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Phonographic Wonders and Possibilities at the Turn of the 20Th Century

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Phonographic Wonders and Possibilities at the Turn of the 20Th Century UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles An Emotive Mechanism: Phonographic Wonders and Possibilities at the Turn of the 20th Century A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History by Gustavo Alberto Garza 2012 © Copyright by Gustavo Alberto Garza 2012 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION An Emotive Mechanism: Phonographic Wonders and Possibilities at the Turn of the 20th Century by Gustavo Alberto Garza Doctor of Philosophy in History University of California, Los Angeles, 2012 Professor Theodore M. Porter, Chair This dissertation examines the intellectual and cultural reception of the phonograph at the turn of the 20th century in Western Europe and the United States. My main goal in this project is to investigate the varied reception of the phonograph by different constituencies, such as scientists, cultural critics, ethnomusicologists, and musicians. From apprehension to enthusiasm, the phonograph generated a diverse set of reactions amongst its users and listeners. In order to better understand this range of responses to the sound-recording device, I utilize the theory of the automaton as an important reference point throughout this dissertation. In scientific, musical, economic, and fictional contexts, the phonograph was imbued with life-like characteristics by its users, which stirred fear in some and excitement in others. This perception of the phonograph to be uncanny – to be both mechanical and somehow alive – shapes the focus of the dissertation and demonstrates how a seemingly simple device managed to destabilize ii traditional notions about human identity. The perceived ability of the phonograph to preserve and reproduce the human voice in isolation from its bodily source raised fundamental questions about what it meant to be human at a time of unprecedented technological and cultural change. The various manifestations of modernization transformed the human experience of time and space. As a consequence, the phonograph became part of this reconceptualization of the human experience in a plethora of human activities. The first part of the dissertation examines the positioning of the phonograph as a doubling agent in the domains of stenography, law, and music. It then explores how the phonograph shaped Thomas Edison’s ideas about the structure of the universe and the possibilities of immortality. The second half of the dissertation looks at the role of the phonograph in the domain of ethnomusicology – in both the United States and England – and how it impacted debates over musical authenticity and the practice of scientific objectivity. In its various applications, the phonograph elicited a spectrum of emotions and this dissertation explores the critical first 20 to 30 years of the phonograph before it became a commoditized playback machine in the early 1900s. iii The dissertation of Gustavo Alberto Garza is approved. M. Norton Wise Emily Thompson Robert W. Fink Theodore M. Porter, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2012 iv CONTENTS Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………….v 1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………..1 2. Phonographic Doubles: The Early Years of the Phonograph in Anglo-American Society at the Turn of the 20th Century……………………………………………….. 23 3. Thomas Edison, the Phonograph, and The Sacred: Phonographic Musings on Life and Death………………………………….... 67 4. The Objective Preservation of Subjective Expression: The Use of the Phonograph in American Ethnographic Fieldwork………… 109 5. Percy Grainger, the English Folk Song Society, and the Phonograph: The Quest for Art and Individual Expression…………………………….… 161 6. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………... 207 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………… 211 v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible with the support of my committee members, my family, and my wife. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my dissertation advisor, Professor Theodore M. Porter for his guidance, critical eye, and encouragement. Throughout my graduate studies, he engaged and challenged me in ways that deepened my writing and thinking. From his thoughtful questions to his steadfast enthusiasm, he created an ideal supportive and encouraging atmosphere. I thank him for his commitment to me and for the guidance necessary for the completion of this project. Lastly, I want to thank my wife Carolyn. She supported, listened to, and tolerated the many dimensions of this academic project. Her unwavering love and patience are a testament to the powerful role she played in this undertaking. For that, I am extremely grateful. vi VITA 2002 Bachelor of Arts (hons.), History University of Texas Austin, Texas 2004 Master of Arts, History University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, California 2004-2006 Teaching Assistant Department of History University of California, Los Angeles 2006-2007 Teaching Fellow General Education Cluster University of California, Los Angeles 2007-2012 High School Teacher Social Studies Department Oakwood School, Los Angeles vii 2009-2012 Department Chair Social Studies Department Oakwood School, Los Angeles PRESENTATIONS Garza, Gustavo A. (November 2006) “The Objective Preservation of Subjective Expression: The Use of the Phonograph in Ethnographic Fieldwork at the Turn of the 20th Century.” Paper presented at the History of Science Society Conference in Vancouver, BC, Canada. viii Introduction Chapter One: An Ambivalent Welcome Francis Burraud’s 1899 painting His Master’s Voice depicts a dog, Little Nipper, obediently listening to his owner’s voice reproduced with a phonograph. This iconic marketing image employed by a variety of phonograph and gramophone companies at the turn of the 20th century conveys a sense of playfulness and amusement, and a simple narrative of a marvelous new technology effortlessly accommodated into modern daily life.1 But the inclusion of the phonograph into Anglo-American intellectual and cultural life at the turn of the 20th century did not occur so easily. An examination of different constituencies that responded to the presence of a new technology in their own respective fields raised many questions about what the phonograph was and what it signified for society as a revolutionary technology. At the core of this uncertain and enthusiastic attitude towards the phonograph was a concern for the uniqueness and integrity of human identity. This dissertation addresses how the phonograph – also known as the “Talking Machine” during the 1890s – disrupted accepted notions about human identity. It explores a variety of different perspectives in order to better capture the moment in the phonograph’s history when its role as simple and successful playback machine had not 1 Leonard Petts, Story of Nipper and the ‘His Master’s Voice’ Picture, (Bournemouth: The Talking Machine Review International), 1973. This type of narrative can also be found in Roland Gelatt, The Fabulous Phonograph, 1877-1977, (New York: Macmillan, 1977). 1 been firmly established, which occurred in the early 1900s.2 The initial 20 to 30 years of the phonograph – when the phonograph was able to both record and playback – generated a great amount of excitement and fear over its potential usurpation of human qualities.3 The role of the phonograph in popular music was far from clear in the early 20th century. William Kenney’s Recorded Music in American Life, a cultural study of sound reproduction, examines how the phonograph shaped ideas about popular memory from 1890 to 1945. Kenney points out that the tastes and demands of a modern population played as important a role as the music recording businesses in determining the role of the phonograph in American musical life.4 Should it be an entertainment machine or a means of spreading musical taste throughout the country? Was it a musical instrument? Answers to these questions came from different groups and individuals, who all had specific agendas, whether economic, cultural, or intellectual. These responses, which I explore in this dissertation, were steeped in larger cultural and intellectual conversations over the state of music education and artistic development in a modernizing society. Recent scholarship has examined the early reception of the phonograph during these important shifts in cultural and intellectual history. Jonathan Sterne’s 2 By the first decade of the 20th century, the phonograph and gramophone slowly began to become permanent fixtures in homes as well as public venues, so much so that these new technologies were being designed to fit into unobtrusive furniture pieces. For more on the distribution of sound recording technology across the United States and the stiff competition between Thomas Edison and other entrepreneurs, see Mark Katz, “Making America More Musical through the Phonograph, 1900-1930,” American Music 16, no. 4, (Winter 1998): 448-476. 3 Edison’s phonograph company would hold out the longest in terms of allowing its phonographs to have a recording and playback capability. Other companies, such as the Berliner Gramophone Company (1895), did not allow the recording ability for its gramophones. Users would only be able to playback purchased music discs, which could be acquired through regularly published music catalogues. In the end, the disc method of the Berliner Gramophone won out, due to overall cost and efficiency of production. 4 William Howland Kenney, Recorded Music in American Life: The Phonograph and Popular Memory, 1890-1945, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), xii-xiv. 2 comprehensive
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