspondence to S. Ali Mostolizadeh .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK

    Brett Lashua , Stephen Wagg , Karl Spracklen  & M. Selim Yavuz , ,  & 

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Mostolizadeh, S.A. (2019). “Piano Is My Homeland”: Subverting Violence Through Musical Resistance in Yarmouk Refugee Camp. In: Lashua, B., Wagg, S., Spracklen, K., Yavuz, M.S. (eds) Sounds and the City. Leisure Studies in a Global Era. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94081-6_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94081-6_12

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-94080-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-94081-6

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