Critical Review #3: Shelemay Ch 9

On Chapter 9, "The Ethnomusicologist, Ethnographic Method, and the Transmission of Tradition"

In her chapter in "Shadows in the Field," Shelemay starts out by discussing the intrinsic differences between a "historical musicologist" and an anthropologist or ethnomusicologist. In her words, while a historical musicologist is "implicated in the continuation" of the musical tradition he/she studies, an anthropologist (or ethnomusicologist, though she does not use the term here) has a participatory position in this tradition or culture. It becomes clear that Shelemay considers herself much the latter, as she discusses her work with the Syrian Jewish community in New York and the creation of an archive of 200 pizmonim. It becomes clear that she played a huge role not only in the preservation of these hymns, but also in the transmission of them to a new generation.

Shelemay clearly shows that it is easy, in some circumstances, for a researcher to become intimately tied with the community he/she researches. She clearly states the benefits of this exalted position, but what may be some of the negatives? And what should an ethnomusicologist do if he/she is not accepted by the community he/she studies?