Avec Christina Woolner*Avec Christina Woolner*
( A Reflection in Honour of Khadra Daahir Ciige, 1957-2022)
In this sem
inar, we will travel deep into the musical world of Somali love(-suffering)
via the storied life, love and songs of Hargeysa-born singer Khadra Daahir
Ciige. Fondly known as hooyada jacaylka (‘the mother of love’), K
hadra is especially beloved for her stirring performances of calaacal <
/em>(a genre of love-lament) and a voice that listeners say can ‘make you f
eel what she feels’. While Khadra’s popularity rests squarely on an ability
to convey deeply felt love experiences in her voice, in this seminar I exp
lore how songs, singers and voices become increasingly ‘sticky, or saturate
d with affect’ (as Sahra Ahmed puts it) as they move across both space and
generation and are envocalized by an ever-expanding number of acto
rs. I specifically consider how love songs’ aesthetic form and artists’ acc
essibility to their fans precipitates a particularly intimate form of t
alk that plays a critical role in constantly (re)making the voice of a
singer and her public intimate. Weaving together stories that Khadra’s fan
s tell, stories that Khadra herself told, the texts (and sounds) of her son
gs, and my own reflections on encountering Khadra, I ultimately aim to demo
nstrate how the ongoing making of celebrity voice works to mediate intimacy
and contributes to the snowballing ‘stickiness’ of love songs in motion. * Christina Woolner is currently an affiliated resear
cher in the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridg
e and a postdoctoral researcher on the Desert Disorders project at
Northumbria University. Her research broadly explores how forms of popular
art and practices of voicing are entangled in processes of sociopolitical
transformation, especially in the wake of violence. For the last decade, sh
e has worked in Somaliland, where her she has studied the social and politi
cal lives of love songs and the contemporary dynamics of political poetic d
ebate; she has recently begun a project exploring the how ‘home’ is evoked
both in word and sound in the poetry of diaspora Somali artists living in t
he UK. She is the author of Love Songs in Motion: Voicing Intimacy
in Somaliland (Chicago, 2023) and has published work on the sociop
olitical dynamics of Somali popular music and poetry in journals including
American Ethnologist, Et
hnomusicology, and Nordic Journal of African Studies. (A Reflection in Honour of Khadra Daahir Ciige, 19
57-2022) In this seminar, we will travel deep into the musical world
of Somali love(-suffering) via the storied life, love and songs of Hargeysa
-born singer Khadra Daahir Ciige. Fondly known as hooyada jacaylka (‘the mother of love’), Khadra is especially beloved for her stirring perf
ormances of calaacal (a genre of love-lament) and a voice that lis
teners say can ‘make you feel what she feels’. While Khadra’s popularity re
sts squarely on an ability to convey deeply felt love experiences in her vo
ice, in this seminar I explore how songs, singers and voices become increas
ingly ‘sticky, or saturated with affect’ (as Sahra Ahmed puts it) as they m
ove across both space and generation and are envocalized by an eve
r-expanding number of actors. I specifically consider how love songs’ aesth
etic form and artists’ accessibility to their fans precipitates a particula
rly intimate form of talk that plays a critical role in constantly
(re)making the voice of a singer and her public intimate. Weaving together
stories that Khadra’s fans tell, stories that Khadra herself told, the tex
ts (and sounds) of her songs, and my own reflections on encountering Khadra
, I ultimately aim to demonstrate how the ongoing making of celebrity voice
works to mediate intimacy and contributes to the snowballing ‘stickiness’
of love songs in motion. * Christina Woolner is curr
ently an affiliated researcher in the Department of Social Anthropology at
the University of Cambridge and a postdoctoral researcher on the Desert
Disorders project at Northumbria University. Her research broadly exp
lores how forms of popular art and practices of voicing are entangled in pr
ocesses of sociopolitical transformation, especially in the wake of violenc
e. For the last decade, she has worked in Somaliland, where her she has stu
died the social and political lives of love songs and the contemporary dyna
mics of political poetic debate; she has recently begun a project exploring
the how ‘home’ is evoked both in word and sound in the poetry of diaspora
Somali artists living in the UK. She is the author of Love Songs in
Motion: Voicing Intimacy in Somaliland (Chicago, 2023) and has pu
blished work on the sociopolitical dynamics of Somali popular music and poe
try in journals including American Ethnologist, Ethnomusicology, and Nordic Journal of African
Studies. 
Avec Christina
Woolner*