Challenge Question Response

Question

Some of the readings we have done (Agawu, for example) have offered the view that ethnomusicology in some way perpetuates the colonial relationship between cultures of unequal status in world influence. These views range from the historical observation that ethnomusicology was born from the ideals of a western-centric society to the claim that the very act of studying another culture imposes, to some degree, a different culture upon it. Rather than discussing a specific reading, please focus on your own opinions as to where ethnomusicology falls on this admittedly broad spectrum. Feel free to offer suggestions for improvement, if you have them, but don't feel pressured to offer a solution to an issue that has plagued the entire field for decades. Please address this topic in either a 2-3 page paper or a 4-6 minute interpretive dance.

Response

It is important to separate the goals of ethnomusicology from the practice of ethnomusicology. Ethnomusicologists are interested in how the particulars of music (rhythm, melody, timbre, instrumentation, etc) arise in a culture and what role the music has in/on that culture. Defined goals such as these are common to all academic fields, and are not inherently bad. Though the goals of ethnomusicology are noble, the practice of ethnomusicology can be problematic. Western ethnographers are over represented in ethnomusicological writing, which perpetuates colonial relationships present in the field since its inception.

One ideal of ethnomusicology is to learn about a culture directly from "the source” but ethnomusicology from the first half of the 20th century could not achieve this. Transportation technology made direct communication between cultures impossible on a large scale; it was impractical for many people to experience a music-culture directly. Ethnomusicology unavoidably lent itself to the predominance of western scholars- the field needed the "crutch" of the traveling ethnomusicologist to record culture and report back with findings. Because of the importance of the traveling scholar in early ethnomusicology, most published ethnographies came from westerners rather than from the practitioner's of the music-cultures being studied.

One of the benefits of better transportation and telecommunication technology for ethnomusicology is the opportunity to reach this ideal of learning about a culture directly from "the source". Online publications such as in blogs make it possible to read about music-cultures from practitioners while affordable, fast, and reliable travel gives ethnomusicologists the opportunity to bring "the source" home. With the onset of these technological advances, I would expect the need for the "crutch" of a western traveling ethnographer to disappear. It would be possible for more papers to be written by non-westerners. This would be a more direct way getting information. We always filter cultures through our own bias. Reading an etic ethnography forces us to filter this culture twice-once through the ethnographer and once through ourselves, the readers. In technological society, there would be less of a place for outsider ethnographies; scholars could read ethnographies written by people who are part of the music-cultures they are writing about.

Though the world has experienced technological changes that could have these impacts on ethnomusicology, the field is still dominated by western ethnographers and is not a universal discipline. Universities still train budding ethnomusicologists in western theory to be applied to other cultures. Agawu points out that universities pay for westerners to travel to and study African cultures, instead of paying for Africans to study their own culture. While there may be something to gained from reading an outsider perspective on a culture, reading an insider perspective is a more efficient way of transferring information. Insider ethnographies are not by plagued by as many ethical problems traditional ethnographies are. In a time when technology allows for the benefits emic ethnographies, the predominance of western ethnographers in 1950s seems less shocking to me than their predominance today.