"The book presents an argument clearly demonstrating how music has seriously impacted New Zealand on a political and social level. Dr Turner broadens the use of Bakhtin’s theory of ‘Dialogism’, originally created for literary analysis, to effectively investigate the historical and cultural significance of the music group Herbs’ first album What’s Be Happen? The Herbs are described as the 'vanguard of Pacific Reggae' by AudioCulture — the online encyclopedia of New Zealand popular music. Dr Turner’s analysis of their first album, which was highly political, draws attention to the impact the album has had on New Zealand at that time and since. It also explores the influence the band and this album has had in forming a music genre that has become internationally recognised."
Keith McEwing, Secretary, Music Advisory Committee, The Lilburn Trust
"The book presents an argument clearly demonstrating how music has seriously impacted New Zealand on a political and social level. Dr Turner broadens the use of Bakhtin’s theory of ‘Dialogism’, originally created for literary analysis, to effectively investigate the historical and cultural significance of the music group Herbs’ first album What’s Be Happen? The Herbs are described as the 'vanguard of Pacific Reggae' by AudioCulture — the online encyclopedia of New Zealand popular music. Dr Turner’s analysis of their first album, which was highly political, draws attention to the impact the album has had on New Zealand at that time and since. It also explores the influence the band and this album has had in forming a music genre that has become internationally recognised."
Keith McEwing, Secretary, Music Advisory Committee, The Lilburn Trust
"Elizabeth Turner skilfully blends an informative study of reggae in Aotearoa New Zealand with a detailed conceptual analysis drawing on the ideas of cultural theorist Mikhail Bakhtin. Focusing on the band, the Herbs, the book chronicles and interprets a significant era in New Zealand popular music history through an engaging critical lens."
Professor Henry Johnson, University of Otago, New Zealand
"Turner's scintillating reading of Aotearoa New Zealand band Herbs' 1981 reggae album What's Be Happen as staging a complex web of dialogic relations to challenge colonialism's legacy of racism, social exclusion, land loss and cultural dislocation - in Aotearoa New Zealand and elsewhere - highlights the continuing relevance of Bakhtin's work for thinking practices of resistance by marginalized communities and for affirming the transformative power of popular culture."
Professor Esther Peeren, Professor of Cultural Analysis, University of Amsterdam
"In terms of its treatment of Bakhtin's work alone, this book is a treasure bringing to the fore Turner's deep and erudite understanding of key Bakhtinian concepts and theories. The main, and highly significant, contribution of Turner's book is its highly compelling account of Herbs' classic 1981 album 'What's Be Happen'. Beautifully written with detailed insights concerning both the historical context and ongoing legacy of this landmark recording, The Discourse of Protest, Resistance and Social Commentary in Reggae Music will be essential reading for both popular music scholars and general readers with an interest in reggae and its trans-local evolution as a medium of protest."
Professor Andy Bennett, Professor of Cultural Sociology, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia
