Challenge Questions

The ability to learn about a culture’s music and the role of that music within culture is easier because of technology. Information can “come from the source;” people from around the world can publish their work for a wider audience. If insider ethnographies exist with more frequency, what is place of outsider ethnographies? Do we need an outsider’s ethnography on a culture when we can readily get an insider’s?

A thought experiment: an isolated island is dominated by a culture that practices human sacrifice. Most anthropologists would say they are within their right; this is a consenting culture existing on its own terms. However, if that island’s population moved to Providence, RI and practiced human sacrifice, most people, probably including anthropologists, would say this is not ok. Ethnomusicologists are concerned with not passing judgment on peoples’ cultures; they see every culture as being valid on its own terms. However, are we allowed to pass judgment on our own culture or traditions happening within our culture? Can we pass judgment on musical traditions, such as white supremacy rock, that exist in our own culture?