Introduction to Ethnomusicology: Popular Musics of the World

Music 365. Introduction to Ethnomusicology: Popular Musics of the World

Classes: Tuesday & Thursday 9:30AM-10:50AM.

Location: V 102

Instructor: Dr. Federico Spinetti

Office: 3-34A Arts & Convocation Hall; office hours: Wednesday 10:00AM-12:00PM, or by appointment; tel. 492-7534; spinetti@ualberta.ca

Course description

This course provides an introduction to the field of ethnomusicology by focusing in particular on the study of popular music in a variety of locations outside the non Anglo-American world, including countries of continental Europe, the Near and Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America, and Africa. Issues addressed include popular musics in the homeland and in the context of transnational diasporic communities; the construction and negotiation of cultural identities in popular music worldwide; the study of popular musics of the world in their socio-historical, ideological and political contexts; traditional and popular musics vis-à-vis processes of modernization, westernization, commodification and globalization; contemporary music technologies and media. The course makes extensive use of audiovisual materials in addition to lectures and readings. No formal knowledge of music theory, analysis, history, notation or ethnomusicology is a prerequisite for taking this course.

Aims and objectives

- To provide an introduction to the field of ethnomusicology and familiarize with the variety of its methodological and theoretical approaches.

- To develop familiarity with the research resources available to students and scholars in ethnomusicology, including scholarly literature, audiovisual documents and multimedia resources.

- To explore the possibilities offered by a number of methods and tools/media to the process and the outcomes of research: fieldwork, analysis of texts and audiovisual documents, ethnographic writing, ethnographic filmmaking, field and studio recordings, etc.

- To become acquainted with a number of popular music genres practiced in a variety of countries worldwide.

- To study musical idioms and aesthetic perceptions in relation to their socio-historical contexts, and to develop a critical understanding of the role of music in identity construction and political-ideological processes.

- To become acquainted with the diversity of cultural practices, collective histories and identity perceptions in the societies and musical contexts under consideration.

Course requirements

- Class attendance and participation. This includes attending class, completing assigned weekly readings, and participating pertinently and actively in class discussions.

- Reading report. A written report on one assigned class reading of your choice. Your report should be concise (between 500 and 600 words) and polished. It should include 1) a short description/summary and 2) a contextualization of your reading. In the contextualization section of your report, please comment on the theoretical significance of your chosen reading for a wider understanding of worldwide popular musics (that is, aside from its specific focus, what does your chosen reading tell us about more general issues and processes in popular music?). Reports that do not respect the word limit set above will be downgraded by one full point on the letter grading scale (i.e. from A to A-, from A- to B+, etc). Likewise, unjustified late submissions will be penalized by one full point on the letter grading scale. Please submit your report both in hard copy and electronically (via email). DUE WEEK 4 (on Thursday January 28).

- Film review. A written review of two films of your choice, selected from those shown in class. Your review should be polished and between 700 and 800 words in length. You should briefly describe the content of your chosen films and comment on their making, on the type and method of representation conveyed by their authors, and on their significance to the scholarly study and public perception of popular musics in the world. Your review should also evaluate your chosen films with reference to the course topics/issues and raise some critical points. Reviews that do not respect the word limit set above will be downgraded by one full point on the letter grading scale (i.e. from A to A-, from A- to B+, etc). Likewise, unjustified late submissions will be penalized by one full point on the letter grading scale. Please submit your review both in hard copy and electronically (via email). DUE WEEK 14 (on Tuesday April 6).

- Midterm paper. A written response to one weekly issue/topic of your choice. Your paper should 1) present your chosen weekly topic by identifying its main/general research problems/questions; 2) drawing on course materials (class lecture; class discussion if applicable; assigned and additional readings) discuss how such questions and problems may been tackled; 3) formulate one or more original research questions that may encourage further exploration of the topic under consideration. Your paper should be polished and between 900 and 1,000 words in length. Papers that do not respect this word limit will be downgraded by one full point on the letter grading scale (i.e. from A to A-, from A- to B+, etc). Likewise, unjustified late submissions will be penalized by one full point on the letter grading scale. Please submit your paper both in hard copy and electronically (via email). DUE WEEK 8 (on Tuesday February 23).

- Final exam. A final in-class exam paper containing a list of questions related to each one of the course weekly topics. You will have 2 hours to answer three questions of your choice in essay-like form. Additional readings (see under Class Schedule & Readings) are required for this assignment. DATE of exam TBA (between April 16 & 29)

Academic integrity

You should be familiar with the Code of Student Behavior as published in Section 26 of the 2009-2010 Calendar and available online at http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/governance/studentappeals.cfm. “Policy about course outlines can be found in section 23.4(2) of the University Calendar”. (GFC 29 SEP 2003) “The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves the provisions of the Code of Student Behaviour (online at http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/governance/studentappeals.cfm.) and avoid any behaviour which could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University.” (GFC 29 SEP 2003)

Assessment

Each assignment will be marked according to the numeric scale of evaluation given below. Individual assignment marks will be combined to obtain a final numeric grade, which will be rounded so as to obtain a corresponding final letter grade as shown below.

A 4.0

A- 3.7

B+ 3.3

B 3.0

B- 2.7

C+ 2.3

C 2.0

C- 1.7

D+ 1.3

D 1.0

D- 0.7

F 0.0

The relative weight of each assignment on the overall grade is as follows:

Attendance and participation: 15%

Reading report: 10%

Film review: 15%

Mid-term paper: 20%

Final exam: 40%

Resources

There are no required textbooks for this course. A number of relevant books, articles and audiovisual materials are on reserve for you at the Music Library. Please note that some of the articles required for this course are available online through the University of Alberta Library databases. Relevant bibliographic or audiovisual materials that may not be available through the University Library will be handed out in class, included in the course mediawiki page or made accessible in my office. The course mediawiki page (http://www.fwalive.ualberta.ca/mediawiki/) will be an essential resource for updated reading assignments and class schedule.

Class Schedule & Readings

Classes are organized and divided by topic/issue; that is, by their theoretical focus and not by geo-cultural area or music genre. As a result, each class addresses more than one geo-cultural area and/or musical genre. The same or closely related geo-cultural areas and/or musical genres may be revisited in different weeks, albeit from different theoretical angles. Likewise, while many theoretical issues will recur at different times across a number of classes, each class will focus specifically on one theoretical issue and explore it in some detail.

Please consider the reading assignments given in this course mediawiki page and/or in class as authoritative (as opposed to the provisional readings provided in the syllabus handed out in class on Week 1). It is important that you complete Assigned Readings by the weekday/class in which they are assigned! Otherwise, you will fall behind and derive much less benefit from class meetings. Additional Readings are provided for those who wish to explore a topic in greater depth and will be essential to preparing for the midterm paper and, especially, the final exam. Film Readings, though optional, are highly recommended as useful background to our film screenings in class and also in preparation for your film review.

Week 1 (Jan 4-8) - Introduction

Week 2 (Jan 11-15) - Globalization and (g)locality in the popular musics of the world

Week 3 (Jan 18-22) - Audiovisual media: worldwide uses, and issues of ethnographic representation

Week 4 (Jan 25-29) - Popular musics and cultural identity: hybridization, appropriation and indigenization

Week 5 (Feb 1-5) - Transnational migrations and diaspora musics

Week 6 (Feb 8-12) - Marketing authenticity: traditional music in the world music market

Week 7 (Feb 15-19) - Reading Week

Week 8 (Feb 22-26) - The international music industry and cross-cultural collaborations

Week 9 (March 1-5) - Popular music, politics and resistance

Week 10 (March 8-12) - Popular music, nationhood and nationalism

Week 11 (March 15-19) - Popular music, conflict and violence

Week 12 (March 22-26) - Popular music in film