Music and Politics (Fall 2008)

Music 466/566: Topics in Ethnomusicology

Music & Politics

Classes: Tuesday & Thursday 3:30 - 4:50PM

Location: Music Library Seminar Room RN 2-109A

Instructor: Federico Spinetti

Office: FAB 3-65; office hours: Tuesday 10:00-12:00am, or by appointment.

E-mail: spinetti@ualberta.ca

Course Description

This course explores the complex intersections of politics and music, examining the significance of political processes for musical life as well as the ways in which music may come to be relevant to political thought and practices. The course examines a broad range of case studies from diverse cultures and societies drawing predominantly from ethnomusicological literature and scholarly debates. At the same time, it brings into the discussion a variety of theoretical perspectives from political and critical theory in order to investigate how music may be directly involved in political life and used for ideological ends and power struggles (for example, as a tool for propaganda, social control, protest, resistance and revolution), as well as how it participates in the subtle and multifaceted workings of hegemonic processes in the domain of civil society.

Requirements

- Attendance and participation: including regular class attendance, doing both reference and assigned weekly readings, and participating in class discussions.

- Reading reports: two review-like reports on readings of your choice to be submitted on Week 6 (October 7) and Week 11 (November 13) respectively. The readings for these reports should not be the same as those of your class presentations (see below). Reports should be concise (not exceeding 600 words), and include a short description as well as a critical evaluation of the readings in question.

- Presentations for class discussion: students will be invited to take turns in presenting and leading class discussion on one or more assigned reading. As part of your presentation, you may be asked to locate relevant listening examples to be played in class. The timeline for presentations will be discussed and finalized on Week 2.

- Midterm essay: a written piece focusing on a case study that has not been discussed in class, or on novel aspects of one already discussed. Your paper shall include essential bibliography (at least 4 articles or 1 book+1article) and a list of recordings. It will provide some ethnographic detail and critically assess the theoretical/methodological approach of your sources. Sources may include also non-scholarly works (magazines, websites, etc). Please do not exceed 2,000 words. DUE WEEK 9 (October 30). Please be prepared to present and discuss your work in class with the aid of audio examples on Week 9 (October 30).

- Final essay & presentation: a piece of research that will:

1) be entirely based on secondary literature;

2) examine the political significance, implications or aspects of one or more music genres, artists, traditions or events;

3) summarize the salient ethnographic features of the case/s examined;

4) develop a critical discussion of sources and assess the case studies under consideration in the light of available theories and models of interpretation. Your research project will result in one written essay and one class presentation. Length of class presentation: 20 minutes. Length of essay: 3,000-4,000 words for undergraduate students; 4,500-5,500 for graduate students. DUE DECEMBER 15. A paper/project proposal, with provisional bibliography, is due on Week 11 (November 13).