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On the Roots of Ethnic Music: Identity and Global Romanticism – Open Access Musicology Journal

Published on August 10, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, journal articles / papers, music

Tellef Kvifte, Popular Musicology Online

Folk music and popular music represent in many ways two distinct cultural spheres with few contact points. The ‘folk’ in the folk music tradition are a construct of the national romantic era, usually referring to peasants, living close to nature, while the folk of the ‘popular’ are more constructs of urban and modern society.

Given the fundamental differences in ideology one finds here, it may be surprising to find a strong alliance between the two groups. What I have in mind here is that of ‘world music’, ethno pop’, ‘ethnic wave’ or, as I call it, ‘global romanticism’. >> continue

PS: Popular Musicology Online publishes papers in fulltext online. It “is published exclusively online and is a free, un-funded academic resource available to scholarly and general public readerships with an interest in debates on popular music” and is edited by Stan Hawkins, Department of Musicology, University of Oslo, Norway.

Tellef Kvifte, Popular Musicology Online

Folk music and popular music represent in many ways two distinct cultural spheres with few contact points. The 'folk' in the folk music tradition are a construct of the national romantic era, usually referring to peasants,…

Ethnomusicologist uses website as an extension of the book

Published on June 14, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, books, fieldwork / methods, internet, music, websites

(via Fieldnotes): Ethnomusicologist Aaron Fox has set up a website and blog as an “extension of the book”: “I’m not going to republish the book on the site, but the book deals so much with sound that I had to make it possible for people to hear the music”, he explains and adds: “I also really wanted to be able to interact with readers — as we are doing now! Seems to me this is just the most under-used capacity of the web as an adjunct to traditional publishing. It’s not like academic books sell in the tens of thousands, so it seems perfectly reasonable and possible to enter into a real dialogue with serious readers.”

Anthropologist Tad McIlwraith on Fieldnotes comments: “I think about this in the context of my work with First Nations people and wonder if I could convince them to allow their actual voices to be found in files on my website. I think my work would be enhanced if they’d agree to that.”

Aaron Fox’ book is called Real County: Music and Language in Working Class Culture and is according to Tad McIlwraith “a fantastic ethnography”.

(via Fieldnotes): Ethnomusicologist Aaron Fox has set up a website and blog as an "extension of the book": "I'm not going to republish the book on the site, but the book deals so much with sound that I had to…

Dance Anthropology: “Even when borders blur, dance movements retain ethnic roots”

Published on May 27, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, art, culture traditions, language, music, Us and Them

SanDiego.com Union Tribune

The way we move tells us who we are. The rhythm of our walk, the sports we play and our dances define us as individuals and cultures. Movement also can cross borders. That makes modern dance a stunning example of global communication, since, according to dance anthropologist Judith Lynne Hanna, there may be as many dance languages as humanity’s 6,000-plus verbal languages. >> continue

Book review: Heartbeat of the People: Music and Dance of the Northern Pow-Wow. Tara Browner (American Ethnologist)

Book review: Shaping Society through Dance: Mestizo Ritual Performance in the Peruvian Andes. Zoila S. Mendoza. (American Ethnologist)

SanDiego.com Union Tribune

Smithsonian Folkways to Open MP3 Music Store

Published on April 1, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology (general), anthropology in the news, indigenous people / minorities, music, technology

Washington Post

The Smithsonian Institution is entering the highly competitive world of music downloads by offering the Smithsonian Folkways collection of ethnic and traditional music in an online music store. Smithsonian Global Sound, the new project, will be formally launched during the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in June.

Global Sound will charge 99 cents a song, which are available in MP3 format. The Smithsonian will pay royalties to the artists, as its recording label has done with records and CDs. The Web site, www.smithsonianglobalsound.org, will allow searches by artist, geographic location, language, cultural group or instrument. All of the Folkways archives, including photographs, can be downloaded onto a screen. >> continue

Washington Post

Socially conscious hip-hop is worldwide phenomenon

Published on March 13, 2005 by lorenz Posted in anthropology in the news, migration, music, politics

Canadian Press

Somali-born rapper K’naan says hip-hop records helped him cope with his country’s civil war, his adolescence as a refugee and his life as an immigrant in North America. “It’s a whole new thing that is happening, even in villages in Africa,” said K’naan, whose music touches on everything from personal empowerment to life in Somalia.

Marc Perry, an anthropologist at the University of Illinois, says despite rap’s commercialization, socially conscious hip-hop is common among immigrants in the West and black populations in such countries as Brazil and South Africa. That’s not surprising given hip-hop’s history, Perry said at a recent symposium at Concordia University called Hip-Hop: Culture of Resistance. >> continue

Canadian Press

Somali-born rapper K'naan says hip-hop records helped him cope with his country's civil war, his adolescence as a refugee and his life as an immigrant in North America. "It's a whole new thing that is happening, even in villages…