Becca Whitla Publishes Book on Liturgical Music and Colonialism

Photo: Becca Whitla's 'Liberation, (De)Coloniality and Liturgical Practices'

Becca Whitla (Emm 1T3 MSMus, Emm 1T9 PhD) recently published her book, Liberation, (De)Coloniality, Liturgical Practices: Flipping the Song Bird.

When asked about her publication, Whitla said, "It is a product of my time doing doctoral studies at Emmanuel. It is also a reflection on my many years in music ministry both in community and in the church. Studying at Emmanuel allowed me to find language to articulate the things I had experienced as a musician and song leader, namely the ways colonialism, or coloniality, had a hold on musical practices. In the book, I focus on song (text and music), singing, and song leading. In addition to critiquing our hymnic canons and practices for their coloniality, I explore ways to be decolonizing and liberating, proposing some initial principles for liberating liturgy at the end of the book. I have to give a shout out to my supervisor Bill Kervin, committee members Lim Swee Hong and Pam Couture, as well as to colleague Néstor Medina, and of course to the whole Emmanuel community! I do plan to have a book launch in the next couple of months. Stay tuned for further details."