MAW folk music assignments 2010

Overview

This week everyone will present material often filed under the "folk" or "folkloric" labels. These are admittedly vague, somewhat value-laden, labels, and in addition to thinking about how the music you're considering has been (or could be) considered "folk" or "folkloric", you should also feel free to problematize or critique such a categorization, thinking about how the categorization itself is often an expression of power.

Each presenter should (a) provide an overview of her or his reading/topic, (b) supply AV examples (some are listed on this page; you can bring your laptop, or use mine, in order to share these with the class), then (c) critique and raise a few questions for discussion. In other words, treat these presentations as oral versions of what you'd do in an SC paper centered on your topic. Plan for around 10-15 minutes of presentation max, to allow time for discussion.

All readings are on http://bit.ly/ammoodle except as linked below.

Feel free to edit your entry, adding links to AV material, optional readings, and thought/discussion questions, as you wish.

Important: Everyone should read everything to be presented, in addition to whatever was required reading. That way we can have a meaningful discussion.

For Tuesday

Adrienne: Bar-Yosef, Amatzia (1998). Traditional Rural Style under a Process of Change: The Singing Style of the "Hadday", Palestinian Folk Poet-Singers. Asian Music, 29(2), 57-82

[1][2][3]

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Patrick: Racy, A. J. (1996). Heroes, Lovers, and Poet-Singers: The Bedouin Ethos in the Music of the Arab Near-East. Journal of American Folklore, 109(434), 404-424. [On the influence of Bedouin music]

[4] This is an example of the mihbaj (coffee grinder) and its musical qualities that are associated with hospitality, honor etc.

Ataba

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Justina: Hoffman, Katherine E. (2002). Generational Change in Berber Women's Song of the Anti-Atlas Mountains, Morocco. Ethnomusicology 46(3), pp. 510-540

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For Thursday

Mahsa: Touma, The Music of the Arabs, pp. 88-95 (Fjiri songs of the Arabian Gulf).

[5][6]

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Amanda: Sultans of Spin: Syrian Sacred Music on the World Stage, AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 105(2):266-277.

[7] [8] [9]

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Manya: Israeli Mediterranean Music: Straddling Disputed Territories. Amy Horowitz. The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 112, No. 445, Theorizing the Hybrid (Summer,1999), pp. 450-463