The Case of Syriac Chant
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Universidade de Brasília: Portal de Periódicos da UnB LOCAL SOURCES AND THE LIMITS OF MUSIC SCHOLARSHIP: THE CASE OF SYRIAC CHANT Tala Jarjour Institute of Sacred Music, Yale University, New Haven talajarjour@googlemail com Abstract Throug! a critical reading of two twentiet!"century sources on a living musical tradition whic! has #arly $hristian origins, this article o%ers a reading of how local musicology fashions an e&tra"musical framing of et!nic religiosity 'y the very means of musical"theoretical detail Drawing on su'tly concealed senses of nationhood, the article shows how this fashioning was achieved in the case of Syriac music It does so 'y engaging wit! the com)le&ities t!at defeat suc! la'els as local*#uro)ean and sacred/secular, and t!at ultimately u)set the 'asis of the distinction us/them wit! res)ect to the creation of +nowledge and sources The article also underlined ways in whic! inconsistencies within scholarshi) may , and do , form the means 'y whic! a scholarshi), when dee)ly engaged wit! local matters, )ushes the limits of its own )remises, and rede-nes its categories and the conce)tual 'ases u)on which it should 'e understood Keywords. Nation, #thnicity, /eligion, Middle #ast, Syria Res !o 0trav1s de uma leitura cr2tica de duas fontes do s1culo 33 so're uma tradi45o musical viva 6ue tem origens crist5s antigas, este artigo oferece uma leitura de como a musicologia local modela um en6uadramento e&tra"musical da religiosidade 1tnica )or meio de detalhes te7rico"musicais $om 'ase em sentimentos sutilmente ocultos de nacionalidade, o artigo mostra como essa modelagem foi alcançada no caso da m8sica sir2aca #la o fa9 envolvendo"se com as com)le&idades 6ue derru'am r7tulos como local/euro)eu e sagrado/secular, e 6ue, em 8ltima inst:ncia, )ertur'aram a 'ase da distinç5o nós/eles em rela45o ; cria45o de conhecimento e fontes < Tala Jarjour, =ocal Sources and t!e =imits of Music Sc!olars!i). T!e $ase of Syriac $!ant, 112 Música em Contexto, >ras2lia N? @ ABC@DE. @@@"@F@ artigo tam'1m su'linha as formas )elas 6uais as inconsistGncias dentro do conhecimento acadGmico )odem , e fa9em , constituir o meio )elo 6ual esse conhecimento, 6uando )rofundamente com)rometido com assuntos locais, for4a os limites de suas )r7)rias )remissas, e rede-ne suas categorias e as 'ases conceituais so're as 6uais deveria ser entendido Pa"a#ras$c%a#e. Na45o, #tnia, /eligi5o, Oriente M1dio, S2ria &ac'(ro )d a)d I)troductio) =ocal musical traditions in t!e #astern Mediterranean are c!aracterised ty)ically 'y a subset of distinguis!ing features wit!in regional groupings T!is is t!e case for t!e musics of t!e regionHs diverse et!no"religious communities, suc! as t!e 0rmenian and Iurdis! communities, w!o consider t!eir respective dance music and song traditions as markers of distinction from neighbouring groups and a feature of internal co!esion 0n e&ception to t!is rule are members of t!e Syrian Ort!odo& $!urc! of 0ntioc!, w!ose distinctive musical tradition, until t!e second !alf of t!e twentiet! century, was t!at of t!eir ecclesiastical c!ant In Syria, t!ey are +nown as Suryanis, t!e attributive reference to t!e c!urc!Hs liturgical language, Syriac, w!ic! is t!e literary dialect of 0ramaic and t!e language of #arly $!ristian literature 0s t!e Suryani conception of identity puts strong em)!asis on matters of fait! AJarjour BC@JE, members of t!is increasingly diasporic =evantine c!urc! identify a moment in t!e second !alf of t!e twentiet! century at w!ic! t!ey purposefully invented a popular song tradition in a bid to em)!asise an et!nic identity t!at is not e&clusively bounded 'y t!eir long standing ecclesiastical !eritage T!e deliberate forging of a popular*fol+ genre in t!e local dialects of 0ramaic common among Suryanis in sout!" eastern Turkey and nort!"eastern Syria would become independent from t!e ancient AclassicalE Syriac liturgical repertoire and would grow /evista do Krograma de K7s"Lradua45o em M8sica da Universidade de >ras2lia 0no 3I, volume @ Aoutu'ro de BC@DE Tala Jarjour, =ocal Sources and t!e =imits of Music Sc!olars!i). T!e $ase of Syriac $!ant, Música em Contexto, >ras2lia N? @ ABC@DE. @@@"@F@ 113 e&ponentially to dominate secular festivities and dance parties around t!e globe T!e invention of t!is repertoire was contemporaneous wit! an increase in )rofessionalism and !ig!er education among young members of a community t!at was recovering from t!e aftermat! of early"twentiet!"century massacres Ain w!at is widely +nown as t!e 0rmenian genocideE It also came following t!e independence of Syria from Mrance,@ and a rising sense of nationalistic sentiments and competing leftist ideologies, all of w!ic! marked a general weakening of religious identi-cation among t!e educated yout! in favour of a sense of nation!ood t!at was largely non"confessional N!ile analytical categories, especially dic!otomous categories suc! as sacred"secular and ancient"modern, are no more easily de-ned in t!e Suryani conte&t t!an t!ey might be in any ot!er, t!e Syrian Ort!odo& musical practices !ave maintained, nevert!eless, clear distinction between ecclesiastical singing and t!e new song genre >e t!at as it may, t!e invented tradition continued to bear loose connections to its ecclesial counterpart, as a close reading of su'se6uent local writings about Syriac music would suggest T!at local sc!olars!i) on Syriac music !as maintained a connection between two +inds of music w!ic! are separate in practice, reOects revealing dynamics between a living musical tradition and t!e sources w!ic! sc!olars create and consult about t!em T!is article is concerned wit! suc! dynamics T!e current article takes a close look at PlocalH written sources on t!e subject of Syriac music in t!e second !alf of t!e twentiet! century T!e scare"6uotes Aw!ic! will be implied in muc! of t!is articleE indicate t!at PlocalH is more a description t!an a category It serves to indicate t!at t!e sources in 6uestion were written 'y Suryanis , to be @ SyriaHs inde)endence from Frenc! control was a process w!ic! included t!e gradual wit!drawal of military presence between 1QFF"@QFJ T!e Day of Inde)endence, A)ril 1Dt!, mar+s t!e de)arture of t!e last Frenc! soldier in 1QFJ /evista do Krograma de K7s"Lradua45o em M8sica da Universidade de >ras2lia 0no 3I, volume @ Aoutu'ro de BC@DE Tala Jarjour, =ocal Sources and t!e =imits of Music Sc!olars!i). T!e $ase of Syriac $!ant, 114 Música em Contexto, >ras2lia N? @ ABC@DE. @@@"@F@ distinguis!ed from t!ose w!ic! #uropean musicologists produced on t!e subject Mocusing on works aut!ored 'y two celebrated musicians in t!e Suryani community, t!e article )roposes a critical conte&tual reading of two important sources from t!e twentiet! century, and e&amines t!em in relation to relevant regional and #uropean inOuences It does so 'y s!edding a s)otlight on t!e claims and met!ods of Syriac musicological sc!olars!i), w!ic! it views against a backdrop of converging and conOicting regional and #uropean inOuences Ultimately, t!e article suggests t!at a PculturalH framing of religiosity manifests itself in t!is music minority tradition t!roug! a combination of local et!nic nationalistic tendencies and #uropean musicological paradigms B Moreover, t!is e&tra"musical framing of Syriac musicality was fas!ioned wit! t!e !el) of !ands"on musical" t!eoretical analytical tools >y deploying purposefully vague attributions suc! as P!istoricalH and PcivilisationalH in meticulous music analyses, Suryani musicologists !ave aimed to redraw , or at least to disrupt , entrenc!ed lines of inclusion and e&clusion between local" #uropean, sacred"secular and ultimately dominant PusH"Pt!emH binary bases at wor+ in t!e twentiet! century T!e article also suggests t!at in doing so, Syriac musicologists !ave reassigned meaning to fraught terms in a conte&t w!ere religion, et!nicity and nation are essential yet separate elements of in"grou) identi-cation and t!e labelling of ot!ers B In t!is article I will not pro'lematise t!e term PculturalH, and will use it rat!er in its most com)re!ensive sense – w!ic! include contested dimensions T!e pur)ose 'e!ind t!is uncritical em)loyment is to a))ro&imate a use of t!e term w!ic! was common in Syria, es)ecially in t!e second half of t!e twentiet! century, w!ere t!e notion of culture was coterminous wit! literacy, hig! art, and a deli'erate distancing from t!e con-nes of t!e religious esta'lis!ment and t!e its be!avioral and intellectual codes /evista do Krograma de K7s"Lradua45o em M8sica da Universidade de >ras2lia 0no 3I, volume @ Aoutu'ro de BC@DE Tala Jarjour, =ocal Sources and t!e =imits of Music Sc!olars!i). T!e $ase of Syriac $!ant, Música em Contexto, >ras2lia N? @ ABC@DE.