Critical review #10: Meintjes 1990: "Paul Simon's Graceland"

In her 1990 article entitled "Paul Simon's Graceland, South Africa, and the Mediation of Musical Meaning," Louise Meintjes discusses and examines the political dynamics involved in the creation of Simon's album. She begins by examining the idea of collaboration, and trying to define it in her own terms while examining what it means to different groups of people. Collaboration, according to Meintjes, happened in "Graceland" at many levels, from composition of songs to the languages used in the album and the politics involved in the associated world tour. She separates these types of "musical collaboration" from her other category, which she calls "social collaboration." Social collaboration primarily involves the listener and the way that he/she experiences the music; Meintjes looks at the music from both a white and black South African perspective.

Meintjes does a great job of laying out some of the intrinsic issues in Paul Simon's album, but in my opinion doesn't further the research beyond articles we have already read. Personally, I would be interested in hearing first-hand accounts of people who were each of her categories to see how they felt about the album - will these accounts back up her assertions?

Discussion question: How can we look at "Graceland" as an ethnography in itself?

Challenge question cycle: answer to Hannah's question

Hannah's question: In Shelemay’s article “Ethnomusicologist, Ethnographic Method, and the Transmission of Tradition,” she discusses the ethnomusicologist's role in the transmission of tradition. How does an ethnomusicologist’s role in this differ depending on the situation and type of fieldwork they are doing? Does it make a difference if they are doing fieldwork “at home?”

We've looked at this question in a variety of contexts in this class so far, and the answers have sometimes been different depending on the specific case study. I'd like to synthesize these answers somewhat while trying to develop a more generalized theory of the ethics behind an ethnomusicologist's role in the transmission of tradition.

As we've discussed in depth, the word "tradition" itself is a difficult and hard-to-define term. At what point does a type of music become "traditional?" In some fields the word tradition seems to be applied as soon as something has happened more than once, such as in my own fieldwork. In other groups, such as the traditional Baroque music groups that exist, "traditional" means that they are playing works with the specific instrument types that existed at that time period, trying to reproduce the original sound as exactly as possible.

So how can tradition be "transmitted" in these different areas? What is the role of an ethnographer in this process? I see their role as differing when they're working "in the field" versus "at home." In a place foreign to them, an ethnographer has the freedom to work as an independent researcher, initially starting out without overt connections to the community. In this more old-school role, he/she has the ability to work with less fear of offending the musical community, and begins the process with fewer pre-conceived notions. Though these benefits to fieldwork exist, there are also downfalls; several of our readings have pointed out the difficulties that arise when a community is less accepting to outsiders and may hold information back or attempt to paint themselves in a different light. The ethnographer's role, here, is to transmit as much knowledge about the community to the rest of the world; they have fewer social and moral obligations to the community. However, I am a fan of Shelemay's interactions with the  community she was studying; eventually, she was able to impart knowledge to them about their own musical tradition.

At home, the ethnomusicologist may have a greater ability to tease out information about complex emotions and relationships, as he/she already has a basic knowledge of the group being studied. However, this basic knowledge can be a burden as well; in some cases this "knowledge" is more of a set of stereotypes than anything else. As a researcher who is also a part of the community he/she is studying, the ethnographer in this context has much more responsibility to give back to the community, be it through transmission of their tradition or another form of social service. 

So, how are these values of the ethnomusicologist "at home" versus "in the field" changing? As we have seen from Kiri's own work as well as other readings, it is becoming harder to distinguish the two areas, which seemed so juxtaposed in the 1950s and '60s. Is a researcher looking at YouTube videos made in Singapore from the comfort of her own home "at home" or "in the field?" Does fieldwork even require participation any more? Ethnomusicology seems to be at a liminal stage in development right now, and it will be interesting to see how the field develops as we move more and more into an "internet age."

Critical review #9: Miller - "Travelling Home" intro, chapter 1

In the introduction to her book on Sacred Harp singing, Miller begins by describing the background of this tradition, which seems to have begun in New England around the time of the Revolutionary War, but later found a home in the Appalachians and further south in the 19th century "singing school" movement. Sacred Harp has sometimes been known as a sort of "white spiritual," and this term persists as the genre is still very white-dominated; Miller explores some of the origins of this boundary as well as why it remains intact today, especially in areas that like to see themselves as post-racial. With the advent of recording technology and radio, as well as a "diaspora" of Sacred Harp singers out of the south, the tradition has continued with some changes. One current struggle exists around the idea of "authority" and who constitues a "traditional" singer - are only the singers who grow up in the southern Sacred Harp tradition the "authoritarians?"

Discussion question: We see here how a tradition can become more flexible over time. How can a tradition become less flexible in certain ways?