On the production of hybrid urban space(s) in post-colonial cities: Manila in the music of Eraserheads

ABSTRACT

This article challenges the dominant reading of Manila as a predominantly polarized city where the wealthy and less affluent are often opposed. The article rather draws upon Lefebvre’s approach to the production of space and Soja’s concept of thirdspace to provide a postcolonial exploration of a common representational and imaginary space that transcends blatant socio-economic disparities. This thirdspace is both evident in and produced by the music of arguably the most popular pop-rock band of the 1990s, that is, Eraserheads. The music of Eraserheads contributed to producing a liminal Manila where both the affluent and less wealthy youth of the 1990s found a common reference. One that is not black or white but hybrid as post-colonial cities inherently are. This article ultimately argues that popular music offers promising perspectives for such postcolonial understanding of cities beyond the polarization of wealth and power.

KEYWORDS:

• Thirdspace
• hybridity
• popular music
• postcolonial studies
• Eraserheads
• Manila

Acknowledgement

The author would like to thank Joseph Palis and Sarah Raymundo (University of the Philippines Diliman) for stimulating discussions on Eraserheads' contribution to Philippine society and Andre Ortega (Syracuse University) and Ksenia Chmutina (Loughborough University) for their insightful reviews and suggestions on earlier drafts of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).