Shadows in the field : new perspectives for fieldwork in ethnomusicology ; [essays; most originally prepared for the year-long colloquium series entitled "Fieldwork in contemporary ethnomusicology" sponsored by the Graduate Program in Ethnomusicology at B

What are the new directions in ethnomusicological fieldwork? Will fieldwork continue as an integral part of ethnomusicological theory and method? This is the first book by ethnomusicologists to consider fieldwork as an issue-laden practice, rather than as a methodology requiring a prescriptive manual. The volume's contributors challenge the very notion of fieldwork: its goals, the nature of knowledge gained, and the place of fieldwork in historical studies. Designed to encourage dialogue between ethnomusicology, anthropology, and other fields that involve fieldwork, it highlights the unique ways in which ethnographic fieldwork can contribute to transcultural understanding. What are the new directions in ethnomusicological fieldwork? What do we see when we acknowledge the shadows we cast in the field? Will fieldwork continue as an integral part of ethnomusicological theory and method? Glancing forward and backward, the authors in this collection explore a range of issues that can help ethnomusicologists and those who study human experience and creativity to conceptualize the nature of fieldwork. This is the first book by ethnomusicologists to consider fieldwork as an issue-laden practice, rather than as a methodology requiring a prescriptive manual. The contributors challenge the very notion of fieldwork: its goals, the nature of knowledge gained, and the place of fieldwork in historical studies. Until now the focus in ethnomusicological writing and teaching centered around analyses and ethnographic representations of musical cultures. This book signals a new fieldwork, shifting the balance away from the data-collecting model toward an approach that is reflexive, humanistic, and experiential. It makes provocative reading for all fieldworkers, those in ethnomusicology as well as anthropology, sociology, folklore, area studies, linguistics, and other ethnographic disciplines. Contents 10 Contributors 12 1. Casting Shadows in the Field: An Introduction 16 2. (Un)doing Fieldwork: Sharing Songs, Sharing Lives 36 3. Confronting the Field(Note) In and Out of the Field: Music, Voices, Text, and Experiences in Dialogue 58 4. The Challenges of Human Relations in Ethnographic Inquiry: Examples from Arctic and Subarctic Fieldwork 76 5. Knowing Fieldwork 100 6. Toward a Mediation of Field Methods and Field Experience in Ethnomusicology 114 7. What's the Difference? Reflections on Gender and Research in Village India 134 8. Fieldwork in the Ethnomusicological Past 152 9. Selecting Partners: Questions of Personal Choice and Problems of History in Fieldwork and Its Interpretation 176 10. The Ethnomusicologist, Ethnographic Method, and the Transmission of Tradition 202 11. Chasing Shadows in the Field: An Epilogue 218 References 224 Index 242 A 242 B 243 C 244 D 245 E 245 F 246 G 247 H 248 I 248 J 249 K 249 L 250 M 250 N 251 O 251 P 251 Q 252 R 252 S 253 T 254 U 255 V 255 W 255 Y 256 Z 256 This work, written by ethnomusicologists, considers fieldwork as an issue-laden practice, rather than as a methodology requiring a prescriptive manual. The contributors to this volume challenge the notion of fieldwork: its goals, the nature of knowledge gained in fieldwork and the place of fieldwork in historical studies. The book ranges widely through the history of the discipline of ethnomusicology and the key theoretical issues to be addressed including ethics, politics, gender and relations with the people studied in the contemporary fieldwork environment. It represents the most significant aspects of the new ethnography, shifting the balance away from the data-collecting model of fieldwork toward an approach that is reflexive, humanistic and experiential Edited By Gregory F. Barz & Timothy J. Cooley. Essays; Most Originally Prepared For The Year-long Colloquium Series Fieldwork In Contemporary Ethnomusicology Sponsored By The Graduate Program In Ethnomusicology At Brown University. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. The contributors consider fieldwork as an issue-laden practice rather than as a methodology requiring a prescriptive manual, challenging the very notion of fieldwork, its goals and its place in historical studies Music's ephemeral nature predisposes ethnomusicologists to embrace multiple realities.