This lecture will highlight a corpus of Burmese language anti-Muslim hate songs archived on Youtube.com. Burma/Myanmar is the site of recent genocidal violence perpetrated against Muslims, and these songs are part of the hate speech campaign which undergirds this violence. Using the definition of incitement articulated by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, I will argue that the lyrics of these songs constitute incitement to violence. Further, the comments written by YouTube listeners provide evidence that the songs provoke additional dehumanizing speech. The songs and their creators are therefore complicit in the recent violent persecution of Muslims in Myanmar.

About the speaker:
Heather MacLachlan (Ph.D. Cornell University 2009) is Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology and Interim Director of Women's and Gender Studies at the University of Dayton. Professor MacLachlan is the author of two scholarly books and numerous articles focusing on musicians among Burmese populations and on LGBTQ musical advocacy in the United States. She serves as a volunteer Guardian ad Litem for the Montgomery County juvenile court in Dayton, Ohio.

Free and open to the public; register at https://myumi.ch/AwWb4