Volume 12, Number 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 Society for © Ethnomusicology engaged asgraduate studentsandethnomusicologists. communities whereare we the relationships within our positions, roles, actions, responsibilities, and Furthermore, itencouraged reflexive critiqueof of diversity inperspectives andrepresentation. contributors todraw attentiontothesignificance ethnomusicology asa fieldandpractice,asking field, wherever thatmay be. pervade our daily lives, from theclassroom tothe as ithasever been—(post)colonialism anditslegacies voices advocate, isaspressing a concernandproject Decolonizing ethnomusicology, asthefollowing one for our newsletter, society, andfieldas a whole. important onefor me,butitisalsoa significant News Welcome to Volume 12,Number 2,of Letter from theEditor SEM calls for submission! latest updates and Twitter following uson Facebook by “liking”uson Join your peers Ethnomusicology of the An officialpublication Our initialcallinvited criticaldiscussionof ! This ismy firstissueaseditor andthusan to get the Society for and
{ STUDENTNEWS Reading, Decolonizing:SomeResources from Many Perspectives 42 Cover Image:“BeaGood Girl”by SEM Student Decolonizing theDiscipline:AConversation withAaron Fox 38 “ After Pulse:PoliticalAfter Movements andtheDance Floor 25 Personal-is-Political”: DecolonialPraxis andtheFuture 17 DECOLONIZING ETHNOMUSICOLOGY The CapeCoonCarnival: Photographic Essay31 Thinking through DecolonizingEthnomusicology Decolonizable SpacesinEthnomusicology20 In Search for DecolonializedPerspectives 30 News Review/Sounding Board work asethnomusicologists. Likewise, reflections onthetragedy anditsimplications for our Orlando, Florida. Their issuefeatures a range of Board a specialissue of Student News response toour callfor submissions,thisissueof basis. and praxes intothespaces we negotiate ona daily on what itmeanstobring decolonizing knowledges against your own work andexperiences, andreflect perspectives presented here, consider them with and will open yourselves tothe various critiquesand Thus, Ihopethat you, our colleaguesandreaders, Postcolonial Institutional EthnographyPostcolonial Institutional 27 In additiontocontributionssubmittedin editorialson decolonizing ethnomusicology. We dedicatedtothePulsenightclubshooting in Tania Willard Reflecting on the PulseNightclub Reflecting on features two cross-publications from Decolonizing through Sound21 Confronting ColonialLegacies “You’ve Never Heard This?”26 Ethnomusicology Review/Sounding (Secwepemc Nation)— Thoughts from theField11 includesthree Letter from theEditor 1 continued on next page . . Student VoicesStudent 5 Mad Planet 23 SEM Reports 2 SEM Reports Dear SEM14 Our Staff 44 see page41 SEM Student Ethnomusicology
SEM } 1 SEM{STUDENTNEWS} Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 Society for © Ethnomusicology that shouldbeincludedinanupcomingissue,contact usat more active andengagedasanethnomusicologist. Ifyou have announcements,calls,ornew programs of activity. From conferences to publications,thiscolumnprovides updates andinformation onbecoming This columndraws attention to exciting ways you canget involved inSEM,andrelated projects andsites By DavinRosenberg (University ofCalifornia, Davis) announcements, conference calls,new initiatives SEM Reports calls for submission/application; andhelpusstay and events ofinterest tostudents;initiateour own Reports in between andasa precursor toour fullissues. News Reports publication, we are happy tointroduce In addition,andbranching offfrom thisprimary to organizeour publicationsona biannualbasis. is theintroduction ofindividual issuenumbers a few changes to salient subjects. in thisregard, particularly when concerning these are proud tocollaborate with . continued Letter from theEditor For more information andeditorialguidelines, seethe attachments inMicrosoft Word; pleaseincludeanabstract intheemailtext. Manuscripts shouldbesubmitted totheEditor, James R.Cowdery, at Posts may follow any recognized editorialstandards. Specific guidelines for postsare as follows: hyperlinks andmultimedia examples. this anopportunity totranscendtheboundaries oftraditionalprint with brief writings thatmay integrate provide stimulating reading for bothspecialistsandgeneral readers, andencourages authorstoconsider subjects related tomusic,sound,andethnomusicology. Sound Matters Sound Matters And, finally, with a transitionofeditorshipcome will provide updatesonSEM calls,activities, • • • • • • , a briefpublicationperiodically released adding keywords notalready inthetext. other more specificinformation. Tags serve two purposes:linking postson related topicsand Suggestions for tagsare welcome; theseshouldbegeneral categories, notpersonalnamesor on YouTube). Video illustrations mustbemp4filesor videos hostedonline withembedding codes (e.g., those mp3 files. Visual illustrations, including musicalexamples, mustbejpg files; soundillustrationsmustbe Submissions previously published only ontheauthor’s personal blog will beconsidered. Post titlesshouldindicatecontentassuccinctly aspossible. Posts may beupto1000 words, inEnglish. ( SEM StudentSEM News soundmattersthesemblog.wordpress.com Ethnomusicology Review . Most apparent SEM Student SEM website Sound Matters (University ofCalifornia, Davis) Davin Rosenberg you may have regarding thisandfuture publications. with any comments,reflections, ideas,andquestions respond via thelistserv, Facebook, Twitter, andemail new issueof accomplished over thelastseveral years. editors, Lauren Sweetman andJustin R.Hunter, can continuetheremarkable work thatour previous to engage with andgive voice tostudents,Ihope we SEM studentpopulation.By providing spacesfor us better connected with our reading audienceandthe ) isa forum offering contenton a variety of So pleaseenjoy reading andengaging with this [email protected] . seekslively andaccessiblepoststhat SEM StudentSEM News [email protected]
continued on next page . . . Iencourage you to asemail . 2 SEM Reports . . . continued
Ethnomusicology Translations Ethnomusicology Today
This is SEM’s peer-reviewed, open-access online This is SEM’s podcast series that represents a series for the publication of ethnomusicological growing diversity of publications embracing literature translated into English. Articles digital media formats in an effort to increase and other literature in any language other than English will be considered for editorial accessibility and public engagement both within review, translation, and publication. Preference and beyond the field of ethnomusicology. will be given to individual articles published Currently available episodes feature short in scholarly journals or books during the interviews with ethnomusicologists recently
Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter Vol. past 20 years. As a central online resource, } published in the journal, Ethnomusicology. Ethnomusicology Translations aims to increase access to the global scope of recent music Recently, episode 3 featured a discussion scholarship and advance ethnomusicology as an international field of research and with Gregory Booth (University of Auckland) communication. regarding his article “Copyright Law and the Changing Economic Value of Popular Music in Ethnomusicology Translations is now into its India” that can be found in the Spring/Summer
STUDENTNEWS fourth issue and can be accessed at https:// { scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/emt. 2015 issue of Ethnomusicology. In episode 4, The latest publication features Varga Sándor’s Anna Morcom (Royal Holloway, University SEM 2014 article, “A táncházas turizmus hatása of London) discusses her article “Terrains of egy erdélyi falu társadalmi kapcsolataira Bollywood: (Neoliberal) Capitalism and the és hagyományaihoz való viszonyára” [The Transformation of Cultural Economies” that Influence of Dance-House Tourism on the Social Relationships and Traditions of a can also be found in the Spring/Summer 2015 Village in Transylvania], translated by Valér issue of Ethnomusicology. Forthcoming episodes Bedő, with Colin Quigley. Sándor examines will continue to feature interviews and stories the impact of fieldwork on the life of the aimed at engaging a broad audience interested rural villages in Transylvania that have been in contemporary issues in global music studies. the site of significant ethnochoreological and revival-movement research since the 1960s; Listen to the podcast via streaming on the and challenges well-established norms in methodology, calling for a more reflexive SEM website: http://www.ethnomusicology. awareness on the part of fieldworkers. org/members/group_content_view. asp?group=156353&id=534562. The editors of Ethnomusicology Translations are currently seeking nominations of Subscribe to Ethnomusicology Today via ethnomusicological articles representing a iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ wide range of languages and geographic areas. ethnomusicology-today/id1042087712?mt=2. Ethnomusicologists are encouraged to nominate articles by sending an email to Richard Wolf, To submit feedback or suggestions for future General Editor, at [email protected]. See SEM’s website for more details about episodes, please contact Trevor Harvey at nominations and the review process. [email protected].
Keep an eye out for SEM Student News Reports to stay informed on SEM calls, activities, and events of interest to students. SN Reports is periodically released via our social media pages, separate from our Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer issues.
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Society for Ethnomusicology © 3 SEM Reports . . . continued
Convocatoria de Artículos en Español: Hacia una Educación Musical Decolonial Call for Papers in Spanish: Towards a Decolonizing Music Education Revista Internacional de Educación Musical (RIEM)/Sociedad Internacional de la Educación Musical (ISME)
La colonialidad es la matriz de poder que pervive en el mundo poscolonial sobre la base de la imposición de modos de conocer, ser y estar en el universo que, surgidos del pensamiento y la retórica de la etnia Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter Vol.
} occidental desvaloriza otras lenguas, culturas, religiones, economías, formas de organización social, subjetividades, etc.
Este número se propone reunir contribuciones que permitan poner en valor la multiplicidad de Educaciones Musicales, sus bases teóricas (musicológicas, psicológicas, educacionales, filosóficas, etc.), y sus realizaciones en atención a los contextos en los que tienen lugar. Se espera recibir trabajos que aborden, entre otros temas: STUDENTNEWS { • Identificación y análisis de contextos de construcción de conocimiento musical comunitario. • Modos de circulación de saberes musicales vinculados a expresiones musicales que tienen lugar SEM en encuentros intersubjetivos en el contexto de celebraciones populares, prácticas de enseñanza- aprendizaje, expresiones colectivas espontáneas, y ámbitos de contención y desarrollo social. • Formación de educadores musicales sobre la base de concepciones didácticas pluriversales, con particular atención al análisis de los problemas propios de la cultura de pertenencia. • Análisis, crítica y debate sobre las epistemologías hegemónicas en el campo de la educación musical y las tensiones generadas con otras epistemologías. • Debates sobre la persistencia de la colonialidad en la regulación de los escenarios y las prácticas de educación musical. • Experiencias de educación musical que recuperen las ontologías de música y músico que contemplen la participación por sobre la contemplación, el colectivo social como músico, la indivisibilidad del cuerpo y la mente musical, y las funciones hedónica y celebratoria de la musicalidad humana. • Desarrollo de herramientas conceptuales, categorías de pensamiento, estrategias educacionales y políticas para la construcción de saberes musicales vernáculos. • Procesos psicológicos particulares identificados en la construcción social de conocimiento musical en múltiples escenarios de participación.
Fechas Importantes: • Fecha límite para el envío de propuestas: 15 de marzo, 2017. • Notificación de aceptación: 1 de mayo, 2017. • Envío del artículo revisado: 1 de junio, 2017.
Más información acerca de esta convocatoria de RIEM: http://www.revistaeducacionmusical.org/index. php/rem1/announcement/view/9.
We are currently discussing plans for future issues of SEM Student News, including Volume 13, Number 1. If there are any topics that you want us to address in future issues, please email the editor at [email protected].
Society for Ethnomusicology © 4 Student Voices a student union column
By Ana-María Alarcón-Jiménez (Instituto de Etnomusicología-Música e Dança [INET]; Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal) “Student Voices” aims to provide a space for ethnomusicology students to voice their thoughts and concerns in relation to SEM Student News’ general topic. The makers of this space, Jessica Getman, Justin R. Hunter, and José Torres (former members of the SEM Student Union's Executive Committee), have worked hard to push this initiative forward. As the author of this column, my role is to find effective ways to open this space to ethnomusicology students’ diverse voices. This column also aims to link Student News with the Student Union (SU). Together, we are striving to collectively construct the SU as an open, available, and caring resource for students. On behalf of all the passionate and hardworking volunteers that make up the SU’s five different committees, I want to invite ethnomusicology students to participate in our Student Union. Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter Vol.
} We want to hear about your needs and concerns and to look for new projects that tackle issues important to you.
Decolonizing Ethnomusicology: A Survey SU Leadership: Echoing the title of this column, and the particular topic of the present
edition of SEM Student News, this space resounds with students’ voices, all Deonte Harris of whom participated in a voluntary online survey regarding decolonizing Chair STUDENTNEWS { ethnomusicology. I wrote the survey questions based on SEM Student News’ UC, Los Angeles [email protected] call for submissions, and participants had about a week (September 25–
SEM October 1) to respond. The survey consisted of questions regarding: the Jeremy Reed permeation of English throughout the field of ethnomusicology; thoughts Incoming Chair on decolonization in relation to ethnomusicology; students’ roles and Indiana University, Bloomington experiences in decolonizing ethnomusicology; professional organizations’ [email protected] support of decolonization; and the influence of Indigenous/“non-Western” Ana-María Alarcón-Jiménez ways of knowing. I grouped the questions into five different sections, the last Vice Chair four borrowed directly from the call for submissions topics proposed by our Universidade Nova de Lisboa editor, Davin Rosenberg. The goal was to present the thoughts of our survey [email protected] participants alongside the viewpoints of the other newsletter contributors. Liza Munk The survey was completed by twenty-two graduate students, one Secretary/Treasurer undergraduate, one postdoctoral fellow, and one faculty member. There UC, Santa Barbara were contributions from a variety of places, including Mexico, Brazil, [email protected] Colombia, Peru, Honduras, Jamaica, Singapore, New Zealand, Turkey, Quebec, Germany, and the United Kingdom; however, the majority of Ameera Nimjee Member-at-Large participants currently study in the United States although only nine of the University of Chicago total 16 were born there. Below is a summary of their answers organized by [email protected] section. As some participants’ arguments overlapped, I attempted to select representative answers from different authors in order to highlight their dialogue and views. Likewise, to let the students speak for themselves, I have deprioritized my own narrative throughout text.
Section 1. Participants and Language The goal of this section was to learn about the language in which student participants read and write about ethnomusicology. Exactly half of the pool selected English as their native language. Among non-native English speakers, Spanish was the language most widely spoken, followed
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Society for Ethnomusicology © 5 Student Voices . . . continued by Portuguese, French, German, Mandarin, and Turkish. To the question “In what language do you read ethnomusicological literature?” 84.6% of the total pool of participants responded “in multiple languages,” including English, while 15.4% said only in English. As such, this data is difficult to interpret because, as one participant pointed out,
(…) a lot of ethnomusicological literature published in the English speaking world is translated into other languages. For scholars who study ethnomusicology outside of the English speaking world, they may be very “well-versed” in the English literature, or even trained only with that literature translated from English because they are considered as the “standard” (or constructed as such). If we really want to decolonize ethnomusicology, I think it is important to put Ethnomusicology within a broader context of how knowledge in higher education is produced globally, especially outside of the West, and how these “local” structures are mimicking and reproducing the very same system of discrimination and inequalities to Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter Vol.
} the locals, similar to that within the US (or other Western/European, in whatever name you would call it).
Contrastingly, a non-native English speaker argued,
I don’t think decolonization will become a thing if suddenly English drops being the dominant language of academia. I’m happy reading and writing only in English. Increase in multiple language research would help but it’s also a nice thing to have a common language around the world (which is English through colonial reasons perhaps) from a practical point of
STUDENTNEWS view. It is beneficial to be able to have discussions with people from around the world without learning a lot of languages. I { don’t think isolation through vernacular languages is really the answer. SEM In terms of writing ethnomusicological texts (articles, books, homework, blog entries, theses, or dissertations), 34.6% of the total number of participants said they write only in English, 15.4% only in their native language (excluding English), and the remaining 50% in two or more languages but always including English. It is interesting to note a flaw in these questions, as they were written exclusively in English. As one participant pointed out, “This questionnaire could have been multilingual.” The survey was not translated into any other languages even though I could have done this easily, for Spanish is my native language. I point this out here as a way to highlight how some of the aspects brought in by participants throughout the survey were built in the skin of the survey itself. For instance, translating and putting translations in this text would have required a lot of extra time (and space), a reason I believe I did not even think about writing the questions in different languages. And a “lack of time” is actually one of the points brought in by participants as excuses they have encountered when proposing ways and actions to decolonize the classroom.
Section 2. Participants’ Views on Decolonizing Ethnomusicology In this section, all participants (except one) answered positively to the question of whether or not decolonizing ethnomusicology was actually important, but only 34.6% saw this as something currently possible. Participants’ views on what decolonizing ethnomusicology actually entails yield answers that can be grouped into four different themes: 1) decentering ethnomusicology from the United States and Europe; 2) expanding/ transforming the discipline; 3) recognizing privilege and power; and 4) constructing spaces to actually talk about decolonizing ethnomusicology among peers and colleagues. One participant proposed decentering ethnomusicology by “decentering the constructed canon that imagines ethnomusicology as the child of German musicology and American anthropology.” This participant also advocated paying “more attention to diverse perspectives and practices of Music and Dance in the world rather than focus[ing] on an in-depth knowledge of Western European Art Music (that is accompanied by some general sense of something ‘Other’).” Participants also suggested ideas like “pressupor a desigualdade de condições entre o centro e a periferia acadêmica no mundo, dando voz a epistemologias fora do eixo dominante” (“to presuppose the inequality of conditions available
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Society for Ethnomusicology © 6 Student Voices . . . continued between the academic center and the periphery in the world, giving voice to epistemologies that are outside the dominant axis”), and building bridges “between Latin American and other non-Spanish speaking” academic institutions. The second theme (expanding/transforming the discipline) was present throughout the survey, and it was touched upon at least once by the majority of the twenty-five participants. Likewise, it echoed the first section in that it critiqued the discipline’s privilege of the written word:
A decolonized ethnomusicology would privilege the representational forms (language, transcription, etc.) most relevant to the producers of the sonic object under study. In other words, ethnomusicologists would write and talk about music and sound of a particular community in its own terms, offering translations where necessary, but focusing on how the sound- makers prefer to represent their own products. Readers and audiences would have to acclimate themselves, at least to Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter Vol. } some degree, to these native representational forms. This is just one idea, though with much more thought I could come up with others.
For another student, a decolonized ethnomusicology “would look like multi-media presentations instead of the insistence on the written word, the end of the insistence on articles published in expensive journals, more communication with non-scholars.” The classroom space was also brought into question here. A student proposed to have STUDENTNEWS {
more work outside of the classroom(!) to make music and dance in diverse contexts, stronger ties to music education,
SEM including ongoing outreach to local schools, events that interest diverse groups and stronger connections between local communities and universities to increase access to archives/classrooms/academic resources in general.
In relation to the third theme, students said that the “recognition of position and privilege [. . .] for Euro- American/English-speaking scholars” was an important aspect of decolonizing ethnomusicology, as well as
recognizing right of refusal, up to and beyond the point of publication. It [decolonizing ethnomusicology] also means scholars who are obligated (in the strictest possible sense) to use their privilege/knowledge/position/power to advocate on issues relevant to the communities they work with.
The transformation/expansion of ethnomusicology, a recurrent theme throughout the survey as expressed earlier, was considered part of the decolonizing process. Students proposed making “applied ethnomusicology the bare minimum for our discipline, not the awkward cousin.” They suggested starting an “expansion of what qualifies as a scholarly project, [the] deepening Students proposed making “applied of connection[s] between academia and applied/(self-) ethnomusicology the bare minimum advocacy/activist-oriented projects,” and the “purposeful creation of resources and opportunities for scholars with for our discipline, not the awkward non-traditional/academic backgrounds.” Responding to what a “decolonized cousin” . . . [and suggested] the ethnomusicology” might actually look and sound like, participants touched upon two main issues. First, they “purposeful creation of resources stated that a decolonized ethnomusicology ought to be and opportunities for scholars more inclusive of people, ideas, sounds, and languages and empty of exoticisms, and second, that it must with non-traditional/academic expand, once again, beyond academia. For instance, some people said that a decolonized ethnomusicology would backgrounds.” have “more varied approaches and methodologies,” that continued on next page . . .
Society for Ethnomusicology © 7 Student Voices . . . continued it would be “less focused on traditional written products,” and that it would be open to “more interaction with scholars and students from related fields especially those that bring intersectional perspectives on race, gender, class, etc.” A participant also said that “I would like to see more international scholars who are not working in the US coming to SEM and share their thoughts and research.” In regards to constructing discursive spaces open to decolonizing ethnomusicology (theme #4), one participant wrote at the end of the questionnaire:
I know that I have colleagues and fellow students who will not fill out this survey at all because they are so convinced that the field cannot change to accommodate them, their perspective, or their work. I’ve said my piece but it’s the voices that you won’t be hearing through this survey that are the most important to hear, the voices of the students we have lost or are losing because they feel like the “ethno” to someone’s “musicology.” I don't know exactly what to do about that, but I intend Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter Vol. } to do my best to be a part of expanding the space in this discipline through my listening, my friendship, good humor, and flexibility.
Sections 3. Students’ Roles in Decolonizing Ethnomusicology In the middle of the survey, questions focused on the role of students in decolonizing our discipline as learners, teachers, and researchers. Here, the walls of the classroom were, once again, cast in doubt as adequate borders STUDENTNEWS
{ to delimit the teaching/learning space, as was the theoretical and reading material used to both learn and teach ethnomusicology. In the field, students centered on listening as a vehicle to decolonize ethnomusicological
SEM practices, as well as on doing
more projects among your communities, while making space for the colonized to do their own projects and share their results. If you do decide to work outside of that sphere, make the question of “who may speak” part of your daily reflection: at the end of every day, ask yourself what you are doing that could be considered an act of colonization, and whether it’s possible to work against that. If it’s not, take seriously the question of whether you should be doing that particular project, with that particular community, and make sure that the opinions and decisions of the community itself is part of whatever decision you make. When it comes time to publish, publish in indigenous languages (solicit help if need be) and publish in scholarly journals directly related to and/or managed by those communities. Cite as many indigenous scholars as possible, and use the site-specific theories they develop rather succumbing to the pressure of citing Euro- American theorists (especially if the only reason you’re doing so is because “everyone cites Foucault.”)
Most participants expressed a desire for support from their universities when trying to introduce multiple/ global/alternative voices and perspectives in their classes. Those who experienced resistance to such initiative were often criticized for doing so and/or told to stick to already-in-use texts due to time constraints and feasibility. Indeed, many survey participants mentioned time and infrastructure as factors making it difficult for students to decolonize ethnomusicology in the classroom or to get actual support to implement their proposals:
There isn’t much of an established infrastructure for decolonized coursework, so implementing it requires a great deal of extra time that many say “should be spent on writing.” I’ve also expressed a strong desire to explore how we could set up a music theory sequence for music majors that is NOT based only on Western systems. This was met with interest, but also with a quick dismissal. This was mostly, again, for feasibility issues (regarding locating/paying competent instructors) and out of concern for how failing to educate in the Western system might limit the chance of occupational success in “the real world” (i.e., a Western institution should privilege Western theory, esp. since students are likely to stay in the region and get jobs that require such knowledge).
To the question “What can students do in the classroom (as TA’s, instructors, and/or students) to work against Euro/US-centric and colonial dispositions?” participants’ answers pointed toward the inclusion of diverse readings, languages, theorists, and musics in the classroom. They also highlighted the importance of questioning
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Society for Ethnomusicology © 8 Student Voices . . . continued power structures within the classroom by sharing teaching time with guest-community leaders and calling on “minorities more often. Encourage them. Give them airtime.” Also, participants delved into the importance of promoting critical thinking, letting students know that “they can express to instructors, in respectful ways, when pedagogical techniques that might take colonial ways of thinking are being used.” A participant proposed to “Allow for more emotions rather than contained responses—more anger! more sadness! Build this explicitly into discussion, asking ‘How do you feel about this article’ and THEN ask for intellectualized conclusions.” Students in the classroom also called for expressing the idea “that music is not a general human category,” and proposed that their own students
normalize and encourage projects that look at non Euro/Americentric cultures and practices, using indigenous
Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter Vol. methodologies and theories, and encourage direct collaboration with the communities being studied whenever possible } (even if just over email, Facebook, Skype, etc.). Make sure the research and result of student work are shared beyond the classroom through online blogs or public presentations, and instill in them always their responsibility to share the knowledge they've gained in the course of their time in your classroom.
Sections 4. Institutions’ Roles Decolonizing Ethnomusicology Regarding the possible role of professional organizations like SEM, ICTM, or IASPM in the decolonization of STUDENTNEWS { ethnomusicology, participants emphasized the importance of being “in more contact with the ethnomusicology programs (Universities, Institutes, etc) in Latin America. The International meetings look just for researchers
SEM from US, Canada, and Europe. In other words, we are working totally separate in same world.” Furthermore, they brought up the importance of continuing “the recent push to foster translation of key texts,” and to keep up efforts to both offer financial assistance and to open up spaces todar “ voz a pesquisadores das periferias acadêmicas nas principais mesas e conferencias” (to give voice to researchers from the academic peripheries in the main panels and conferences). Following this line, another participant suggested:
It would be great if SEM can facilitate some kind of cultural/academic exchanges with similar societies in other countries. I know the American Folklore Society has been bringing in international scholars to their conferences to share not just their research but insights on how the discipline is practiced in other countries. Also realizing and being aware of the SEM’s own power/privilege/influence on scholarship on the global level (e.g. in some countries, you get more “points” publishing in an English journal such as Ethnomusicology for your tenure, and less points publishing in the language in the country where you teach or with a local publisher[)]; meaning that scholars teaching outside of US and who lack the English language skills and institutional training and network that can allow them to publish on an English (and US based) journal or with an American publisher, suffers disadvantage over those who are native English speaker trained in the US tradition. This has to do with the tenure system in local settings that SEM has no control of, but at least having an awareness of the Society's position in the international scholarship world could be the first step.
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The incoming member-at-large position of the Student Union is currently vacant, and an open call for nominations will be announced in the near future, before the year’s end. If you are interested in participating in a leadership role within the SU, you can also self-nominate for this position.
Connect with the Student Union on Facebook to keep informed of this and other announcements and projects.
Society for Ethnomusicology © 9 Student Voices . . . continued Section 5. Indigenous Ways of Knowing The last section of the survey asked participants to reflect on the following: “What and how are Indigenous and/or ‘non-Western’ ways of knowing beneficial for ethnomusicologists (as researchers and teachers), ethnomusicological practices, and ethnomusicology more broadly?” Responses here pointed to common issues, most of which can be summarized by the view that Indigenous and/or “non-Western” ways of knowing are beneficial for ethnomusicology as they lead to processes of
unsettling traditional styles of research and writing, more thoroughly and accurately contextualizing research, diversifying topics and products of research, creating connections between academic products and practical applicability, questioning of academic assumptions, decentering of narratives focused on white men’s experiences and thoughts. Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter Vol. } Although the survey was responded to by a relatively small number of participants, it is interesting to see how closely they parallel points regarding the ethnomusicology job market, as brought up by students in a previous survey conducted for SEM Student News Volume 12, Number 1. A common thread between these two groups of voices was their insistence on a reevaluation of the discipline of ethnomusicology. Specifically, participants proposed opening up the discipline to non-academic paths, research, and researchers. In many of our participants’ views, it is important to start a process of “radical re-thinking of the discipline.” What seems to STUDENTNEWS { be emerging here, in this particular regard, is a call for self-evaluation and self-critique involving our discipline, its academic context, and professional possibilities. Although this is not new, it is important to hear students’
SEM voices in this crucial and ongoing dialogue to ensure a continuation of the field’s decolonization. Furthermore, with support of the Student Union, students can help in constructing new spaces, for current and future members, to talk about these and other issues in new ways within SEM. We encourage you to reach out to us, engage in action with us, and take a lead in putting these ideas into practice.
SEM Student Union Blog The SEM Student Union (SU) is composed of the society’s student membership and serves as a resource and voice for students in the society—an intrepid group at different stages in our education, and all ridiculously excited about ethnomusicology. In this blog, we share our experiences of music, education, and life.
Please join us and share your musical stories at semstudentunion.wordpress.com, and email us at [email protected].
The SU blog also features a variety of series, including: • Ethnomusicology and Parenthood • In Discipline: Talks from the European Side • From the Field • Textbook Review • Ethnomusicology Student Groups
Society for Ethnomusicology © 10 Thoughts from the Field student impressions, perspectives, and experiences
By Sara Hong-Yeung Pun (Memorial University of Newfoundland) Decolonizing ethnomusicology can take on many forms. As ethnomusicology students, our first step is to evaluate our own perspectives and positions and reflexively critique how Western institutions have shaped our thinking and thus action in the field. During my studies, I’ve thought back to specific instances when my colleagues have approached the notion of decolonizing ethnomusicology in their own unique way: one who taught me to listen on stage with his Iranian sitar because it was not his responsibility to amplify his sound (the very notion of amplification on stage is very “Western”); another who emphasized the importance of conducting research with the Inuit people rather than about them; and lastly, one who deeply questioned her own role in fieldwork in the wider scheme of colonialism while in Uganda. All of these people taught me to recognize my own role, listen carefully, approach research with warmth and humility, Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter Vol.
} and reflect on my own influence and impact while in the field. Decolonizing ethnomusicology means to be human first and researcher second, and to thoughtfully consider and question our assumptions. This column’s contributors speak powerfully about assumptions: the way we think about our work, the way we approach our participants, the inherent biases in our personal views of “similar” groups, and the labels we use in scholarship that may not be culturally appropriate. Further, they impart a movement, pushing the boundaries of traditional scholarship to better connect our work with the communities we serve and not remain confined within academic walls. As the next generation of ethnomusicologists, it is
STUDENTNEWS our responsibility to consider our history in colonialism, our role as students and global citizens, and to take { action. Decolonizing ethnomusicology should not be a mere academic exercise but a real and tangible value that is practiced in and outside of the field on a daily basis. It is through these small and meaningful SEM steps that change can take place over time.
DANIEL HAWKINS (Cornell considerable distance that I experienced between University): In their article the two—greater, perhaps, than had I been studying “Decolonization Is Not a political science, anthropology, or certainly native Metaphor,” Eve Tuck and studies—makes “decolonizing ethnomusicology” K. Wayne Yang argue that a more crucial concern. In particular, our historical decolonization, in contrast to preoccupation with “music” extends a special the “broad umbrella of social invitation to metaphor that remains when our focus justice […,] specifically requires the repatriation of shifts to sound or even (and especially) listening. This Indigenous land and life” (2012, 21). The deployment inflexibility makes decolonizing ethnomusicology a of decolonization discourse for other purposes— more challenging but no less crucial concern. How for instance, calls to “use ‘decolonizing methods,’ can we, as ethnomusicologists, address decolonization or, ‘decolonize student thinking’[—]can turn without transforming ongoing struggles over decolonization into a metaphor” (ibid., 1). This Indigenous land and life into metaphors? shift can then enact “a series ofmoves to innocence (Mawhinney, 1998) which problematically attempt References to reconcile settler guilt and complicity, and rescue Mawhinney, Janet. 1998. “‘Giving up the Ghost’: Disrupting settler futurity” (Tuck and Yang 2012, 3). Whether the (Re)production of White Privilege in Anti-Racist Pedagogy and Organizational Change.” Master’s thesis, or not one accepts Tuck and Yang’s conclusion, we Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the should all heed their injunction to think hard on University of Toronto. http://www.collectionscanada. how our own work with “decolonization” directly gc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/tape15/PQDD_0008/MQ33991. relates (or doesn’t) to on-the-ground conflicts over pdf. repatriation. Tuck, Eve, and K. Wayne Yang. 2012. “Decolonization Is Not Two summers ago, I returned from an a Metaphor.” Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Indigenous resistance camp in the Pacific Northwest Society 1 (1): 1–40. to a graduate program in ethnomusicology. The continued on next page . . .
Society for Ethnomusicology © 11 Thoughts from the Field . . . continued MELISSA ISAALY MENDOZA seen in Mexico where Indigenous music was never BERNABE (Benemerita written in any explicit form and, instead, musicians Universidad Autonoma del use abstract images and icons to express their Estado de Puebla): Cultural cultural heritage. This is why the Western concept diversity is something that of a music score can sometimes only represent just provides a natural richness; a tiny fraction of the whole musical meaning and the differences between even phenomenon. We need to implement more tools and the most similar communities are fundamental resources from other musical traditions to improve for supporting their roots and traditions. Despite our scholarship and research in the future. this natural phenomenon, it can be challenging to
Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter Vol. Endnote
} find a proper methodology to describe these very differences. For example, Mexico is well known for its 1. It is important to emphasise that dance and music for cultural diversity. Cultural groups often gather into Mexican cosmogony are the same and both are encapsulated by the term “music.” communities and then further separate into smaller 2. Mendocino’s code, or codex, documents local history groups according to their geographic location. and was created in 1540 by Mexican tlacuilos, the Nahuatl Regardless of their mutual proximity, the differences name for the people who wrote it. between one community and another are significant. STUDENTNEWS { I came to this realization when I was doing Reference fieldwork in San Miguel Tzinacapan. Tzinacapan is Clark, James Cooper. 1979. Códice Mendoza. México: San SEM a small town located in the North Mountain Range Ángel editions. (Sierra Norte) in Puebla, Mexico. The people of Tzinacapan speak Nahuatl, a language common throughout Mexican communities. Their version of JESSICA MARGARITA Nahuatl, however, presents some salient differences GUTIERREZ (University of in comparison to neighboring communities. During California, Riverside): As an San Miguel's celebration, I was working hard on undergraduate music student, musical transcription1 and suddenly realized my I was immediately taken by translation of the song’s lyrics was substantially ethnomusicology because of its different from the meaning conveyed by their version interdisciplinary approach to of Nahuatl. This realization and insight taught me musics in their cultural and social contexts. After to be aware of the finer differences even among three years of strictly Western music history and “similar” groups. theory, it was like a breath of fresh air; and, from Currently, there are a considerable number of that point forward, I sought out opportunities to books about transcription available, but they do not broaden my understanding of the field. Now, as a explain what we should do when language differs first year graduate student, I am learning to weave drastically. After consulting native dancers and together different disciplinary approaches in order to musicians, I referred to the Mexican transcription better understand how and why humans are musical. code; specifically Mendocino’s code.2 In the end, my Although the field has only just begun to decolonize transcription adopted some icons from the Mexican how we teach and think about music in positive ways, transcription code which became an invaluable I feel the way academic institutions are structured resource for understanding the song as a whole. and divided continues to confine and marginalize I believe the best way to decolonize ethnomusicology solely within music studies. ethnomusicology is by broadening our pool of Furthermore, while ethnomusicologists become resources. For example, Western transcription trained collaborators—with anthropologists, area methodology offers some graphic tools to Indigenous and ethnic studies scholars, musicians, performers, music; however, these resources can be impractical the communities they work with, and more—their and even strange for local musicians. This can be continued on next page . . .
Society for Ethnomusicology © 12 Thoughts from the Field . . . continued finished projects are often individually written communal cry acts like a clock, reminding us the night scholarship that is then published and circulated only is coming, and persists until the night has arrived. Their rhythms mark the arrival of our ancestors, who are more within institutional organizations. spiritually available to us in the night. In recent years, however, a broader movement toward public and applied work has renewed my Reference faith in ethnomusicology. Ethnomusicologists are Gegeo, David Welchman, and Karen Ann Watson-Gegeo. becoming activists in not only education, but also 2001. “‘How We Know’: Kwara'ae Rural Villagers Doing in cultural policy, conflict resolution, medicine, Indigenous Epistemology.” The Contemporary Pacific 13 arts programming, and community music. As the (1): 55–88. field continues to be rejuvenated by new ideologies Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter Vol.
} and opened to decolonization, my hope is that ethnomusicologists can continue to bridge disciplines MIKE KOHFELD (University of During as well as the gap between academia and the Washington, Seattle): my first year as a student of communities they serve. ethnomusicology, I explored the various roles LGBTQ identities IRENE KARONGO HUNDLEBY played within different musical
STUDENTNEWS cultures, from santería practice { (University of Otago): It was early evening in North Malaita, in Cuba to cross-gender dance in Java. Encouraged
SEM Solomon Islands. The keke by increasing representation of the diversity of (crickets) cried, their rhythms gender and sexuality within ethnomusicological persistently presaging the scholarship, I projected my own conception of these darkness.1 My uncle cagily ambled identities into various contexts, often equating local up the stairs and positioned himself across the room identities with Western ones to better understand the from me. This was the moment—the beginning. I relationships between identity, representation, and knew that the forthcoming cross-examination would performance practice. either push my research to the dark corners of the Now, I have a better view of how the assumption night or lead me on to successful fieldwork. This was that all cultures have analogues to the Western catch- not the time to deliver a sales pitch based upon an all terms for varied sexual and/or gender identities intellectual proposal. From a Western perspective, (LGBTQ, queer, etc.) imposes neo-colonial paradigms researcher objectives may appear astute; however, of identity within and through scholarship. While in Malaita, they are commonly “regarded as very these terms are still useful in many contexts, it is superficial questions” and thinking (Gegeo and important that we engage with identity in ways Watson-Gegeo 2001, 67). Forcing one’s work on a that are appropriate to specific cultures, remaining prospective community, without lengthy negotiation, cognizant of the various forces that shape the is exploitative. So, just as our ancestors would have ways people live, discuss, and perform gender and done, we sat, we ate, and we talked. For ten hours we sexuality. Addressing how Western colonization has shared our hearts, our philosophies and our ways, our informed binary systems of gender and sexuality histories and concerns. How can we preserve who we within colonized societies is but one step. We must are?—no other objective would suffice. This was not also question the notion that equates progress with about me. This was about our commitment to each Western efforts to dismantle these same systems other: about how we want to document who we are of cis/heteronormativity in post-colonial societies. for future generations, and how we conceptualise our As I begin my second year of study, I plan to use past and our present. the feedback provided to me by teachers, peers, and interlocutors to do my part in decolonizing Endnote ethnomusicology. 1. The keke begin to cry as the evening sun goes down. When the sun is completely gone, the crying ceases. Their
Society for Ethnomusicology © 13 Dear SEM, A response column by Davin Rosenberg, Eugenia Siegel This issue’s topic provided an opportunity to reach out to scholars Conte, and Sara Hong-Yeung Pun who have and continue to challenge the field of ethnomusicology with respondents: Liz Przybylski (University of California, Riverside), through their work, and likewise challenge us as ethnomusicologists Beverley Diamond (Memorial to reflexively critique our positionality and how we are implicated University of Newfoundland), within (post/neo)colonial systems and enterprises. And so, we Elizabeth Mackinlay (University sought out professional ethnomusicologists who can speak of Queensland), and Edward to various experiences of and directions for decolonizing Allen (Memorial University of ethnomusicological praxes. We asked each respondent to reflect Newfoundland). on the following prompt: At SEM Student News, we try to address the most pressing Reflecting on ethnomusicology as a field and practice, (post) issues and diverse research colonialism, and Euro/Americentricism, what advice can you fields for our student body and Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter Vol. } offer to ethnomusicology graduate students in regards to broader readership. Want to decolonizing their own work and embracing global/alternative get advice from our network perspectives as activists in the classroom and/or communities of peers, colleagues, and within which they are engaged? mentors? Email your questions to [email protected].
LIZ PRZYBYLSKI: Listening me to listen more closely to Indigenous language STUDENTNEWS { as Decolonial Practice use and revitalization. This had been peripheral in Decolonizing research and my previous study, but it was clearly coming up SEM embracing global perspectives repeatedly as an area of relevance for the musicians have, appropriately, been with whom I was working, so I opened up new attracting increasing attention research into this area. within academia. Graduate Second, listen widely. Pay attention to scholarship students in ethnomusicology are already prepared in your area, as well as outside of it. Converse with with one of the most crucial skills for actively scholars, listen to musicians, and read voraciously. participating in these processes: listening. Further Listen for ideas that will help you open up your developing skills around what it means to listen methodology, regardless of the musical culture in can contribute to an important shift in our field. which you immerse yourself. If you have yet to I propose that emerging researchers can do this encounter literature on decolonial methodology in by listening deeply, listening widely, and listening coursework, seek this out on your own. Start with personally. Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s Decolonizing Methodologies. First, listen deeply. As you hone in on your Read a monograph that incorporates Indigenous research question, listen intently to many members methodology in research and writing, such as Shawn who are part of the community in which you are Wilson’s Research Is Ceremony. Ask fellow researchers doing your work. Listen for the questions and for the most helpful book, article, blog, or podcast concerns people raise, allowing these to help refine about decolonizing research that they have come the question(s) that first sparked your research. Deep across. As you listen to the ideas you encounter listening positions you best to consider the following: across these sources, focus on how these can inspire whom does your research serve? What inspires your productive shifts in your own approach to research. interest in the aspect of your research question that Finally, listen personally. Listen to yourself for you plan to investigate? Is collaborative research a ways that you want your research to proceed, and the good fit for your area and question? My own research ways you eventually want to present your research. recently turned into a new, related area based on One productive way to process your ideas is to write what I was hearing in conversations. Rappers were regularly on these topics in a dedicated section of talking about how they used Anishinaabemowin your research log. If autoethnography or critical (Ojibwe language) in bilingual rap, which encouraged personal narrative could be useful to you, incorporate continued on next page . . .
Society for Ethnomusicology © 14 Dear SEM, . . . continued them into your research plan. A volume like Mutua of beans to everyone in the class (including the Kagendo and Beth Blue Swander’s Decolonial Research teacher) and requiring one bean to be contributed in Cross-Cultural Perspectives provides examples. to the central pot when a person wants to speak Allow yourself to value your own knowledge and often works. Some spend quickly and then have to background, even if these do not always fit into the learn to listen; others realize that they are not using traditional research paradigms you have encountered their entitlement to enter the conversation. In the in university. Do not force your own thinking university context, one form of entitlement is to into linear narrative if this is not how you come to knowledge itself; we tend to regard all knowledge research and writing. Experiment with your writing as available for the taking. In Indigenous and many style and use of media, and seek a way to honor your other cultural contexts, however, knowledge and Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter Vol.
} own voice. responsibility are inseparable. If you can’t accept the responsibility, you shouldn’t hold the knowledge. References A second issue is coalition building. This Mutua, Kagendo, and Beth Blue Swander, eds. 2004. starts, I think, with many conversations about how Decolonial Research in Cross-Cultural Perspectives: Critical individuals experience discrimination differently Personal Narratives. Albany: State University of New (or not at all) and how we each view our positioning York Press. in relation to colonialism. The struggles of different
STUDENTNEWS Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. 1999. Decolonizing Methodologies: { Research and Indigenous Peoples. London: Zed Books. groups are often incommensurable but perhaps not Wilson, Shawn. 2008. Research Is Ceremony. Black Point, NS: incompatible. And bear in mind that the simplest way SEM Fernwood. to decolonize is to become humbler.
Reference BEVERLEY DIAMOND: It’s Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. [1999] 2012. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. 2nd ed. sobering, of course, to know New York: Zed Books. that we struggle to decolonize universities and other public institutions at a moment when ELIZABETH MACKINLAY: they are so driven by markets Decolonising ethnomusicology is and metrics. The best options an “ethico-onto-epistemo-logical” may be on the interpersonal level, in both formal project which has been sitting and casual spaces. I suggest two issues about which with me for many years now. some creative thinking/action could lead to small but For me, this concern stems from significant change. being attentive to my position One is entitlement. It relates to the privilege in the discipline, and indeed the positioning of the that universities maintain but also to human rights discipline itself, within white-settler-colonialism and acknowledgement justly earned within many and associated possessive logics. When I first specific cultural systems. How might we create began thinking about the ways in which we might circulating modes of entitlement in teaching and decolonise ourselves and the discipline, I framed learning contexts? By shifting the leadership roles? decolonising theory as a way of working towards Validating culturally variable modes of learning? ethical, moral, and socially just research in our field. Considering who benefits by redefining the problems I was “yearning” (after hooks [1999]) for a more to be addressed? Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s 25 projects comfortable place to be as a white-settler-colonial- for decolonizing methodologies (2012) remains an woman who found herself engaged in academic excellent source if you run out of ideas. Another knowledge-making practices about, in relation consideration is raising awareness about who assumes to, and with Indigenous Australian performers. they have entitlement and who assumes they don’t. The old (feminist?) trick of giving out equal numbers continued on next page . . .
Society for Ethnomusicology © 15 Dear SEM, . . . continued At that time decolonisation was a new word in can accept that by enacting a willful disobedience to my vocabulary, but it quickly came to represent seek decoloniality it necessarily means we are forever many things: a promise, a process, and a product, on the way. I want to finish with this final question: the past and the present, at once unbounded and are you ready to begin? unfinished. I worked on projects and articles which I described as collaborative, advocacy based, driven Reference by Indigenous Australian agendas and movements hooks, bell. 1999. Yearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics. for self-determination, and comfortably called Boston: South End Press. this “decolonising” work. However, I soon began Mignolo, Walter D. 2009. “Epistemic Disobedience, Independent Thought and De-Colonial Freedom.” to see the comfort as complacency and questioned Theory, Culture & Society 27 (7–8): 1–23. Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter Vol.
} whether the justice I was seeking in using a term like decolonisation was actually about “just-us.” Was such platitude to the people with whom I was working EDWARD ALLEN: The extensive enough? Was my yearning conveniently masking complexity of established a desire to absolve myself of white-settler guilt, First Nations, Inuit, and Metis and further, had decolonisation become simply a knowledge systems is often metaphor for re-producing the white-settler-colonial immensely underestimated STUDENTNEWS { power and privilege within an ethnomusicological by external observers. Many methodology I maintained I was questioning? Traditional Knowledge Keepers
SEM My thinking has now turned to have been reluctant to disseminate knowledge among “decoloniality”—a term which shifts us away from external observers given the context of past and the economic, time- and space-driven emphasis contemporary colonialism. When they do share, in de/colonization to centre our focus onto the others have been dismissive ad hominem, corrupted material, discursive nature of epistemology. The or bastardized the meaning, and even attempted to “decolonial” option (after Mignolo [2009]) asks us appropriate the knowledge. to revisit the ways in which colonial power and These barriers have left a lot of Canadians with control sustains a hierarchy of difference through no interface to gain access to these systems apart the kinds of knowledges we as researchers construct; from the more well-known cultural artifacts. But to recognise, learn from, and enact processes for cultural artifacts are an expression of a culture, and delinking from and fracturing the “colonial matrix” culture is reflective of (and perpetuates) a specific by doing research differently; engage in “border worldview based on a solidified and complex set thinking,” which emerges from such decolonial of knowledge systems. Many tend to see cultural spaces; and take on board the concept of “epistemic artifacts as shiny and aesthetically pleasing, much like disobedience” to make decolonial futures possible. the star that sits atop a Christmas tree, but the further I am often asked by people: so what and now what? below the star we look, the exponentially broader the What can I actually do? For me, doing “decoloniality” tree gets. is, by necessity, linked to knowing and being, and it is If we act in the true sense of allyship and are work that each and every one of us can begin. We can prepared to respect the integrity of what we are start by repositioning the work we do as ethico-onto- given, then we may one day be invited back to epistemo-logical. We can move towards decoloniality the circles where these transformative knowledge by placing relationship at the very centre of every systems are honored. Aboriginal issues and ideas performative move we make as ethnomusicologists like allyship can apply to everyone regardless of in and out of the field. We can reimagine our discipline and/or field of study. In order to be better ethnomusicological research and writing work as citizens and researchers, we can all become more always already a refusal to be caught up in the desire aware of our own biases, respect one another, and to document, deconstruct, and “disseminate” in actively fight against discrimination—overt and academic servitude to coloniality. Perhaps too, we subtle.
Society for Ethnomusicology © 16 “Personal-is-political”: Decolonial Praxis and the Future (or how I learnt to stop worrying and tried to love neoliberalism)
By Simran Singh (Royal Holloway, University of London)
The word “decolonization” brings to mind histories of empire and domination. It simultaneously raises the need to challenge narratives that have emerged from these hierarchies imposed on sections of humanity, segments of geographies, and forms and ways of knowledge and knowing. In the term is both exhortation and appeal for empowerment and activism in forms such as social responsibility, the recognition of human rights, and cultural equity, pointing towards the inclusion of discourses that have been marginalized, neglected, or ignored. In 1982, Charles Kiel called for “an insistence on putting music into play wherever people are resisting Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter Vol. } oppression” (407) as a means by which we conceive of decolonization. Movements in applied ethnomusicology share similar concerns with those of decolonization, that is, an opposition to colonialism, orientalism, and forms of Western hegemonies (Titon 2015). In many ways and for many people, the struggle against inequity continues, albeit in different milieus and circumstances. So, where Fanon spoke of the need for “literatures of combat” in the context of colonialism (1967, 93; see also Mackinlay 2015), rapper Ice-T identifies rap as “Hi-Tech Combat Literature” in the context of institutionalized racism and violence (Spady, Lee, and Alim 1999, 114).
STUDENTNEWS Recent scholarly deliberations, particularly in the context of indigeneity, include conceiving of { decolonization as a repossession of knowledges, values, and systems striving towards a continuity and endurance denied by colonial pasts (McLaughlin, Ah Sam, and Whatman 2006); and as a means to reclaim, rename, and SEM rewrite particular histories (Smith 1999). Returning to Fanon, that which is colonized is the “Other” (1963), conceived as such through a form of violence enacted in an arbitration between forms of understanding and knowledge, all negotiated through disparity. In all of this is the recognition that formulations and constructions of knowledge have originated from spaces of power and privilege for a few. Decolonization articulates the need for confrontation, rejecting submission and docility, in calculated resistance to subjugation and exploitation. In her work on Indigenous peoples in Australia, Elizabeth Mackinlay, to whom I owe the title of this article, introduces her paper as a “personal-is-political story and a narrative that speaks to the philosophical, theoretical, and methodological past and present” in recognition of colonial violence (2015, 334). Decolonization, here, is the specific confrontation of this violence. In this sense, the site of decolonial praxis is that juncture where the Decolonization . . . is the specific political becomes personal. It is a space of awareness, focusing on agency and activity, widening our own confrontation of [colonial] violence. identifications and considerations of our roles as In this sense, the site of decolonial ethnomusicologists and individuals in the world at large. praxis is that juncture where the Critically analyzing this “personal-is-political” political becomes personal. It is a space and stance, through my own subjectivity, helped space of awareness, focusing on in determining my own spaces of responsibility as a researcher. Theory, method, and practice begin with agency and activity, widening our that which is political, in recognition of ontological own identifications and considerations and epistemological interfaces and contestations. Confrontations such as these determine stances of our roles as ethnomusicologists and of representation, both my own and of those I individuals in the world at large. study. What is political becomes personal—in the interrogation of my own roles, responsibilities, and representations both inside and outside the academy.
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Society for Ethnomusicology © 17 “Personal-is-political”: Decolonial Praxis and the Future . . . continued As scholars, this calls for plurality in our practical uses of knowledge, scholarship, and understanding. In the field, I have often found myself in my own spaces of arbitration, negotiating my discomfort with the privilege I might have as an academic and the responsibilities of representation in my work with musicians, and then again, with my own ignorance of forms of knowing and being. In this sense, Paulo Freire’s work on praxis (1972), focused through “conscientization” in particular, continues to have practical use. This is a process of developing a consciousness that can provoke social change, in the understanding of reality/ies, exercised through critical uses of theory, application, evaluation, and reflection. The backdrop of social change is important because it is an unavoidable reality one encounters, by chance or design, Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter Vol. } just by being in the world. Here, Giroux’s assertion that “every educational act is political and that every political act is pedagogical” (2011, 176) makes decolonization an ongoing project for scholars. As both a theoretical resource and a productive practice, decolonization draws into focus the interrogation and resistance of power as dominance. In doing so, it points towards a “vocabulary in which it becomes possible to imagine power working in the interests of justice, equality and freedom” (ibid., 5) through formation and articulation. This occurs in both the social and political spaces where we conduct our fieldwork and in the scholarship we present. The discipline of ethnomusicology continues in its endeavors—its subjects, approaches, and models—to STUDENTNEWS { engage with issues of subjugation and marginalization through research and scholarship shaped by concerns such as advocacy, education, and intervention. SEM Ethnomusicology is fortunate in its ability to encompass pluralities of peoples and musics, As ethnomusicologists, our responsibility often challenging traditional boundaries of the discipline—a form of knowledge decolonization is a constant critique of privilege in itself. As academics, all of this allows us to challenge our own knowledges and understandings; and positionality in the academy. tools such as pedagogical strategies and research Decolonizing knowledge is the methodologies allow us to question that which we deem as such in the first place. The decolonization incorporation of theory and praxis, project, then, is one that ideally allows us to “actively transform knowledge rather than consume combining creativity and analysis, and it” (Giroux 2011, 7). As ethnomusicologists, our imagination and knowledge, in what is responsibility is a constant critique of privilege and positionality in the academy. Decolonizing inherently political research. knowledge is the incorporation of theory and praxis, combining creativity and analysis, and imagination and knowledge, in what is inherently political research. At this time, it is also useful to consider that cultures of knowledge—encompassing research, teaching, and learning, where education has its own place and utilitarian value—interact with competitive markets inside and outside faculties, institutions, and sectors. Quantitative structures such as admission, governance, and financing have their role in defining course and curriculum; discussions on gauging and mapping quality engage with those on processes and impact, raising issues of commercialism in education. These deliberations indicate a sort of academic consumerism, pointing to an unavoidable neoliberalism in academic systems and a subsequent narrowing of space for research less favoured by market forces. From this, one could argue that the future of the academy holds the possibility of a creeping colonization by the market. The question remains how best to integrate research cultures such as those that consider communities and individuals in dilemmas of economic,
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Society for Ethnomusicology © 18 “Personal-is-political”: Decolonial Praxis and the Future . . . continued political, and social marginalization and subjugation, past and present, with that of the market and its criteria. Decolonial praxis, as we understand it today, may well have to develop a new vocabulary, narrative, and plan for the neoliberal future.
References Fanon, Frantz. 1963. The Wretched of the Earth. New York: Grove Press Freire, Paulo. 1972. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin. Giroux, Henry A. 2011. On Critical Pedagogy. New York: Bloomsbury. Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter Vol.
} Keil, Charles. 1982. “Applied Ethnomusicology and a Rebirth of Music from the Spirit of Tragedy.” Ethnomusicology 26 (3): 407–11. Mackinlay, Elizabeth. 2015. “Decolonization and Applied Ethnomusicology: ‘Story-ing’ the Personal-Political-Possible in Our Work.” In The Oxford Handbook of Applied Ethnomusicology, edited by Svanibor Pettan and Jeff Todd Titon, 379–97. Oxford: Oxford University Press. McLaughlin, Juliana, Maureen Ah Sam, and Susan Whatman. 2006. “Our Ways of Being in the Cultural Knowledge Interface: Reflections Upon the World Indigenous Peoples Conference in Education WIPCE 2005.” Paper presented at the Oodgeroo
STUDENTNEWS Conference: Contesting Indigenous Knowledge and Indigenous Studies. Gold Coast Marriott Hotel, Surfers Paradise, QLD, { June 28–30. Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. 2005. “On Tricky Ground: Researching the Native in the Age of Uncertainty.” In Sage Handbook of SEM Qualitative Research, edited by Norman K. Denzin and Yvonna S. Lincoln, 85-107. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Spady, James G., Charles G. Lee, and H. Samy Alim. 1999. Street Conscious Rap. Philadelphia, PA: Black History Museum Umum/Loh Pub. Titon, Jeff Todd. 2015. “Applied Ethnomusicology: A Descriptive and Historical Account.” InThe Oxford Handbook of Applied Ethnomusicology, edited by Svanibor Pettan and Jeff Todd Titon, 4–29. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Society for Ethnomusicology © 19 SEM{STUDENTNEWS} Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 Society for © Ethnomusicology new spacesforamultiplicity ofknowledgesandthepossibility ofundoing“Western”academichierarchies of and representationoftheir pastsandwaysofunderstanding (Atalay2012,4).Eachofthesepossibilities creates and includesmultiplemembers ofIndigenousandlocalcommunitiesindata gatheringandcedesownership their responsibilitytoward thepeoplebeingrepresented. Community-basedparticipatoryresearchengages with co-authored worksis,among otherthings,todisruptthe predominantvoiceoftheethnographerand increase the researcherandcommunity,whereownershipis mutuallysharedbetweenthoseinvolved.Thepurposeof authorship asresearchproduced—usingvariousmodes ofcommunication:written,oral,orperformative—by and ethnomusicologists,workemphasizingcommunity-based participatoryresearch.Weenvisionco- authored projectshighlightingpartnershipsbetween participants of power. specialists inaparticularmusiccultureandchanges thebalance relationship de-centersthepositionofresearchers as all-knowing prescriptive binarysubject/objectrelationship.Reconfiguring this work with?Wordssuchas“interlocutor”and“informant” createa greater responsibilityforandrepresentationofcommunitieswe alternative waysofengaginginethnographythatfacilitate music andpeople.Atthispointwemustaskourselves:arethere obstructs howwe,asadiscipline,understandandrepresent reliance ontheseresearchmethodologies,invariousways, product ofconductingqualitativeresearch.Ethnomusicology’s colonialist, representationsofIndigenouspeoples’music. issues mentionedabove.Furthermore,theobjectiveofdecolonizingethnomusicologymustaddresscolonial, or decolonizing ethnomusicologyshouldnotpropagatethetermas adescriptivesignifierwhileoverlookingthe and transformingexistingparadigmsofpowerprivilege createdbysettlercolonialists.Adiscourseof of colonialpower”(Smith[1999]2008,98).Divesting powerinvolvesrepatriatinglandandresources recognized asalong-termprocessinvolvingthebureaucratic,cultural,linguisticandpsychologicaldivesting “decolonization, onceviewedastheformalprocessofhanding overtheinstrumentsofgovernment,isnow as scholars,andourrelationshipstotheuniversitysystem anindustry.AsLindaTuhiwaiSmithobserves, these otherprojects.Decolonizationimpliesfundamentalchangesinrelationsofpower,worldviews, our roles ethnomusicology asmetaphor,becausedecolonizationdemands alevelofpoliticalengagementdifferentfrom Yang 2012;Bishop2005;Cook-Lynn1998).However,weargueagainstusingtheword“decolonization”in to describeanarrayofprocessesinvolvingsocialjustice, resistance,sustainability,andpreservation(Tuck thought informthisessay:NativeAmericanStudiesandPostcolonial Studies. begins withunderstandingdecolonizationfromavariety ofviewpoints.Accordingly,twolinesdecolonial from themusicwestudy?Whatisacriticaldiscussionof thefieldin2016?Addressingeachofthesequestions music westudy.” By LuisChávez Skelchy andRussel (University ofCalifornia, Davis) Decolonizable Spaces inEthnomusicology Additionally, weproposeethnomusicologistsengage inco- Ethnography inethnomusicologyisbothaprocessforand The term“decolonization”isoftenusedmetaphoricallyinhumanitiesandeducationstudiesscholarship 1 Doethnomusicologistsstillbelieveinhaving thiscriticaldiscussion?Doweseparatepeople was toinvite“criticaldiscussionofthefieldanditsrelationship tothepeopleand the theme“DecolonizingEthnomusicology.”Asstatedintheircallforpapers,goal for EthnomusicologyAnnualMeeting, Decolonization isnotanewideatothefieldofethnomusicology. In2006,theSociety “Decolonization which setsout tochangetheorder of the world is, obviously, a programme of completedisorder.”
hosted bytheUniversityofHawai’i,featured Frantz Fanon, we work with? representation ofcommunities greater responsibility for and ethnography thatfacilitate ways ofengagingin ourselves: are there alternative At thispointwe ask must The WretchedoftheEarth continued on next page . . ([1963]2004) 20 SEM{STUDENTNEWS} Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 Society for © Ethnomusicology and thinkers. Thetroubling broaden ourbaseofideas our disciplinarypractices to is howwemightreorganize “decolonize ethnomusicology” when thinkingthroughhowto One ofthefirstissuestoaddress By Brendan Kibbee(CityUniversity ofNew York) can ethnomusicology becomemore audible? Decolonizing through Sound Tuck, Eve,andK.WayneYang.2012.“DecolonizationisNotaMetaphor.” Smith, LindaTuhiwai.[1999]2008. Sefa Dei,GeorgeJ.2010. Fanon, Frantz.[1963]2004. Cook-Lynn, Elizabeth.1998.“AmericanIndianIntellectualismandtheNewStory.”In Chakrabarty, Dipesh.2000. Bishop, Russell.2005.“FreeingOurselvesfromNeo-ColonialDominationinResearch:AKaupapaMāoriApproach toCreating Atalay, Sonya.2012. References 1. See Endnote (479): 60–79. Decolonizable Space:ThePhilippineDelegationtothe1998SmithsonianFolklifeFestival,” The titleofthisessayisinspiredbyRicardoTrimillos’(2008) article“Histories,Resistances,andReconciliationsina Acknowledgement and assertsthatethnomusicologistsmustaddressproblems ofmethodologyandapproach. justice, ourdefinitionofdecolonizationconnectstobroader politicalimplicationsofIndigenoussovereignty, and worldviews(Smith[1999]2008,39). Thus, ratherthanbeing immersedinmetaphorandissuesofsocial previous researchor“Western”knowledge—decolonizingethnomusicologyisaboutrethinkingourconcerns in thediscipline.However, decolonizationinthefieldofethnomusicology isnotacompleterejectionofall solutions begintoaddress thought madeuniversalbymodernimperialismand(third-world) nationalism(Chakrabarty2000).Thesetwo knowledge (SefaDei2010,77).Creatingthesespacesalsoaccounts fortheprojectofprovincializingEuropean . continued Decolonizable Spaces inEthnomusicology 1–40. and WritingAboutAmericanIndians University Press. 3rd ed.ThousandOaks,CA:Sage. Knowledge.” In University ofCaliforniaPress. SEM StudentNews’ http://goldenpages.jpehs.co.uk/static/conferencearchive/06-b-sem.html The SAGEHandbookofQualitativeResearch, Community-Based Archaeology:Researchwith,byandforIndigenousLocalCommunities Teaching Africa:TowardsaTransgressivePedagogy choicetofeaturethisthemesignifiesthatdecolonizationremainsanunresolvedmatter The WretchedoftheEarth Provincializing Europe:PostcolonialThoughtandHistoricalDifference. what decolonizationinvolvesand Decolonizing Methodologies:ResearchandIndigenousPeoples , editedbyDevonAbbotMihesuah,111–38.Lincoln,NE:UniversityofNebraskaPress. in ourdisciplinary sphere. contributors aredenieda place while agreatdealofpotential allowing somepeopletothrive few formsofintellectualwork, undervalues allbutaselect reality isthatethnomusicology . TranslatedbyRichardPhilcox.NewYork:GrovePress. edited byNormanK.DenzinandYvonnaS.Lincoln,109–38. how itcanbedone. . NewYork:SpringerPress. Decolonization: Indigeneity,Education&Society (accessed4October2016). (documentaries, podcasts,etc.) and multimediascholarship community engagement, much morethanperformance, (books andarticles)orperish”— the writtenword—“publish More specifically,weprivilege The JournalofAmericanFolklore . London:ZedBooks. Natives andAcademics:Research Princeton,NJ:Princeton continued on next page . . . Berkeley: 1 (1): 121 21 SEM{STUDENTNEWS} Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 Society for © Ethnomusicology underinvestment inglobal for thecolonized.Theongoing enduring legacyofdifficulties schooling. Thiscausedan ability toassimilateEuropean that tiedsocialmobilityto the order, theyalsocreatedasystem reorganized theeconomicglobal emphasis added). and religiousdevotion”(32; modes ofreason,understanding, incompatible withmorerefined all ofwhichdefinedakindlife fasting andablutions,soon— of thebodyatprayers,rules voices externalities— too involvedwithsurfaceand Arab world,“Muslimsseemed that forEuropeanvisitorstothe liberal subject”(31).Heexplains the autonomyofenlightened came tobeseenasadanger belief where“theactoflistening often followedfromaKantian subjects’ intellectualabilities prejudices regardingcolonial described thewaythatEuropean Charles Hirschkind(2006)has than onemightinitiallyexpect. more todowithcolonialism practice. Thissituationhas listening asanintellectual shown abuilt-inbiasagainst might say,hassometimes the hierarchy? and theplayedatbottomof over theaudible,withsung we continuetovaluethelegible perhaps moresothananyother, field dedicatedtosoundculture, we allproduce.Whyisitthatina collaborators andthemusicthat fore, alongwiththevoicesofour that couldbringourvoicestothe . continued Decolonizing through Sound As colonialpowers Western civilization,we , theprescribedmovements the soundofreciting rethinking the waysthatwe can bedone.Ifwestartby that audibleintellectualpractice of academiainshowingways sound, shouldbeattheforefront since itisrootedinmusic and in thisdirection.Ourdiscipline, more audiblewouldbeastep to betaughthowlisten. aurality. Inotherwords,weneed having astrongemphasison transmission, manyofthem knowledge productionand depth inlocalpracticesof inability torecognizeintellectual academic spherehasbeenour postcolonial voicesoutofthe issues, amajorbarrierkeeping remedial courses.Beyondthese to them,withfewoptionsfor in languagesthatareforeign where manyyoungstudentslearn especially acuteprobleminAfrica do notspeakathome—thisisan in coloniallanguagesthatthey disadvantage bybeingschooled many morestudentsstartata for manytalentedstudents,and a goodeducationoutofreach subaltern populationshasleft academia . has exercised on that thewritten word can loosenthehold our discipline,we each other, within communicate with the ways thatwe If we by start rethinking Making ethnomusicology start withformsclosertohome. the postcolonialworld,wecan production fromthroughout local practicesofknowledge of workingwithandwithin move towardthedistantgoal and aroundtheglobe.Aswe learning stylesbothathome of intellectualapproachesand accommodates agreaternumber more accessible,andthat knowledge thatismoredynamic, ultimately creatingabodyof word hasexercisedonacademia, loosen theholdthatwritten within ourdiscipline,wecan communicate witheachother, streaming lecturesfromprevious a quarterlypodcast;some last year,SEMhaspublished sound alreadyexist:since spreading ourideasthrough academia. Somevenuesfor forums foraudibleformsof sanctioned andpeer-reviewed have tocreateinstitutionally positions andtenure.Wewould material valuesboundtojob “serious scholarship,”andin terms ofwhatweconsideras our systemofvalues,bothin viable, wewouldhavetochange intellectual seriousness. relegates soundtoalowertierof from adisciplinaryorderthat be startingtofree ourselves to agreaterdegree.We would voices andoursensesofhearing consumption toengageour our intellectualproductionand podcasts. We needtoreorient interviews, radiosegments,and or film),lectures,conversations, listening todocumentaries(audio We couldbeproducingand In makingthiskindofwork continued on next page . . 22 SEM{STUDENTNEWS} Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 Society for © Ethnomusicology spirited dancecompetition. and queens who came together every Thursday nighttochallenge thesegregated landscapeofthecity through assortment ofshapes,sizes, orientations,andmusicaltastes. The dancefloor was a magnet for goths, hippies hood andMilwaukee’s slowly gentrifying hipster bastionRiverwest, MadPlanetattracteda gloriously freakish My Pulsenightclub was a small,dimly lit,underage nightclubcalledMad Planet.Situatedontheborder ofthe By JeffRoy (University of California, LosAngeles) Mad Planet acrossbigotry thecountry. arecommunity members targets still ofsystematic terrible reminder thatpeopleofcolorandLGBTQIA and hip-hop.Thenightmare thatensuedwas a thesoundsofsalsa,reggaeton,community amidst in Orlando,Florida,celebrating identityand with theirfriendsandalliesfor LatinNightatPulse ofcolorwereOn June12,2016,queers gathered Reflecting onthePulseNightclub Hirschkind, Charles.2006. Gernsbacher, Morton,KathleenVarner,andMarkFaust.1990.“InvestigatingDifferencesinGeneralComprehension Skill.” References the fieldandthatcanhelpus with peoplethatwemeetin collaborations andpartnerships is astepthatcouldhelpfoster but itisanimportantstep.It decolonizing ethnomusicology, listening isnottheendgamein our intellectualpracticeon published writings. do notcarrythesameweightas few andfarbetween,they format. Butthesevenuesare their workindeptharadio bringing scholarsontodiscuss has alwaysdoneagoodjobof Afropop.org’s hip-deepseries annual meetingsareonline; . continued Decolonizing through Sound Press. Journal ofExperimentalPsychology:Learning,Memory,andCognition Teaching ourselvestocenter The EthicalSoundscape:CassetteSermonsandIslamicCounterpublics
academia couldhelpcreate at alllevelsofeducation,audible come toembraceneurodiversity Varner, andFaust 1990);aswe comprehension (seeGernsbacher, as effectivereadingforgeneral generally agreethatlisteningis feeling. Cognitivepsychologists timbre, pitch,andrhythmic perceptive ofnuancesintone, our colleaguesmorekeenly written transcriptionsinmaking provide avastupgradeto outcomes aswell.Itwould could bringaboutotherpositive circumstances. Thisproject of ourideasinnon-traditional to bebettercommunicators ethnomusicologyreview.ucla.edu Ethnomusicology Review/Sounding Board work You asmusic scholars. canread theentire tragedy, addressing ofPulseonour theimpact special issue,are aresponse to thePulsenightclub an 16(3):430–45. Ethnomusicology Review/Sounding Board The following two pieces,alsopublishedin center ofourdisciplinaryproject. what we preach—should beat the within ourownfield—practicing sound-based understandings It followsthatpromotingthe including incolonialendeavors. undervalued inmanyplaces, of waysthattheauralhasbeen are becomingincreasinglyaware to understandtheirworld.We fundamental tohowpeoplecome forms ofcommunicationare we preach thatsound-based disabilities. with awidearrayofabilitiesand spaces inourfieldforpeople . NewYork:ColumbiaUniversity As ethnomusicologists, continued on next page . . . issue at
23 SEM{STUDENTNEWS} Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 Society for © Ethnomusicology Halberstam, Judith. 2011. Reference this madplanetanddanceagain. queer liberationstillhurtsbadly, itstrengthens my resolve tofind a way ofembracing thefailures ofotherson and danceliftour queer andtranssistersbrothers outof feelings ofabjection.While this violenceupon prescription/adherence—so that we who failsociety are found andrecuperated by our kinonthedancefloor. for failure—failure ofheteronormativity, failure ofphenotypicalbelonging,failure ofculturalandbehavioral destructive actionsatthePulsenightclubifanything shows ushow importantitistomake room inour societies one ofbelonging, violence emerges astheonly expressive outletfor feelings ofabjection.But hisdeliberately as itforces ustofacethedark sideoflife, love andlibido(Halberstam2011).For a shooter whose failure was reconfigure them ever sodelicately intosomething undeniably strange and beautiful. to share our feelings ofimpotence with eachother and,through theperformative labor ofour bodies,revise and the nightclub walls onthebasisofrace,gender expression, andsexual codesofmorality. The placepermittedus couple offilthy dreadlocks. and beganeating granola.Iproclaimed my gender queer-dom, sporting rainbow necklaces,brightcolors,anda (which, Idetermined, was brought aboutby anexcess ofnegative thinking),Igrew my hair outtomy shoulders a yearly basis.For a time,Islunk uptotheclub with black hair andnailpolish. Then, after falling ill withmono out of wedlock tobicultural lesbianparents, Itrespassed theboundariesofsubculturalidentificationalmoston dedicated thequeen,more meticulousinher recitation ofHill’s lyrics and vocal riffs. “strummed their pain” with someonenearby, locking lipsduring intermittentinstrumentalinterludes. The more without tumbling over. Leaping ontothedancefloor tothemelodious,soulfulsoundsofLaurynHill,queens backwards leanandslowly scooping,side-to-sidemovement. The more dedicatedthegoth, thefurther thelean white-powdered luminescencefrowned indisgustasthey performed their signature goth-style dancemove—a . continued Mad Planet Later, participating on thefront linesofactivism in India andtheU.S. for nearly a decade,Ihave seenmusic There isbeauty infailure. It hasbeensaidthatfailure sometimesoffers creative andcooperative ways ofbeing inthe world, even I entered MadPlanet’s schizophrenic dancefloor totestthelimitsof my own working-class whiteness. Born Mad Planet was anincubator for socialmisfits who hadinternalizedthestigmatizationthey facedoutsideof Slithering ontothedancefloor tothescreeching soundofMarilyn Manson,the goths intheir black-robed, Photo of the author with the DancingQueensinMumbai; photo the by with Photo author JeffRoy ofthe The Queer Art of Failure . Durham,NC: Duke University Press. 24 SEM{STUDENTNEWS} Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 Society for © Ethnomusicology parade was “inmemory ofthe victims oftheOrlando Ann Levy, ofthe gayness asnecessarily coupled with whiteness. Sue- politics—and thatmany Canadiansstillthink of inconsequential tolarger projects ofLGBTQ queer peopleofcolor gather are understoodas demands suggest thatmusicspacesin which silence intheir memory. victims andhalting at3PMtoobserve a momentof by carrying placards bearing thenamesandages of the victims murdered atPulseNightclub inOrlando theme oftheparade,in which participantshonored example, Fikentscher, Lawrence, Echols, Dyer). can explore ideasofidentity andcommunity (see, for underground dance venues are spaces where queers evidence ofqueer lives andqueer power. Historically, and moving together onthedancefloor canbe of a larger community. To besure, bodieslistening cultures tobe vital torecognizing themselves aspart people ofcolor consider participationinmusic diasporic people. Blockorama, a dancemusicparty for queer African Asian musicperformance andadditionalfunding for color, including a calltoreinstate a stage for South sites ofmusicparticipationfor LGBTQ peopleof Pride, six ofBLM’s ninedemandsrelate tofostering sensationalized request tocurbpoliceparticipationin organizers. Although over-shadowed by themore their protest, BLM madeninedemandsofPride’s Pride Parades for thirty minutes.Before ending Toronto (BLM) thathaltedoneofthe world’s largest response toa briefsit-inby Black Lives Matter- the during the2016 Toronto PrideParade asquotedin “It’s gay pride,notblack pride”—a spectator’s claim By Craig Jennex (McMasterUniversity) political movements andthedancefloor Pulse After
guidelines, staff information, resource andmore: lists, Check out Globe and Mail Unfortunately, publicreactions toBLM’s BLM’s requests, then,seemtofitintothe broader Such requests underscore thatmany queer
National Post SEM Student NewsSEM Student —is emblematicofthe vitriolic ethnomusicology.org/group/SemStudentNews , arguedthatthis year’s ’ pageonSEM'swebsite to findbackissues,submission requires ofus:tomake anaggressive standfor protest isprecisely what themassacre atPulse racialized Latinx queers. of thefactthatmostpeoplekilledatPulse were participants at Toronto Pridemay have beenunaware about LGBTQ politics.Infact,many attendeesand who have beenerasedfrom thestories we tell part ofa long lineage ofqueer activists ofcolor unsurprising given thattheseBLM activists comprise hegemonic whiteness ofLGBTQ narratives, are intersection ofraceandsexuality andreify the political statement.” massacre” not“allowing oneloudgroup tomake a politics. and teach, widely and voraciously, how tohear these the future. present, andenable more justcollective visions for how we conceptualize LGBTQ experience inthe should alter our understanding ofthesepasts,change and genealogies ofblack andbrown bodies. This undeniably madepossibleby thelabor, traditions, on thedancefloorsat Toronto Pride2016 were of communitiescolor. Moments oftogetherness traditions andforms ofsocialdancethatcomeout regularly predicated onblack andlatinx musical people ofcolor. disconnected from thesocialpoliticsarticulatedby erroneousness ofclaimsthatthesespacescanever be gatherings. music andtorecognize thepoliticalpotentialofsuch as a collective under thepulsing rhythms ofdance spaces in which queer peopleofcolor canamass What islostinthisdiscoursethatBLM’sWhat Published responses, which ignore the Queer musicscholarshipmustleadthisinitiative The affective charge ofqueer collectivity is And asmusicscholars we mustalsoteachthe 25 SEM{STUDENTNEWS} Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 Society for © Ethnomusicology match thatofmainstream, North musical experiencesdidnot discussions becausemyoverall felt leftoutofmeaningful music majorwhofrequently seem), Iwasanundergraduate (which isnotasrareitmay discussion. Inmyowntrajectory the artistsandgenresofmusicin basic informationIlackedabout anxious asIneededtoseekthe some pointinourlives.”Ifelt danced toYgenreofmusicat “We allhaveheardXartistor general assumptionssuchas, multiple occasionsIencountered authors’ intendedreadership.On felt excludedfromthetextbook with thecontentofcourse,I me. Whilefamiliarizingmyself material waspartiallynewto moving totheU.S.,course Canada foradecadepriorto culture, anddespitelivingin to NorthAmericanpopular up inIranwithlimitedaccess popular music.Havinggrown assistant foraclassonU.S. the UnitedStates,Iwasateaching ethnomusicology PhDstudentin music? their resultingperspectiveson our ownandtobeinclusiveof are profoundlydifferentfrom comprehend lifeexperiencesthat strongly dowepressourselvesto By SolmazShakeriFard (University ofWashington, Seattle) reconsidering students’ commonalities “You’ve Never Heard This?” In myfirstyearasan others, how we teachto in classesthat seminars or graduate in ourown Whether our communities,regardless changing demographicswithin colleagues? how How criticallydowethinkabout purport toteachourstudents? do wereadthetextbooksthat such multiplicities?Howcritically how trulyinclusiveareweof our classroomsorcommunities, conversations aboutmusicin on music.Butasweengagein to awidearrayofperspectives students, weattuneourselves terms werebeyondmyreach. that someconceptsandeven struggled withtherecognition but throughouttheprocess,I from myperformancestudies, I graduatedwithdistinction 20 and hadnoexperiencewith attended adanceperformance had neverheardanoperanor for aBFAinclassicalpiano,I arrived inCanada,toaudition American students.WhenIfirst cohorts. classrooms, andour our communities, those whoare joining to learnabout and try and thedivisive media, academic literature us allto gobeyond the I would like to challenge th -century Westernartmusic. The mediadocuments As ethnomusicology we address ourstudentsand could havelifeandmusical classrooms, andworkplaces that thoseinourcommunities, means thatweneedtorecognize and NorthAmerica,inparticular, diversity inthecitiesofEurope and ethnicpersecution.Growing drought andfamine,religious to saferplacesbecauseofwar, numbers ofpeoplearerelocating economic instability,large widespread socio-politicaland at arapidpace.Inworldof transformations happening of whereweare,withsocial appreciate theperspectives without judgingthem.Let us us learnabouttheirexperiences classrooms, andourcohorts. Let are joiningourcommunities, our and trytolearnaboutthosewho literature andthedivisivemedia, us alltogobeyondtheacademic years. Iwouldliketochallenge be ourcolleaguesinafewshort be amongourstudentsandmay children, youths,andadultsmay confusion ofdisplacement.These unsafe places,andloss violence, fearandflightfrom could notimagineanythingbut and raisedinwar-struckregions out thatchildrenwhowereborn Mediterranean shorespointed about therefugeesarrivingon words andactions. and distinctivemeaningsofour varied perspectivesandpractices, think criticallyaboutinclusivity, musical activiststhatwemust It isasethnomusicologistsand even beabletocomprehend. experiences thatwemightnot A recentnewsreport continued on next page . . 26 SEM{STUDENTNEWS} Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 Society for © Ethnomusicology together postcolonialthinking andconcepts, institutionalethnography. relationships thatcoordinate thesocialorganizationofmusic learning inthe participants’ actualities,bringing necessary tocustomize a PCIEmodel tothisethnography’s particular postcolonial context. PCIEanalyzes the material accesstomusiclearning—because they appeared to be outsidethe“musicproper.” It was therefore influenced musiclearning—(a) the socialconstructionofmasculinity under(b) machismoand structurally-based American musicandeducation. This mademe overlook two specificmacro-organized processes that distant from thematerial andsocio-historicalroots ofthespecificcolonizationprocesses thathave shapedLatin such categories cansubsumeunique,everyday bodily experience intoconceptualabstractions(Smith 2005), such asculturalconsonance/dissonance, formal/informal, gender, race,nationality, andclass. Irealized that as bothlearnersandteachers,using “Western” research analysis categories ofinequality anddifference in music methodological approach thatIcall differentiation, and exclusion associalpracticesinmusiclearning.Indoing this,Ideveloped my own theoretical- institutionalized notionsandpractices—asforms ofcolonization—precipitate dislocation,misrepresentation, (Castro-Gómez 2008;Mignolo2007;Quijano 2000;Sousa Santos2012;Souza Silva 2011),Ifocused onhow are foreign totheir own musiclearners’ local worlds. InthelightofLatin American postcolonialthinking doings ascoordinated by institutionalstructures or processes By GuillermoRosabal-Coto (Universidad deCosta Rica) LatinAmericancontextpostcolonial, discovering thesocialorganization ofmusiclearningin a Postcolonial InstitutionalEthnography express ouropennessinaway share herexperiences,butrather wearing hijabintheclassroomto Let usnotcallontheonlygirl cultural/educational exchange. generalized inthecontextofany experiences aretoonuancedtobe group ofpeople,aslife experiences ofanyparticular not meanessentializingthe otherwise. This,ofcourse,does have remainedunknowntous they mightofferthatwould . continued “You’ve Never Heard This?” In thefirstphaseof my analysis, Iengaged in a thematicdiscussionofthe participants’ lifelong experience lived experiences. Thus, Iconsidered thenineteacher participants 2005), data collectionandanalysis begin with andreturn tothestudy ofparticipants’ daily of institutionalethnography (Campbell andGregor 2004;DeVault 1996,2006,2013; Smith private schoolsystems as well asfrom separatemusicschools.Intheontology andpractice American context. I worked with ninemusicteachers inCosta Rica from thepublicor by macro structures like government, religion, andschooling ina postcolonial,Latin In my recent doctoraldissertation,Iexplored how musiclearning socializationisorganized Postcolonial Institutional Ethnography imagine, forinstance,whatit of “inclusivity.”Letustryto definition andimplementation challenge usalltoreconsiderour workplaces, Iwouldliketo communities, classrooms,and to thetransformationofour instability, whichisleading others’ musicalexperiences. Let usnotassumeanythingabout their thoughtsandexperiences. that inviteseveryonetoshare In lightoftoday’sincreasing , whose financial,political,or educationalagendas (PCIE). our discourseaboutmusic. we embracesuchcontributionsto offer needstobevaluedandthat perspective thatthisstudentcan like toproposethatthekindof heard the“OdetoJoy.”Iwould music video,andtohavenever watched aMichaelJackson music” mightbe,tohavenever point astowhat“Broadway Pavarotti, tohavenoreference college tohaveneverheardof could meanforafreshmanin experts intheir everyday continued on next page . . 27 SEM{STUDENTNEWS} Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 Society for © Ethnomusicology subaltern musiclearner may resonate with experiences ofa FirstNations studentliving onan Aboriginal reserve elites, or institutions anda supporting socialorder (Quijano 2000; Wynter 2003). I haveWhat definedas a the Latin American constructionofmasculinity associated with colonialpower (Holter 2005). strength within her own gender identity andsoughtmeans venues for learning that were onceforbidden by forged during years ofmusiclearning under her father’s epistemic disobedience. punished, andcorrected inthenameofmodernity, progress, anddevelopment. They participatedin/performed experienced their capacitiestoknow, learn,andbedespitethefactthattheir bodily beings were denied, the givens ofhegemonic knowledge imposedby colonialstructures. They uncovered their inner beingsand at different stages throughout their lives andontheir own terms. They refused to kind ofcolonizationisknown as and politicalrelations between “developed” and“undeveloped” countries(Souza Silva 2011). The logicfor this 2003, 291),andhasbeenupdatedintheform ofa development discoursethatrulescurrent asymmetrical trade Quijano 2000), which “was tolay thebasisofitsglobal expansion from thefifteenthcentury onwards” (Wynter sided accumulationoflands, wealth, power, andunpaidlabor” by Western Europe (Wynter 2003,295;seealso “Western” civilized, white, Christianindividual. The latter discoursesustainedtheprimary, “large-scale, one- similar totheracistdiscoursethataimsattransforming non-civilized peoplesintotheimage andlikeness ofthe in needofconversion or improvement oftheir bodies,basedonability-based notionsandpracticesthatoperate on EnlightenmentidealsandtheFrench Republican model. color andaccentdidnotmatchtheidealCosta Ricannationalidentity depictedinnationalmusic, which isbased your instrument.” Another study participantexplained how former schoolpeersexcluded himbecausehisskin institutions denigratesplaying insuchnon-art,non-European ensemblesas“the worst thing you coulddo with that heplayed ina mariachiensemble,becausethemusiceducationdiscoursedisseminatedby government with learners.For instance,a participantrecalled fearing thathisformer violin teacher would becomeaware of “thecorrect humanbeings/learners/artists” intheir comments,judgments,andinstructionsasthey interact those who own “Western” artmusicknowledge andcontrol musiclearning articulatea universalizing concept “Western” artmusicknowledge andcontrol musiclearning:parents, teachers,peers,or principals.Inmy study, make-up, history, memories,andbody resources infavor oftheinterests and values upheldby those who own . continued Postcolonial InstitutionalEthnography frameworks . philosophical andpedagogical bodily selves, andchallenge .feltmusic learners intheir It was timeto understand [how] system perpetuating colonialism. both andteacher, student ina forparticipated many years, as I realized thatItoo had thisresearch,While undertaking However, asmusicteachers,thestudy participantspartially or fully exercise resistance tocolonization As musiclearners,my participants were constructedasinferior subalternsby parents, teachers,andpeers, As musiclearners,thestudy participants were coerced tomodify or shuntheir time,emotionalandcognitive One remarkable instanceisa study participant who defiedher “inferior female” self-image, coloniality of powercoloniality of through theimpositionofa universal descriptive statement others aware ofhow they potentially constructinferior, illegitimate Latin American contexts may alsoneedtobecomemore fully and socio-materialrealities. music andeducationthatantagonize andcolonizeour ethnicity pedagogical frameworks thatmake universalistic claimsabout felt intheir bodily selves, andchallenge philosophicaland perceptions about musicsocializationandother socialactors music learnersthrough how self-image, sensations,and a system perpetuating colonialism.It was timetounderstand participated for many years, asbothstudentandteacher, in (Mignolo2007; Wynter 2003). the human Beyond my own study, researchers andteachersinnon- undertaking thisresearch,While Irealized thatItoohad ona daily basis;thisisdone,often withoutself-awareness, machismo thatreproduces thestatusofhegemonic classes, -based maleauthority. Shesuccessfully found know , continued on next page . . learn , and be through 28 SEM{STUDENTNEWS} Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 Society for © Ethnomusicology Wynter, Sylvia. 2003.“Unsettling theColoniality ofBeing/Power/Truth/Freedom: Towards theHuman, After Man, Its Smith, Dorothy E.2005. Souza Silva, José de.2011. Sousa Santos,Boaventura de.2010. Rosabal-Coto, Guillermo.2016.“Music Learning inCosta Rica: A Postcolonial InstitutionalEthnography.” Phddiss.,Sibelius 2000. Quijano, Aníbal. Mignolo, Walter D. 2007. Holter, Øystein Gullvåg. 2005. “Social Theories for Researching Men andMasculinities:Direct Gender Hierarchy and Castro-Gómez, Santiago. 2008.“(Post)coloniality for Dummies:Latin American Perspectives onModernity, Coloniality, and Campbell, Marie,andFrances Gregor. 2004. ———. 2013.“InstitutionalEthnography: A Feminist Sociology ofInstitutionalPower.” ———. 2006.“Introduction: isInstitutionalEthnography?”What DeVault, Marjorie.1996.“Talking Back toSociology: Distinctive ContributionsofFeminist Methodology.” References become epistemically disobedient. recognize themaspotentialsitesofcolonization. We may needto pedagogical practices,assessments,andculturalstandards and manifestations ofdisjuncture intheir attemptstocomply with learners through their bodily selves. We shouldlistentothebodily ideals goes largely unchallenged. It istimetounderstandmusic people inthe“Western” world where theimpositionof“Western” similar feelings andexperiences may beshared by a great many manifest inexperiences notnecessarily addressed by my study, world. Indeed, while suchconstructionsmay take forms and musician often requires theselearnerstoshuntheir localmusic music or itslearning socialization,andbecoming a “Western” art may necessarily feel a relevant connectionto“Western” art American teenager ina North American city. None oftheabove in Canada,or theurbanCaribbeanimmigrant,or an African . continued Postcolonial InstitutionalEthnography Overrepresentation—An Argument.” Build Happy Communities with SustainableLifestyles]. Paraíba: Asociación Latinoamericana deEducaciónRadiofónica. felices con modos de vida sostenibles Montevideo: Ediciones Trilce. studia_musica_68.pdf Academy, University ofthe Arts Helsinki. America]. Caracas:CLACSO. Wound andtheDecolonialOption]. Barcelona: Gedisa. W. Connell,15–34 Structural Inequality.” In Enrique E.Dussel,andCarlos A. Jáuregui, 259–85. Durham,NC: Duke University Press. the GeopoliticsofKnowledge.” In AltaMira Press. Reviews Sociology 42:332–40. 22:29–50. Connect with . London:SAGE. Colonialidad del poder, eurocentrismo y América Latina Institutional Ethnography: A Sociology for People La idea de América Latina:Herida colonial y la opción decolonial Hacia el “Día despuésdel desarrollo”: Descolonizar la comunicación y la educación para construir comunidades . Handbook of Studies on Men and Masculinities Descolonizar el saber, reinventar el poder [Towards the“Day after Development”: To DecolonizeCommunicationandEducationto Coloniality at Large:Latin America and thePostcolonial Debate The New Centennial Review SEM Student NewsSEM Student Mapping Social Relations: A Primer in Doing Institutional Ethnography http://ethesis.siba.fi/files/rosabalcoto_music_learning_in_costa_rica_pdf_ Social Problems 3 (3): 257–337. on . Maryland: AltaMira. . , editedby MichaelS.Kimmel,Jeff Hearn, and Robert [DecolonizeKnowledge, Reinvent Power]. Facebook .
[Coloniality ofPower, Eurocentrism, andLatin 53 (3): 294–98. disobedient. to becomeepistemically colonization. We mayneed them aspotential sites of standards andrecognize assessments, andcultural with pedagogicalpractices, in theirattempts to comply manifestations ofdisjuncture We shouldlisten to thebodily . [TheIdea ofLatin America: Colonial Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of and Twitter , editedby . Annual Review of
Mabel Moraña, . Aurora, ON:. Aurora, 29 SEM{STUDENTNEWS} Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 Society for © Ethnomusicology obtained from bothsides with the guidanceofSlobin’s tripartiteframework. interviews with musiciansandmembers of theSingaporean Tamil Hinducommunity. Ipulledtogether data the spiritofdialogicethnography andthick description,Igathered asmany opinionsasIcouldby conducting newspaper articles,government websites, andinterviews on TV andradio asprimary sources for my research. In seeking aninterview with a stateofficialis beyond my reach.Iinstead turnedto government documents,state (1993) superculture, subculture, andinterculture framework tofurther organizemy field data. interview questionsunder theguidanceofClifford Geertz’s “thick description” (1973), anduseMark Slobin’s extends beyond South Asian musicscholarship.Idecided toadoptSherinian’s research methodology andcreate empowers the voices ofthesuppressed andmarginalized,butitalsoallows scholarsa broader vantage pointthat agents who produce, use,andpropagate music(Sherinian 2014,54). Sherinian’s research methodology notonly advocacy within South Asian ethnomusicology: 1)musicalsound;2)ideology transmittedthrough music;and3) marginalized South Asian musicalpractices.Sheachieves her research goals by focusing onthree levels of call for criticalexaminations ofIndianmusicscholarship, while urging scholarsandresearchers toembrace (2014). Inthisgroundbreaking book,Sherinianeffectively uses Timothy Rice’s dialogic ethnography (1994) to holistic perspectives. A possiblesolution cameinZoeSherinian’s at volumes beyond thegovernment’s acceptablelevels. take aslong asfive hours. However, when accompanying devotees carrying the is alsoa form ofencouragement for devotees who will carry the performed during music isanessentialelementineliciting trancestatesduring religious rituals.Hindudevotees believe thatmusic mēlam constitute “noisepollution” (Sykes 2015, 393) thatgenerates complaintsfrom expatriates being deprived ofsleep. Singaporeans find for the urumi and noisepollutiontopublicspaces. According to Tamil musicscholar Jim Sykes, theauthoritiesonly consider struggles. perspectives, about in bothofthesecases,deriving a one-sidedargumentisinevitable. The lack of written discourse,andmixed perspectives oftheir interlocutors, who oftenblametheauthorities for their enforced silence.Consequently, reference legislationinfluenced by colonialideologies.Ontheother hand,some researchers rely onthe borrows extensively from statemedia andgovernment documentsfor officialperspectives, mostof which By GeneLai(Wesleyan University) in Singapore’s cultural politics Perspectives In Search for Decolonialized As a graduate student from a foreign university who hasnoconnectionsintheSingapore government, Instead ofuncritically embracing perspectives from either side,Isoughta research methodoffering more In contrast,responses Igathered from membersoftheSingapore Tamil Hinducommunity assertthat From thegovernment’s pointof view, Much ethnomusicological andmusicologicaldiscourseaboutmusicculturalpoliticsinSingapore are animportantemblemoftheir community. Furthermore, they unanimously agree that acceptable when they stay within the vicinity ofa temple, which happensquietly within railingssetup thaipusam procession, or inplaces where drumming hasbeenexplicitly authorized.Even thoughmost urumi mēlam thaipusam urumi mēlam in Singapore, Ifaceddiscrepancies among perspectives provided by statemedia,officials,and 397). Concomitantly, while studying music inreligious processions in1973,containremnants ofBritishcolonialism(Sykes 2015, documents suggest thatcertainregulations, suchasthePeople’s Action Party (PAP) banon Singapore even sinceattaining independencefrom theBritishin1963.Likewise, historical The imprintsofcolonialismare still visible inthelegislationsandstyle ofgovernment in urumi mēlam 1 and essentialtoHindufestivals, musicians. inSingapore motivated metofurther investigate andanalyze themusicians’ thai pongal urumi mēlam 2 isa way tothank Lord Murugan for hisblessing.Moreover, music are gang-related ensembles thatbring rowdy behavior urumi mēlam urumi kavadi performances atunauthorizedtimesandplaces Tamil Folk Music asDalit Liberation Theology , SouthIndian Tamil folk drumensembles 3 ona 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) trailthatcan kadavi , urumi mēlam continued on next page . . urumi mēlam oftenperform urumi
30 In Search for Decolonialized Perspectives . . . continued By critically examining perspectives from both sides, I was better able to grasp the impacts of colonialism on Singaporean cultural politics. I observed how urumi mēlam operate in public spaces, even as they comply with local regulations. Fully decolonizing ethnomusicological discourses about former European colonies is difficult, and relying too much on perspectives gathered dialogically may invite uncritical bias. To obtain a look at the big picture, we should strive for a good balance among perspectives from both sides, thus enabling a more holistic standpoint that can help keep colonialist ideologies in check.
Endnotes 1. The thaipusam festival is celebrated between the end of January and the beginning of February. The festival is dedicated to Lord Murugan, one of the most important Hindu deities worshipped by Hindus in Southeast Asia. During the festival, Hindu devotees seek blessings, fulfill vows, and offer thanks to Lord Murugan. They show their appreciation to Lord Murugan by Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter Vol. } performing any one of four types of kavadi when they walk the thaipusam procession. 2. Thai pongal is a four-day, Tamil harvest festival, which is normally celebrated in mid-January. 3. Kavadi is described by Hindu devotees as a burden on the physical body. Devotees may choose to perform one of the four kavadis while walking a religious procession: 1) they hold a milk pot on top of their head (paalkudam); 2) carry a garlanded wooden arch across their shoulders (paal kavadi); 3) carry a heavy semicircular metal structure that is attached to their torso via skewers (spike kavadi); or 4) pull a chariot that is hooked to the skin on their back (chariot kavadi). Only male devotees are allowed to perform the spike kavadi and chariot kavadi. STUDENTNEWS {
References
SEM Geertz, Clifford. 1973.The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books. Rice, Timothy. 1994. May It Fill Your Soul: Experiencing Bulgarian Music. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Sherinian, Zoe. 2014. Tamil Folk Music as Dalit Liberation Theology. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. Slobin, Mark. 1993. Subcultural Sounds: Micromusics of the West. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press. Sykes, Jim. 2015. “Sound Studies, Religion and Urban Space: Tamil Music and the Ethical Life in Singapore.” Ethnomusicology Forum 24 (3): 380–413.
The Cape Coon Carnival as seen through the lens of an outsider, or to be more precise, of a white Afrikaans musicologist who used to study the Markuspassion of Johann Sebastian Bach
By Paula Fourie* (Stellenbosch University)
This photo essay consists of are descended from the early white settlers, the twelve photographs documenting Indigenous Khoisan, and slaves imported mainly the 2016 Cape Coon Carnival, a from the Indonesian Archipelago—those who were musical tradition that, perhaps designated as coloured by the apartheid regime.2 more than any other, reflects Consisting of troupes of singers and instrumentalists South Africa’s history of with painted faces and brightly-coloured silk outfits encounter and entanglement who make music and parade through the streets between different races and cultures.1 The Carnival of Cape Town, the Carnival’s roots lie in the early is an enormously popular event belonging to the singing traditions of the city’s slaves and in blackface Afrikaans-speaking communities of the Cape who minstrelsy imported from the United States in
*All photography by and property of Paula Fourie © continued on next page . . .
Society for Ethnomusicology © 31 The Cape Coon Carnival . . . continued the mid-19th century. Every year on 2 January (on whom we are trying to write about and our own what is also called “Second New Year”), the Carnival positionality. In this, photography as a medium follows its present-day route, starting in the former offers possibilities that could inform our attempts District Six, an area that was inhabited mainly by to write it. The photographs in this essay are an coloured families before it was famously designated attempt to reveal just that—a glimpse of the complex by the apartheid government for the use of “whites relationship between the research subject and the only,” its inhabitants evicted and its buildings researcher, without foregrounding the latter at the demolished. It then proceeds to the Bo-Kaap, an expense of the former. Some of these photographs area historically inhabited by Cape Town’s Muslim capture what is thought to be unobserved moments: population. The day on which slaves were historically here a saxophonist hurries across a field to join his Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter Vol.
} given a “holiday” to celebrate the new year, it is now troupe, there a woman has a quiet word with her a celebration of identity in the face of that which grandchildren. Yet in others, the photographer would deny identity, a day on which members of is dramatically revealed, whether in the happy the Coons—many of whom are both descendants performance of a “lieutenant” dancing down the of slaves and victims of the forced removals during street, or in the stark stare of a “Red Indian” at the apartheid—claim the now-privileged spaces and end of his march before he gets on a bus to go back to streets of Cape Town once more. It is a day that the township, and I get into my car to drive home. STUDENTNEWS { was famously described by the late South African musician and Coon coach Taliep Petersen as “onse Endnotes
SEM dag” (Afrikaans for “our day”). 1. The term “coon” has its origins in nineteenth century The Cape Coon Carnival is a United States where it was used as a pejorative reference to African-Americans. Although debates regarding its use are marginalized cultural manifestation that, together on-going, South Africa’s carnival troupes generally self- with traditions such as the Langarm-bands, the Cape employ this term without a negative connotation. I use this Malay Choirs, and the Christmas Choirs of Cape term here as an acknowledgment that words can travel and Town, has historically received minimal attention be re-inscribed in new situations, as emphasized by the late from South African scholars. In a society such as South African musician and Coon coach Taliep Petersen ours, where institutions of higher learning have for so in 1994: “Now, now, people don’t ... The Americans come and they don’t want us to use the word ‘Coon’ because it’s long positioned themselves as bastions of European derogatory. For the people here, ‘Coon’ is not derogatory, civilization in Africa, Eurocentric curriculums and in our sense, for us, the minute you talk ‘Coon’ he sees new perspectives have thrived in our music departments, year’s day, he sees satin, and the painted ... white around the creating an environment oblivious to our duty to eyes, black around the rest, the eyes and mouth with circles educate South Africans about South Africa. It is a in white, the rest of the face was in black like the American perspective that we as a country, and as a discipline, Minstrel, or, it’s easy to understand, like Al Jolson.” Taliep Petersen, interview by Denis-Constant Martin, 15 cannot afford. Decolonizing ethno/musicology in November, 1994. South Africa means engaging with precisely those 2. The term “coloured” has since evolved to refer to musical traditions previously not regarded as valuable a diverse group of people whose heritage can best be or worthy of study. In many cases, this means those described as creolized. Although it has outright derogatory traditions historically practiced by coloured or black connotations elsewhere, in South Africa it has a complex South Africans and not by the formerly dominant history that has included both its rejection as an apartheid white minority. Moreover, as in the case of the label and its claiming as a self-referential term. I use this term here without any qualifying appendages, both to Cape Coon Carnival, it often means those musical emphasize individual agency in identity creation and traditions that do not easily fit into the accepted from the perspective that the use of politically correct narrative of opposition against the apartheid regime. terminology has the potential to undermine because it strips Most significantly, decolonizing ethno/ words of precisely those connotations that, in this specific musicology in South Africa means being aware of context, may not be forgotten. the lenses through which we perceive these musical traditions, a reflexive critique vis-à-vis what and continued on next page . . .
Society for Ethnomusicology © 32 SEM{STUDENTNEWS} Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 Society for © Ethnomusicology . continued The CapeCoonCarnival A saxophonist stridesthrough buildings tohave escapedthe Town andcometoanendinRose Street intheBo-Kaap. (Zeenatul Islam Masjid)seen before thearea was declared their road march. This isthestarting pointfor theCoon in thebackground was built District Six:APalimpsest District and schools,itisoneoffew Carnival, which will wind its way through central Cape its wayCarnival,central which willwind through Together with a handfulof Three membersoftheShopritePennsylvanian troupe huddle inthedesolatelandscapeofDistrictSix before by government decree for in 1938,somethirty years Shoprite Pennsylvanians. an empty fieldinDistrict Six onhis way tojointhe other mosques, churches The Muir Street Mosque the useof“whites only.” razing ofDistrictSix. Marching Orders from Grandma comprised more than30,000 individual performers. were joinedby some60other troupes thattogether For this year’s Coon Carnival, thePennsylvanians in themarch that will take placeover several hours. Pennsylvanians confer before they jointheir troupe Two young trumpetersoftheShoprite At Ease continued on next page . . 33 SEM{STUDENTNEWS} Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 Society for © Ethnomusicology during theroad marches. responsible for assisting their troupe “captain” by taking care oforganizationalmattersandensuring discipline military marching bandsinthedevelopment oftheCoonCarnival, eachtroupe hasseveral “lieutenants” who are uniform andthe rosette onhisshoulder, posesfor thecamera.Ina nomenclature thatreflects theinfluenceof A “lieutenant” oftheShopritePennsylvanians, distinguishedhere from therank andfilemembers by his ShopriteIn Commandofthe Pennsylvanians . continued The CapeCoonCarnival Town when, inanecho oftheSaturnalia ofthe making their way down Darling Street, District day ofthe year when its slaves were allowed to the Carnival, theliteral translation ofthistitle this context, is: “It’s theNew Year and we are mixed up.” In Six. Reflecting a popular song associated with the occasionthatdatesback tocolonialCape something of the wild, joyous exuberance of Greco-Roman world, 2 January was theone Members oftheShopritePennsylvanians break thebondsof orderly behavior. deurmekaar “Dis dieNuwejaar enOnsis , “mixed up,” captures Deurmekaar” continued on next page . . 34 SEM{STUDENTNEWS} Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 Society for © Ethnomusicology . continued The CapeCoonCarnival District Six. To secure their spotsfor a sun under their gazeboona corner in good view, somefamilieseven spend the previous nightsleeping ontheir A family escapestheharshsummer Camping in District Six inDistrict Camping claims. day. staying inthesamespotfor theentire Six andtheBo-Kaap, inmostcases roughly 1.5-mileroute between District both oldand young who linethe Coon Carnival isenjoyed by spectators Shoprite Pennsylvanians pass. The shoulders, a young boy watches the From the vantage pointofhisfather’s Fence Sideofthe Other On the stock &barrel. The Palms, Woodstock.” recently evicted from Woodstock lock, hundred slaves. Remarkably healthy, next, onsale,a community ofsix “Hand-crafted evictions onSaturday estate agency Pam Golding,itreads: neighborhoods. Bearing thelogo ofthe historically working classandcoloured the gentrification ofCape Town’s the Coons,passa poster protesting of DistrictSix,toget a better view of Spectators moving through thestreets Six Hundred Slaves continued on next page . . 35 SEM{STUDENTNEWS} Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 Society for © Ethnomusicology Asia who were senttocolonialCape Town by theDutchadministration. sizeable Muslim population,many of whom are thedescendants oftheslaves andpoliticalexiles from Southeast houses thathave becomeemblematicofCape Town’s historically Muslim neighborhood.Cape Town hasa A spectator with a Guccihijabstands in Wale Street intheBo-Kaap. Behindher standthebrightly-coloured Bo-Kaap Fashion . continued The CapeCoonCarnival their childhood. participants have beenmarching with their troupes since several generations atthesametime.Many ofthesenior Characteristic oftheCoonCarnival istheparticipationof wait for their busattheendofCarnival route. The young andoldofthe DistrictSix Hanover troupe A RichInheritance continued on next page . . 36 SEM{STUDENTNEWS} Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 Society for © Ethnomusicology . continued The CapeCoonCarnival the “Red Indian” found its way intoits Reflecting the US Americaninfluence having marched for mostoftheday. relaxing with their instrumentsafter Last Tamahawks[ on theCoonCarnival, thefigure of mythology many, many years ago. The young rhythm sectionofthe Little DrummerBoys sic ] Apache troupe ] Apache A member oftheLast Tamahawks [ sic ] Apache troupe after scalping the New Year. What Now? 37 SEM{STUDENTNEWS} Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 Society for © Ethnomusicology somebody hadjusthandedmethe obligationtodo somebody oughtto give allthismusicback andthat and there camethismomentofflashing clarity that understanding of what I was doing inthe world, discipline. SoIhadallthat inmeasanaffective on Native peopleandknowledge toproduce the colonialism ofNative peopleandour reliance anthropology, andthehistory ofgenocide and between our discipline,ethnomusicology/ North American context becauseoftherelationship I feel anenormous, specialresponsibility inthe Indigenous musicfrom elsewhere inthe world. But South American, nottomentiontraditionaland Native, FirstNations Canadian, andIndigenous dozens oftribes’ music:Native American, Alaska collection andrealized it was fullofdozens and along with her grandfather, her mother’s father. at theCentury ofProgress ExpositioninChicago grandfather hadrecorded for Laura Boultonin1933 in thesamebuilding thatI’m in,andher great- famous Navajo medicineman was anMFA student we make ithappen?” The great-granddaughter ofa we talked about with my family’s recordings? Could Nanobah Becker saying, “Hey, you know thatthing Navajo Columbia studentinthefilmprogram named predecessor’s stack ofunanswered mailfrom a young thing Iencountered was anemailprintedoutonmy acquisitions process inthe‘60sand‘70s. And thefirst and thensubsequently addedtoby Boultoninan you’ve beendoing. brief overview ofthearchival repatriation work that with me.I was wondering if you couldjustgive a Kyle DeCoste:Firstofall,thanksfor sitting down By Kyle DeCoste (ColumbiaUniversity) an interview withAaron Fox* Archival Repatriation Decolonizing theDisciplineThrough I immediately begantolook attheBoulton purchased from Laura Boulton of recordings thathadbeen was tocurate thisarchive the mainpurposeof which Center [at Columbia University], charge oftheEthnomusicology Aaron Fox: In 2003,I was putin that collectionthrough a community-based process Sakakibara. And I’ve beencontinuing todevelop PhD studentinculturalgeography namedChie in Alaska, which was theresult ofanOklahoma years, including theonethatledtomy own work connections like thatunfolded over thesubsequent to conceptualize what returning recordings would be. Nation, toreturn the1933Navajo recordings, butalso family, andtheOjoEncinochapter oftheNavajo beginning with working with Nanobah andtheBecker that. And soIstartedtounfold a seriesofprojects lives on this.But much deeper thanthat,it’s been built our disciplines, institutions,universities, and us isonuncededNative territory, tosomeextent. We should make around theseissuesisthat every oneof us asbeing onNative land. The firstobservation you narrative ofredressing andfixing things,butasseeing field ofactivist practicemotivated by a liberal,heroic institutional center, notjustoutinthe world asa of really wanting todecolonizethedisciplineat museums—in every case,a colonialone. anthropology,outside world, with the with with And thecommunitieshave different experiences different levels ofauthorizationtogive away things. repertoires with different functionsandhistories, of returning a song. They share different kindsof of giving a song tosomebody, andthemeaning ownership, sharing,rightstoaccess,themeaning very different traditionalunderstandingsofsong been [that] notwo [are] alike. These cultures have projects andcontexts—maybe a dozen—has of my work with eightor tendifferent repatriation one-size-fits-all way. Andmaybe the core discovery problems ofrepatriation onanIndigenous-wide, in a lotofrepatriation discourse tothink aboutthe directive-y. But itstrikes methatthere’s a tendency my work, which issortofa littlebitStar Trek prime to specify what they are, which isa big principleof of trying tofoster usesofthearchive without trying A seriesofother relationships andfortuitous And there’s beenthisparallelmotionfor me continued on next page . . 38 SEM{STUDENTNEWS} Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 Society for © Ethnomusicology they’d get away with it.It’s not justthatthey were just were people’s contemporary moralstandards. These guys standards, andeven grotesque failures of failures ofour contemporary ethicalandmoral call itracistandcolonialistidentify grotesque from fifty years ago or ahundred years ago and AF: archives)? things (because we’re building recordings and collecting can think aboutindoing field are somethingsthatstudents to our present moment, what KD: And sojumping ahead all. moment from thatcritiqueat doesn’t exempt our present paid for itand why, which around thequestionof who is a historicizationofthefield is why therest ofmy intellectual agenda thesedays who pays for our research isreally necessary, which point a reckoning with utility andthequestionof themselves, repositories of white privilege. At some seen tobe—certainly inmusic—which isarchives become certainly what they are already sometimes the humanitiesdon’t decolonize,thehumanities humanities andespecially tobroaden out. And if it’s actually thenext evolution ofscholarshipinthe the idea thatisnottheantithesisofscholarship; theoretical problematic. And I’ve beentrying topush conceptualize asunderlying even themostabstract kind ofpoliticalutility/social utility, that you can any intellectualproject shouldhave atleastsome just prefer “useful,” a kindofhumbler word, where that activist erases.But it’s alsoa romantic word. I maintains a distinctionbetween theory andpractice uses, andIuseittoo,is—activist, becauseapplied to beconceptualizedas—andthe word everybody people, anda relentless argumentthatresearch needs about relentless advocating for thecareers ofcertain . continued Archival Repatriation Decolonizing theDisciplineThrough It’s easy tothrow handgrenades atanthropology aware ofdoing badthings—they justthought word ofchoice. of choice; your “other” to you. Treat themas you work withinthefieldas say isdon’t treat thepeople . themainthingIwould those collaborators
friends ismy other And soany illusionthatcritiqueproduces liberty were somehow passedthrough a slave labor system. the United States thatdoesn’t have materialsthat or three-hundred-year-old institutionalbuilding in is sortofinthenews, butthere isn’t a two-hundred- built by slaves insomecases. You know, Georgetown walls, thebuildingsgot paidfor, thematerialsgot colonial, andgenocidal, andenslaving practice. The on a structuralracism. We’re builtona foundation of that there isn’t anescapehatchfrom this. We’re built present anditgets really worrying when you realize time. But even so, you get closer andcloser tothe even with respect tothediscourseofethicstheir also madedecisionsconsciously that were cynical dupes andnaïve ina structuralracistcontext, they welcomed inasrepresentations ofhegemonic power or Third World, or Indigenous contexts, we are Almost always, if we work inthedeveloping world, recognize their agency in welcoming you isn’t naïve. welcomed meintotheir world?” And thepointisto “How canI write critically aboutpeoplethathave about this,especially intheir first major field project: a critique.So a lotofpeoplehave a contradiction in a privileged positiontoactually dosomething with And sothemainthing I would say isdon’t treat the is themostimportantchallenge for thisgeneration. diversify theparticipation inthatcritique,and critique, we’re ontothat.It’s notlike we’re notthere. without reforming thepracticethatgenerates the ismy word The firstandmostimportantthing todois honestly criticalbecause you’re personal commitmentistobe the obligationthatrises with fact, people you workIn with. about your fieldwork or the always saying nicethings which probably doesn’t mean Befriend yourfieldwork, is my other word ofchoice. my word ofchoice; as yourthem field as “other” to you. Treat the people you workin with continued on next page . . collaborators friends is 39 1
SEM{STUDENTNEWS} Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 Society for © Ethnomusicology were ina hotel thatcost$500/nighttostay atand of thefield, which was super heartening, except we kind of voicing, especially from younger scholars meeting, anda muchmore criticalandactivist and racediversity thanIhadever seenatanSEM I saw muchmore gender diversity, sexual diversity, Lives Matter, andrepatriation. And onevery panel, president, a Native American keynote speaker, Black it incrementally year-by-year. And Isaw a woman saw the generational turnover differently thanseeing totally amazedand,having thefive-year window, I of view. It was thebestSEMIhadever beento.I was meeting in Austin] was spectacular from my point purpose andstartedgoing back three years ago. [The five years off from visiting theSEMmeetingson paradigm shiftquestion for a generation ofscholars. not only a project-by-project consideration, butit’s a of Indigenous peopleata say, “Well, how would itbetorepresent the tokenistic representation to step tomove pasta kindof that, we have a muchharder because Ithink thatbeyond but Idon’t want torest onthat effectively being transformed, at themoment. And it’s what needstobetransformed that, tome,isthemodelof some level, butalsobecause it benefitsmeobviously on conversation, partly because I want themintheacademic who are peoplethatIknow notfrom academia,but include lotsofIndigenous activists andmusicians that theguestsat[Ethnomusicology] Center our fieldwork andour real lives. So you’ll notice professoriate, butalsothe way we don’t boundarize undergraduate tograduateeducationhiring for the produce a diverse disciplineatevery level, from diverse voices tothetable. position andcanbea valuable conduitfor bringing we canmove theneedleon thatpower from our in part with theexpectation that,like Laura Boulton, . continued Archival Repatriation Decolonizing theDisciplineThrough I will say, for ethnomusicologists,thatItook So thatis,for me,thehighestmandate:to structural level?” And that’s and gotalk to them. songs anddon’t record them you shouldberecording their the fieldwhodoesn’t think to in them.Findthatperson with you? Bringthemin.Talk Who's not goingto agree interests
at theopening oftheSeeger lecture. It didn’t feel as everything aboutit. We hada Native American song we went from one woman president toanother, can justchange thenameoffield.” You know, to bein ways thatIdidn’t expect tosee.Now if we diverse andoutward-facing andpoliticalthanitused say, “Yes, it’s great thattheSEMissomuchmore not get comfortable with your critiqueand you can so Ithink there’s always a point where you have to cityin which we weremeeting. income-unequal And wandering thestreets ofthefabulously wealthy and was surrounded by anarmy ofhomelesspeople Press. V. Bohlman. Cambridge:Cambridge University Cambridge History ofWorld Music as ReanimationThrough Reciprocity.” In to thisinterview, seeFox, Aaron. 2014.“Repatriation omissions. Foranexcellent reading supplementary and Itake fullresponsibility for any careless *This interview hasbeenedited andcondensed, influencing histhinking onthispoint. of History attheUniversity ofCalifornia, Santa Cruz,for and President’s Postdoctoral Fellow intheDepartment 1. Endnote them andgo talk tothem. you shouldberecording their songsanddon’t record them. Findthatpersoninthefield who doesn’t think not going toagree with you? Bring themin. Talk to Aaron credits Robin Gray, a Ts'msyen anthropologist something had[changed] in that felt. It felt like, tokenistic asprior stufflike conversationsomehow. Who’s the critical voice intothe that by always trying toimport hate—of itsown. And Iresist scholarship”—the phrase I careerist “traditional a kindofinstitutionalized quickly, activism becomes field. But there’s a way in which the generational shiftofthe , edited by Philip structurally The 40 , SEM{STUDENTNEWS} Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 Society for © Ethnomusicology histories and realities. You can learn more about Tania and her work on her website: design shehopestocommunicatethestoriesand voices we are unable tohear—the voices that are missing and erased from our Tania Willard, Secwepemc Nation, is an artist and designer based in Secwepemculecw (near Chase,BC). Through her art and societal expectations ofyoung women inthe’50s. and Native girlsattended thesetraining schools.Thispieceisabouttheconflicts,spiritualparadoxes, and with “loose”morals andother traits thatwere not tolerated inthe’50s.Both non-Native, working class assimilation ofNatives; training schoolslike theOntario Training Schoolfor Girlsrehabilitated young women continue to have ofgendered negative effects. Thissort work training, however, was not reserved for the capitalist society. Theresidential schoolswere ofracism ofadarkhistory andgenocideinCanada part practicing theirculture inanattempt to moldthem,for their“salvation,” into productive ofwhite, members needs oftheschools.Residentialschoolsforbade Native children from speakingtheirlanguagesor in 1952outofconcernthatchildren were not receiving aneducation,butwere thefinancial onlyserving workers. TheIndianresidential schoolsystem hadahalf-daylabourprogram for girls,whichwas abolished which young Native women were trained to transform inaneffort theminto good working-class wives and women inthe1950s.Ihave explored thistopic by lookingatIndianresidential schools,andtheways in “Be aGoodGirl”(2006woodcut print)isareflection onthegendered work expectations andtraining of By Tania Willard (Secwepemc Nation) cover image “Be aGoodGirl” visiting our You cancheck themallout,alongwithsubmissionguidelinesandresource by lists, funding, appliedethnomusicology, digital ethnomusicology, andmore. topics, includingthejobmarket, publishing,health,diaspora, interdisciplinarity, SEM holdsanarchive ofthepast
Volume 6 | Spring/Summer 2013 Society forEthnomusicology© SEM{STUDENTNEWS}
standards I may be a bit of a luddite. aluddite. standards Imay be abit of have to admit that by modern YouTube, JSTOR, orSoundcloud? I Facebook, through the likes of uploading, downloading, orwading world, adigital world, consuming, these locales, are you alsoinanother basement, akitchen? Andwhile in lounge, shop, acoffee afriend’s procrastination? Isit inagrad interaction, contemplation, and loiter? Where are your sites of you converge in?Where doyou spaces do questions: What kindsof ethnomusicology.” To begin, afew devoted to the topic “digital , SEMStudent News volume of Welcome, dear readers, to the sixth Society forEthnomusicology© Volume 12 | Spring/Summer 2016 a letterfrom theeditor Sites ofConvergence conceptions forconceptions what we candowith our interdisciplinary ethnomusicologists, our and approach of training the market asit does the need to reconsider how we work. However, this volume deals as much with the job contingent labor within academic andpublic sector ever-growing the on discussions and advice of issue the current marketjob for ethnomusicology graduates. covered but over onthe growing with reflection concerns the themes we have alreadyvolume revisits many of students feelissues are mostpressing. Insome ways, this approaches tomusic studies, we have focused the on health, labor issues to publication, and interdisciplinary during my tenure. From research fundingto researcher topics contributors have covered awide breadth of importantissues to the student body, the newsletter’s SEM andasasoundingboard for As aninstrument of might askthat the readership bear with some reflexivity. SEM StudentNews Iwelcome volume toanew ourreaders again, Once of . “A” isforAcademic,Applied,Alternative SEM{STUDENTNEWS} submissions! and callsfor the latestupdates Facebook, andget ‘liking’ uson Join yourpeersby submission! and callsfor the latestupdates Facebook, andget ‘liking’ uson Join yourpeersby Ethnomusicology of theSocietyfor An official publication Ethnomusicology Society for Committee ofthe Student Concerns An initiativeofthe In the following andeditorials columns you willfind . Inthis, my finalvolume editor, as I
Material StudentBodiesinaDigitizedAcademicWorld 11 As Iwrite now, IamÒinthe ÞeldÓ in spent digitally would multiply. I canonlyimagine how the hours my research were about the Internet? up to write my dissertation. Andif ABDlife asIgear substantial part of academic literature that makes upa online dictionary, andthe sea of guitar tabs, the Māorionline updates (don’t judge), hockey scores, mails, Young andthe Restless for myInternet dailyroutine Facebooker, onthe andIdodepend cloud freaks me out). I’mamoderate and who doesn’t syncanything (the an iPhone 3Gwith outdated apps Or at least asemi-luddite, who owns The LimitsofDigitalEthnographyinaLo-FiWorld 3 Preparing forMarketabilityandSuccessinAcademia12 Thinking BeyondYour Degree (Dr. RebeccaDirksen)20 FINDING PATHS ONTHEJOBMARKET
Ethnomusicology Career Affairs: AResource List22
Transference andCreativity intheJobMarket13 Online Bodies:Education+SocialMedia volume can begin discussion anew to reconsider our field aspirations limitouroptions. and We that hope this ways these labels inadvertently divide our career solutions to the job market crunch, but to think about the they were presented valid as valued. and goal, if For some, the “alternative” paths are or would be the work. “alternative” in ourself find us many and land of at posts limited to are institutions difficult increasingly aspiration, but reality the remains that elusive those and many, included, the academic jobisindeed the myself to atofferings least acknowledge divergent paths. For tenure-track job, but a few have broadened their continue to focus solely ontraining students for the predominantly training to be professors. Many programs supplemental options in our paths as student scholars, haveother modifiers been alternative usedas or skill sets. The largerThe point here is not to only discuss possible Connecting Ethnomusicologists13 What isa“True Ethnomusicologist”14 Digital Technologies andMusic14 —e- “Applied,” “public sector,” “private sector,” and What DoEthnomusicologistsDo? The EthnomusicologyJobMarket9 Organizations +Resources 17 Thinking abouttheJobMarket
! “Music inTimesofTrouble” 18 The RiseoftheMOOC10 Dissertation GrantWriting 17 Digital Ethnomusicology Letter from theEditor1
The StateoftheField4 On Facebook:Part215 On Facebook:Part114 A Letterfrom theEditor1 market, Iamßooded with questions PhD andprepare to enter the job life post- And asIbegin to think of academic work. the digital world inour inßuence of makes immediately visible the the SEM listservs andFacebook, it announcements happen largely over whose callsfor submissionsand publication onlyavailable online, is forefront onmy mind.Asa convergence, this newsletter sites of Bali. So when Iconsider my own Hawai‘i to Arkansas to to England contributors spanningfrom here to and working onthis volume with Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand
The StateoftheField5 cover imageprovided bykozzi.com SCCUpdate2 Student Voices 3 IN THISISSUE SEM Reports2 e . . . pag continued onnext Our Staff 21 Dear SEM7 Our Staff 24 Dear SEM7 Welcome! Welcome!
SEM Student NewsSEM Student 1 1
Volume 5 | Fall/Winter 2012 Society forEthnomusicology© SEM{STUDENTNEWS}
become anissue, we seldom talk friends inourÞeld whose health has colleagues, mentors, or a number of caneasily name yet, though most of professional ways. andpersonal And byis affected ourhealth inprofound ethnomusicologists and both affects leave,maternity ourwork as injuries to performance-based chronic stress to addiction to From deprivation malariato sleep to health. a pressing usall:our issue affecting by breaking the silence on start it off publication, we wanted to year of Student News! Aswe enter ourthird SEM Welcome to the Þfth issue of Society forEthnomusicology© Volume 11 | Fall/Winter 2015 and againstthestigmaofseekinghelp Speaking OutOnStudentHealth SEM{STUDENTNEWS} trajectories between music For this volume, we focused on the our staff. Welcome to you all! perspectives are anice addition to can be found below. unique Their London)—whose contributions first (Royal Holloway, University of Tufts University), andSimranSingh University), Brett Gallo(alumnus of Tulane DeCoste (alumnus of (WesleyanConte University), contributors— Eugenia Siegel pleased to introduce four new staff with more to come shortly. We are “retirements” from the newsletter, our staff. We have hadafew togetherbrings the oldandnew in Student News Greetings from again the Ethnomusicology through Teaching Ethnomusicology Society for publication ofthe An official submissions! and callsfor the latestupdates Facebook, andget ‘liking’ uson Join yourpeersby submission! and callsfor the latestupdates Facebook ‘liking’ uson Join yourpeersby Ethnomusicology Society for Committee ofthe Student Concerns An initiativeofthe , andget staff. volume This
SEM Kyle
MUSIC EDUCATION ANDETHNOMUSICOLOGY better. We feature aconversation says we can do better. We should do dues inadjunct life. volume This teachinggraduate orpaying our “on the job” training through willrely us on our work. Many of setting where teaching is the bulk of educational of form up insome us end ethnomusicologists, most of often the mainagenda for most research is Whilescholarship skills? teaching skills as much as our usaim to hone our how many of music, forconcepts the study of research foci anddeveloping new student careers around novel build us programs. many As of research paths music inmost two historically divided career and education and ethnomusicology— intellectual, capable, savvy, with-it will damage ourreputation as disability services for health advice health centers, counseling services, or to ourmentors, student that turning usmay fear on ourown. Many of institutions, to be dealt with largely our issue for the public setting of deemed too private an andpersonal Why isthis? Perhaps ourhealth is infectious disease while inthe Þeld. from survivingalife-threatening streetlegendaryÒethno credÓ gained Dear SEM column,the writes inour Prof. Ellen Koskoff settings, with the exception of, as about ourhealth inprofessional Boosting Productivity byStoppingtoSmelltheRoses4 Music EducationandEthnomusicology:AResource List23 Harmonizing EthnomusicologyandMusicEducation: Growing theNextGenerationofTango Musicians19
Health Insurance:WhatYou NeedtoKnow13 Legitimizing Culture-SpecificPractices11 Learner A ConversationwithPatriciaShehanCampbell20
The RenewedChallengesto“Bi-Musicality”14 Ethnomusicologizing While“Disabled”11 Changing Dynamicsthrough Trauma 10 World MusicandCulturalKnowledge17 Speaking OutOnStudentHealth An Ethnomusicologistfrom Mars?9 Diverging Paths,CommonGoals8 Organizations +Resources 15
Disrupting theParadigm13 Letter from theEditor1
The StateoftheField5 Facing HealthCrises10 A Letterfrom theEditor1 (University ofArkansas) By scholars, students, and teachers. conversations for usall to be better beyond andopens borders up We volume this hope speaks truly music. pedagogical approach to teaching concert, but acomplimentary not as better approaches to “world music,” from benefit afield—couldalso as the coin—music education side of attainableand other The solution. education together—is a valuable —ethnomusicology andmusic trainings a combinationsuggests of Washington) who (University of with Patricia Shehan Campbell that isimpossible to ignore. volume, until something happens hear from the contributors inthis professional lives. That is, asyou will our demands andambitions of often takes abackseat to the academic culture where ourhealth attached to seeking help isan them. What results from the stigmas they accessed the help available to and lives would beneÞt greatly if unsupported students whose work untreated, overwhelmed, host of mental health issues, leading to a heightened especially when facing scholars-to-be. Andthis fear is cover imageprovided bykozzi.com
The StateoftheField4 Conßicted Bodies11 Justin R.Hunter Community News3 Tools oftheTrade 16 just SCCUpdate2 atoken selection for IN THISISSUE SEM Reports2 Our Staff 18 Dear SEM8 Our Staff 26 Dear SEM6 continued on next page... continued onnext Welcome! Welcome!
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1 1 SEM Student NewsSEM Student
page Volume 4 | Spring/Summer 2012 Society forEthnomusicology© Society forEthnomusicology© SEM{STUDENTNEWS}
relationship between academics media, the documentary working ineducational indigenous health andanactivist ethnomusicologist researching ourselves. Asamedical communities inwhich we Þnd educational, andresearch connected to the broader social, our work asscholars canbe ethnomusicology, questioning how applied andactivist we highlight the subÞelds of SEM Student News. Inthisissue, Welcome to the fourth volume of Volume 10 | Spring/Summer 2015 choosing ouradjectives Being a______Ethnomusicologist retaining (ornot) cultural ties to displaced from but a“homeland” traditional sense—peoples communitiesdisaporic inthe focus not has beenprimary on such ideas. Asaresearcher whose and case studies that deal with problems, solutions, a variety of broadly defined, andyou willfind diasporamusic studies, trends of withthe issues andcurrent engage here,accepted; ourcontributors defended, substituted and has been problematized and “diaspora” disciplines, the term ethnomusicology andcognate . Within News SEM Student time, welcome to Volume 10 of perusing ourpagesfor the first To ourfaithfulreaders andthose Musical Diasporas,DiasporicMusics SEM{STUDENTNEWS} for submissions! updates andcalls get thelatest on Facebook,and peers by‘liking’us loop? Joinyour SEM StudentNews Want tostayinthe Ethnomusicology of the An officialpublication submissions! and callsfor the latestupdates Facebook ‘liking’ uson Join yourpeersby Ethnomusicology Society for Committee ofthe Student Concerns An initiativeofthe Society for , andget
ReflectionsonMulti-SitedEthnographies: SEM Student NewsSEM Student
Indian traditions inNew Orleans prime example. Mardi The Gras volume’sThis cover image is a “diasporic” identity.concerning the researchers’ positions communities’ positions as well as questions regarding both each editorial brings to light and tookmanydiaspora forms volume, the discussion on ethnomusicologists. For this both student andprofessional to continued with engagement submission, andwe lookforward responses toourcallsfor to say that we hadnumerous that yours willtoo. Iampleased editing this volume. It is my hope grown thesehas issues in of that “home”—my knowledge base dialogue that not onlyfacilitates productive andmeaningful opposing positions, andfoster a can we reconcile these two often- what results Icanguarantee. How Icanserve,greater purpose and work shouldmatter to them, what often askme whymembers my collaborative editing. Community community meetings, and bother with allthe ethics reviews, Colleagues often askme why I professional lives. andpersonal constantly face inboth my isone I and socialengagement A MusicalExplorationinRhythmicImmersion11 Diaspora, Globalization,Transnationalism, OhMy!10
Responsibility andtheEthnomusicologist8 ontheSEMwebsite. RedeÞning ÒAppliedÓEthnomusicology4 Towards anEthnographyofthe‘Diaspora’17 The DiasporaNyungaMbira13 Diasporic Sounds:AResource List21 Working intheAppliedSector10 An InterviewwithDeborahWong 18 Organizations +Resources 12 MUSIC ANDDIASPORA information forcoverimagefoundonpage24 !1 A CommunityofWriters 5 Diaspora andTechnology 15 Applied +ActivistEthno The StateoftheField6 Letter from theEditor1
Hawai‘i atMānoa) By JustinR.Hunter(Universityof historical processes. emotional, cultural, and complex of understanding self-identification and the volume center on this idea of the thoughts shared in this outsider assumptions. Many of avoids resorting to broad labels or agency to the community tothe agency and lends diaspora of understanding communities. nuanced This Americans working within these African World experience—of Atlantic experience and the New diasporic—representing the points out, they are indeed the above image of photographer are quite unique, but asthe A Letterfrom theEditor1 continued on next page... continued onnext have-already-proven-myself-as-an- job, post-book, post-tenure, post-I- they were post-dissertation, post- public scholarship hadto wait until writing, or socialengagement, times we hear how experimental this question. Andyet, somany that speciÞcally seeks to address collaborative research andwriting are conducting community-based, ourteachers andmentors Many of it? our research, but alsostrengthens Songs ofaLostTribe 14 The FateofDiaspora12
The StateoftheField4 Community News3 Discerning Diaspora9 Discerning SCCUpdate2 Student Voices 3 IN THISISSUE SEM Reports2 Dear SEM7 Our Staff 16 Our Staff 24 Dear SEM7 Welcome! Welcome!
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Volume 3 | Fall/Winter 2011 Society forEthnomusicology© Society forEthnomusicology© SEM{STUDENTNEWS}
economy have led usto question downtrodden andtransforming a school, the recent of effects graduate our futures outside of usbegin to consider As many of and the Þeld asawhole. connections to each other, SEM, colleagues to think about their Philadelphia, we invite our SEM’s annual conference in minds: work. Aswe gear upfor our devoted to anissue onallof SEM Student News, volume of Greetings! Welcome to the third Volume 9 | Fall/Winter 2014 a letterfrom thestaff The LaborIssue:AnsweringYour Calls —along with mostinourdiscipline—emphasize that question what “health” is. Iassume Indigenous teachers scientific approaches? In my own work, I’ve often had to the broad assumptions that frame mainstream some of might we need to develop? Will they call into question do such scholarship, for instance, orthe methodologies the additional skills and knowledge we must acquire to these areas. Will they address frame ourwork ineach of that assumptions aboutthe willspeak issues about these interdisciplinary capacity. and oldscholars while alsoserving to build our health isnot just individual but also social, that it has to A Letterfrom theSEMPresident SEM{STUDENTNEWS} for submissions! updates andcalls get thelatest on Facebook,and peers by‘liking’us loop? Joinyour SEM StudentNews Want tostayinthe submissions! and callsfor the latestupdates Facebook ‘liking’ uson Join yourpeersby Ethnomusicology of the An officialpublication Ethnomusicology Society for Committee ofthe Student Concerns An initiativeofthe Society for I willbe interested to see how those who write , andget trcigagoignme fnew attracting agrowing number of ethnomusicology—two areas that are medical ethnomusicology andcognitive with afocuscontinues on the pattern urgent issue andsignificant. This willaddress issuesthat areStudent News We have come to expect that SEM
Music, Medicine,Health,andCognition:AResource List16 Archives meeting onThursday, Nov. 17at Committee the Student Concerns at your voice. Come meet ourstaff At SEM Student News, we value plan your future careers. geared to help you navigate and advice from andpeers ourmentors student labor, aswell asjobmarket the economy and discussions of In this issue, youÕll Þndcritical we willdoit. ethnomusicology degrees, andhow what we willdowith our Top Ten TipsfortheEthnomusicologyJobMarket12 MEDICAL ANDCOGNITIVEETHNOMUSICOLOGY
“Evidence” andtheClinical/CulturalDivide12
Dear IconFormerlyKnownasLittleMan10 What’s inaJobApplication,Anyway?9 Getting toKnowYour Council+Reps15 By Dr. BeverleyDiamond(MemorialUniversity) bringing these two themes together. for creating such adynamic publication. for Thanks over to medical ethnomusicology. —all are topicsincognitive ethnomusicology that cross bodiesinperformance instance), andthe entrainment of intensity (intrance, sensory for invokes, the expansion of between the two themes. emotions that The listening this newsletter will write about the potential cross talk equal attention pain? to the fact that sound can inflict body andcreative to spirit, survive trauma. Dowe pay have dance and treatment, in toanimate means as both Ethnomusicologists the potential that understand music imperialism where not allbodies are grievable. about the biopoliticsof deeply illness. I’ve more had to learn eradicating the cause of do with inbalance, living preventing not simply or If You HaveaCognitive Hammer10 Privatizing thePublicUniversity5 A Letterfrom theSEMPresident 1 Medical HumanitiesinPractice15 ogauain otesaf f of staff Congratulations tothe eagerI amalso to see whether contributors to The LowdownonStudentLabor issues.We have covered many GettingtoKnowYour SEM14 Working thePrivateSector7 Thinking BeyondCultural11 !1 cover imageinformationfoundonpage20 Methodological Divides8 The StateoftheField3
The StateoftheField4 Letter from theStaff 1 [email protected] SEM{StudentNews} TeamThe Warmest Regards, from you! page. We lookforward to hearing an email orpost onourFacebook team. Not goingto SEM? Send us the how youlearn canbe apart of like to see inourfuture pages, and 12:30pm. Let usknow what you’d
Cultural Cognition13 Student Voices 2 SCCUpdate2 The JobMarket colonialism and colonialism SEM Reports3 IN THISISSUE Econ 1014 Our Staff 16 Dear SEM6 * Our Staff 20
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productive journeys! Þeld, we wishyou safe and you inthe humor. Andto those of wish you sleep, caffeine, and papers, andsummer programs, we throughstill slogging readings, heartfelt congratulations. To those school survivors,grad we our offer admittees, comps-completers, and year. To recent graduates, relaxation after alongacademic are allable to enjoy some rest and SEM Student News! We hope you Welcome to the second issue of Volume 8 | Spring/Summer 2014 a letterfrom thestaff Welcome Back! a letterfrom theincomingeditor Funding Matters “how to’s” of grant writing, grant but “how to’s” of Many programs may discussthe fundingasapart of of find ourselves with the idea engaged discussion amongpeers, we rarely matter. this isatopic of Though fundingisacomplicatedconcerns, considering student debt andfamily based onfinancialpackages to study From choosing aprogram of academic budget cuts. implications of funding to the broader the logistics of students raise varied questions from in thisvolume from and scholars funding. responses The you willfind while higher education: pursuing viewpoints on a subject we all tackle Vol. 8covers of awidearray of edition another we welcome again, Once you to SEM{STUDENTNEWS} community! larger student become partofthe submissions, and calls for our updatesand ‘Like’ ustoreceive Facebook page! now hasa SEM StudentNews submissions! and callsfor the latestupdates Facebook ‘liking’ uson Join yourpeersby ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Ethnomusicology of the An officialpublication Ethnomusicology Society for Committee ofthe Student Concerns An initiativeofthe Society for , andget SEM StudentNews
coursework.
. As Simple As Sharing? IP And An Ethnomusicology Of Fairness 14 As SimpleSharing?IPAndAnEthnomusicologyOfFairness is ourhope that these considerably since ourlast issue; it expanded ourcontent senior colleagues. We have our aswellpeers asthe advice of editorial articles written by our the following pages, which feature We are excited to share with you property andstudent publishing. student community: intellectual the of to two current concerns and helpful discussionsinresponse aims to equip you with interesting your school trek, grad this issue where you are in Regardless of or continue, to castyour lines. thoughts to consider while you begin, useful We fullof is issue this hope for the fatigue anddisappointment. the “big one” comes in, it makes up lines may be cast, but once number of many casting as lines. fishing Ahuge the process thinking of Seeger suggests Dear SEM column, Dr. Anthony rejection. you But,as willread inthe potentially belittled by the process of become overwhelmed andfeel Too scholars) (and students often to consider inyour search. funding, here we canponder issues forperfect formula obtaining weThough cannot provide the isolating andself-guided project. narrowly focused it becomes an often the search for fundingisso Stolen Images?CopyrightProtection InPublicSpaces16 Getting To KnowEachOther:Three StudentProfiles 9 Looking forAdvantages:FundingtheDegree 10
Staff Editorial:DebatingIP IssuesWithinSEM13 Taking aLeap:InFavorofStudentDebt12 An EthnographicStudyofPhDFunding9 Paper Labor:AGuideTo FirstPublications7 Money money…money! Graduate StudentDebt:It’s AThing11 Letter from theIncomingEditor1 SEMStudentUnionUpdate2
Feature: IntellectualProperty The SpousalSubvention13 Student Issues:Publishing Effective GrantWriting 7 newsletter lounges, andpubs. So enjoy the our listservs, seminars, grad dialogue already taking place in contributions willfurther the ethnomusicology. conversation amongstudents in we cancontinue to expand the [email protected] so Facebook page oremail usat to our ideas, andconcerns Send usyour feedback, comments, you think! Upcoming Conferences 2
LetterFrom TheEditor 2 The StateoftheField3 h tdnso SEM. * the students of this important canonfor the reins of patience andtrust inmetotake over a hearty thanks to Lauren for her service. Asthe incomingeditor, Ibid testament to herfour years of what itisareStudent News a spent makingSEM long hours professionalism, and detail, level of beyond, SEM. Her attention to within, andindeed student concerns made significant strides invoicing spent developing this publication has Vol. 8.Her time the completion of Sweetman, down isstepping with Our founding editor, Lauren . SEMStudent News shift inthe life of This issue alsomarksThis asignificant Hawai‘i atMānoa) By JustinRHunter(Universityof Letter From TheStaff 1 THE FUNDINGISSUE New! SEMReports2
Community News3 Dear LittleMan5 — SCC Update3 Introduction 9 and let usknow what Resources 14 IN THISISSUE Dear SEM5 Our Staff 17 Our Staff 18
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Volume 1 | Fall 2010 SocietyforEthnomusicology©
forum for students in In this newsletter, we strive tocreate a following pages. this endeavor together inthe students andcolleagues, aswe begin celebrators andempathizers, as can allshare. So please joinus, as what we have incommon, what we student existence. But existence this is perhaps reßect ourmore general stress andfrustration that moments of Such labor, however, often includes love. is, for us, anundeniable laborof welcome you, to invite you into what with various ways to say hello, to beginnings are powerful. Igrappled something, and marks abeginning of particular moment newsletter! This SEMÕs new student issue of Þrst the loud!): these are words the Þrst of I amexcited to say it (soread it out Volume 7 | Fall/Winter 2013 Society forEthnomusicology© SEM{STUDENTNEWS} SEM{STUDENTNEWS} By Lauren E.Sweetman(New York University) a letterfrom theeditor Our FirstIssue! Western musics and musicologists interested innon- inaccurate. Conversations between important ways, this isnot and musicology. Insome anthropology of the intersection truism that ourÞeld operates at eighties at least, it hadbeen a throughcentury the nineteen- founding inthe early twentieth attention. From ethnomusicology’s critical to the spotlight of ourÞeld of longstanding concern a usefully returns Student News SEM thisissue of the theme of interdisciplinarity as choiceThe of a letterfrom thepresident ofsem Ethnomusicology Disciplinarity andInterdisciplinarity in submissions! and callsfor the latestupdates Facebook andget ‘liking’ uson Join yourpeersby Ethnomusicology Society for Committee ofthe Student Concerns An initiativeofthe students. by students,for only publicationrun Ethnomusicology’s The Societyfor
Ethnomusicology, JazzEducation+Record Production 9 yloigbc notercns fby lookingbackinto the richness of ethnomusicology, invites usto begin focused onhistorical in ethnomusicology. issue, This devoted to aparticular Þeld ortheme pertinent materials. Each issue willbe conferences, publications, andother articles, interviews, and updates of Each issue willinclude avariety of experiences. news of events, your peers, news of news of and updates, or, inaword, news: We you withinformation hope to arm debates andtensions we encounter. goings, to voice and aplatform the place to articulate ourcomingsand chance toget to know each other, a disconnected community with a want toprovide ourimmense, often disciplines to share their stories. We ethnomusicology andrelated discipline isnot best deÞned asthe work hard a to understand: from other areas often have to to remember afact that scholars ourÞeld helps us at the originof true today. interdisciplinarity The literature, andthat iseven more making contributions to our backgrounds from awide array of ranging than that, with scholars always been more complex andfar ethnomusicology’s has history ourÞeld. But the foundation of were animportant drivingforce in music aculturalphenomenon as with anthropologists concerned A Word From ThePacific Review OfEthnomusicology5 Getting To KnowEachOther:Three StudentProfiles 6 Article: ContemplatingHistoricalEthnomusicology9
Expanding theReachofEthnomusicology12
Conceptualizing GlobalMusicEducation11 Ethnomusicology ++:ABibliography13 Ethnomusicology +Inter/disciplinarity Letter From ThePresidents OfTheSCC3 Feature: HistoricalEthnomusicology 6
Letter From ThePresident OfSEM2 . Job SeekingOutsideAcademia8
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Letter from thePresident 1 Student UnionUpdate3 group express yourself, we welcome you. poetry, articles, orhowever else you what you think! Inletters, prose, point inourcareers. So let usknow neatly into other publications at this ideas, andopinionsthat may not Þt students to experiment with forms, publish andspeak toeach other, for as anopportunity for students to via email us your input, ideas, andcomments work for you. Please feel free to send At SEM Student News, we ultimately all canrelate. music research to which we nature of us, but alsothe interdisciplinary only the passionthat haslongdriven musical expression. Here we see not
The StateoftheField4 Letter From TheEditor 1 study andtherefore distinct that require distinct methods of are cleanly separable phenomena because “society” and“humanity” disciplines? It iscertainly not humanity) different study of society) andanthropology (the (the study, sociology perhaps, of existence. Why, for example, are with some facet of to grapple try working inconcord orconßict to people rather asagroup of invertebrates orminds)but orstars things-in-the-world (such as natural-kind aset of study of Call ForSubmissions11
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1 41 SEM{STUDENTNEWS} Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 Society for © Ethnomusicology McKenna, Tarquam, andDavina B. Woods. 2012.“An Indigenous Conversation: Artful Autoethnography: A Pre- McGranahan, Carole, andUzma Z.Rizvi,eds.2016.“Decolonizing Anthropology.” McClaurin, Irma.2001. Loomba, Ania. [1998] 2005. Land, Clare. 2015. Harrison, Faye Venetia. 2008. Goodyear-Ka'ōpua, Noelani, Ikaika Hussey, andErinKahunawaika'ala Wright. 2014. Goldberg, David Theo, and Ato Quayson. 2002. Depelchin, Jacques. 2011. Caouette, Dominique,andDipKapoor, eds.2015. Agnani, SunilM.2013. Afzal-Khan, Fawzia, andKalpana Seshadri.2000. asbothlist anintroduction andaninspiration for your own praxes. decolonization conversations andpropose ways take must inwhichscholars action.Iinvite you to usethis multi-vocal, are andmost works by Thesetwenty-five Indigenousscholars. written works continue toLatina/o studies thisbibliography. compile Many ofthesetexts are edited volumes and,thus,inherently anthropology, and Indigenousstudies, black/Africanastudies, genderstudies, studies, performance methodologies thatconstitute thediscipline.Therefore, Ihave looked to therelated disciplinesof protest. How, then,shouldwe Whatisdecolonizedscholarship? goaboutbeingactivist-scholars? andmethodology,ethnomusicology andactivism,theory meansunitingscholarship and performance discipline and,more generally, to allinterdisciplinary inthehumanities.Fundamentally, studies decolonizing is nolongeroptional. ofpower we Asscholars, bringquestions must andprivilegeto theforefront ofthe considering collaborators asfellow intellectuals. Inother words, scholarship criticalengagementandactivist Decolonizing ethnomusicology isnow afull-blown project, development important themost ofwhichis and other founding momentbeganpublishing,protesting, inthepostcolonial scholars andperforming. Calls for decolonizationhave increased involume sinceFrantz Fanon,Edward Said,Gayatri Spivak, By HannahAdamy (University ofCalifornia, Davis) some resources from many perspectives Reading, Decolonizing Colonised Collaborative Research Method?” decolonizing-anthropology/ in AnthropologyQueries University Press. Books. Illinois Press. Movements for Life, Land,and Sovereignty Movements and Critical Perspectives York: Fordham University Press. University Press. A decolonizedapproach to ethnomusicology involves reflecting onthephilosophiesand Decolonizing Solidarity: Dilemmasand Directions for Supporters of Indigenous Struggles Hating Empire Properly: The Two Indies and theLimits of Enlightenment Anticolonialism Black Feminist Anthropology: Theory, Politics, Praxis, and Poetics Reclaiming AfricanHistory (blog), (blog), April 19. Accessed October 10, 2016. Colonialism-Postcolonialism Outsider Within: Reworking Anthropology in theGlobal Age . . London:ZedBooks. . Durham,NC: Duke University Press. Relocating Postcolonialism Creative Approaches toResearch The Pre-Occupation of Postcolonial Studies Beyond Colonialism,Development and Globalization Social . Cape Town: Pambazuka Press. . New York: Routledge. http://savageminds.org/2016/04/19/ . Oxford, UK:Blackwell Publishers. 5(3): 75–88. Savage Minds: Notes and . New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers A Nation Rising: Hawaiian . Urbana: University of continued on next page . . . Durham,NC: Duke . London:Zed . New New . 42 SEM{STUDENTNEWS} Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 Society for © Ethnomusicology Laurelyn. 2009.Whitt, Paul. 2014.“Indigenous Whitinui, Autoethnography: asa Native Exploring,Engaging,andExperiencing ‘Self’ Werbner, Pnina,and Tariq Modood, eds.2015. Venkateswar, Sita,andEmma Hughes, eds.2011. Sue, Christina A. 2015. “Hegemony andSilence:Confronting State-Sponsored SilencesintheField.” Stoller, Paul. 2007. “Ethnography/Memoir/Imagination/Story.” Simpson, Audra, and Andrea Smith,eds.2014. Silva, Noenoe. 2004. 2011. Shotwell, Alexis. Sendejo, Brenda, and Tori Vasquez. 2016.“Unboxing theBuried SeedsofMy Belonging:Latina/o History, Rodriguez, Ileana.2001. Ntarangwi, Mwenda, David Mills,andMustafa H.M.Babiker. 2006. Mohanty, Chandra Talpade. 2003. . continued Reading, Decolonizing Also, check out our past extendedAlso, checkoutourpast resource onSEM’s lists website. Theseinclude: the onlineversion ofour [email protected] Did we misssomething? Contact us withyour at commentsandsuggestions York: Cambridge University Press. Method ofInquiry.” Anti-Racism Activism Contemporary Ethnography University Press. Pennsylvania State University Press. buried-seeds-of-my-belonging/ Accessed October 10, 2016. Decolonized Pedagogies andthePolitics ofInclusion.” Practice NC: Duke University Press. • • • Music, Medicine, Health,andCognition Music andDiaspora theJobMarketNavigating . London:ZedBooks. . London:ZedBooks. . London:ZedBooks. Aloha Betrayed: Native Hawaiian Resistance to American Colonialism Knowing Otherwise: Race,Gender, and Implicit Understanding Science, Colonialism, and Indigenous Peoples: The Cultural Politics of Law and Knowledge Journal of Contemporary Ethnography The Latin American Subaltern Studies Reader 44 (1):113–40. http://www.anthropology-news.org/index.php/2016/09/15/unboxing-the- Reading, Decolonizing Feminism Without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity . Extended Resource Lists . We willbehappy to addcitations andresources to Theorizing NativeStudies Debating Cultural Hybridity: Multicultural Identities and thePolitics of The Politics of Indigeneity: Dialoguesand Reflections on Indigenous American Anthropological Association 43(4): 456–87. resource list. Anthropology and Humanism . Durham,NC: Duke University Press. African Anthropologies: History, Critique,and . Durham,NC: Duke University Press. . University Park, PA: . Durham,NC: Duke 32(2):178–91. , September 15. . Durham, Journal of . New New . 43 SEM {STUDENTNEWS} Davin Rosenberg, editor & design/layout Davin is a PhD student in ethnomusicology at University of California, Davis. His research focuses on North American flamenco and explores musicking and dancing in the (re) construction of time, space, and (sense of) place; groove and performance temporalities; kinesthetic and sonesthetic impacts of performance; and transnational musicocultural flows and interrelationships. His previous work discusses flamenco performance, instruction, and tradition in Phoenix, Arizona. Davin is also an instrument repair technician and plays trumpet and flamenco guitar. Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter Vol. } Eugenia Siegel Conte, assistant editor Eugenia is a PhD student in Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She recently completed her MA in Ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University, researching identity in choral music and performance in Oahu, Hawai'i. Previously, she earned an MA in Music Research at Truman State University, focusing on gender and sexuality in Benjamin Britten's opera The Turn of the Screw. She is currently interested in film and television music,
STUDENTNEWS world choral traditions, and voice studies. { SEM
Heather Strohschein, copy editor Heather is a PhD candidate in ethnomusicology at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. She holds a BA in world music and an MA in ethnomusicology from Bowling Green State University. Her dissertation research focuses on Javanese gamelan use outside of Indonesia as well as the performance of affinity and community. Heather also serves as a co-editor/co- founder of the SEM Student Union blog and currently teaches online world music courses at the University of Hawai'i West O'ahu.
Ana-Maria Alarcón-Jiménez, sem student union liaison Ana-María currently works as assistant researcher and is a doctoral student at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa. She has researched and studied at the Graduate Center of the City of New York (CUNY), the University of California in San Diego, the University of Arkansas, and the National University of Colombia, among others. She has been awarded full scholarships by all the above mentioned institutions. Ana-Maria is Vice Chair of the Society for Ethnomusicology Student Union and a contributor to the SEM Student Union Blog.
Sara Hong-Yeung Pun, thoughts from the field columnist Sara Pun is a PhD student at Memorial University of Newfoundland as well as an accredited music therapist and music educator. Sara believes in the transformative effects of music and is an advocate for using music for positive social change. She loves piano, Japanese taiko, Indonesian gamelan, reading, writing, and hiking. Sara is passionate about community music and is an adventure junkie. You can learn more about her at: www.sworldmusic.com.
Society for Ethnomusicology © 44 SEM {STUDENTNEWS} Kyle DeCoste, contributor Kyle DeCoste is a PhD student in ethnomusicology at Columbia University. He holds a BA in music and arts administration from Bishop’s University (2012) and an MA in musicology from Tulane University (2015). In his master's thesis, he applied a black feminist theoretical lens to brass band performance in New Orleans. Vol. 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter 2016 12, No. 2 | Fall/Winter Vol. } Simran Singh, contributor Simran Singh is a Reid scholar and recipient of the Overseas Research Award at Royal Holloway, University of London. Her doctoral research explores hiphop and political economy, focusing on Uganda. She holds an MA with distinction in Media and International Development from the University in East Anglia, and has served as Visiting Tutor in the departments of Music, and Politics and International Relations, following a seven-year career
STUDENTNEWS as Creative Director of a branding firm in India. { SEM
Brendan Kibbee, conributor Brendan Kibbee is a PhD candidate in ethnomusicology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He is currently conducting fieldwork for his dissertation, “Counterpublics and Street Assemblies in Postcolonial Dakar,” focused on the intersection of music, associational life, politics, and public space in a popular quarter of Dakar, Senegal. Brendan plays Senegalese percussion at the Alvin Ailey Extension, and is also a jazz pianist. He has taught at John Jay College and City College, CUNY.
Hannah Adamy, researcher Hannah Adamy is a second-year PhD student in Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Davis. She received her MA in Performance Studies from Texas A&M University, where she studied processes of heteronormativity in Euro-classical vocal pedagogy. Her current research focuses on vocal production as praxis in speaking back to violence. She also composes music for various community theaters in New Jersey.
Adriana Martínez Falcón, social media manager Adriana is a Mexican Ethnomusicologist. She is an invited lecturer at the Modern Languages Department of the Hong Kong University, where she collaborates with Professor Mercedes Vazquez on the Latin American Music course. Her research focuses on Chinese cultural studies, and the study of ritual and identity in Chinese lion dance. She’s currently an active performer of electronic music in Asia.
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