SEM Post

Apparently, Ethnomusicology – both the field and the journal – has come a long way in the past 60 years. Just looking at the first issues from the 1950s, even the appearance of the journal looks outdated. The font looks like it came off a typewriter. In the “Notes and News” from 1953, the journal seems oddly quaint boasting about its mailing list of 437. It is also clear that the term ethnomusicology is not yet full accepted. It is still rendered sometimes as ethno-musicology and an early publication from the journal titled “On the Subject of Ethno-musicology” seems to be a defense of the title of the journal in which it is published. As far as actual fieldwork and ethnographic work being published in the journal, much of the language seems offensive.

In the article “A Study of Norms in the Tribal Music of Uganda,” the region being studied is described as a “laboratory for students of music,” as if these cultures are no more than classrooms for students that have been shipped overseas to learn from. This is an obvious representative of the colonial attitudes that later ethnographers tried to distance themselves from. The use of the phrase “vigorous jumping dances” is almost comical, but is in danger of being condescending and reductionist. Other ideas, however seem quite modern. The author states that the goal of this exhibit is “to get away from all tribal, savage or primitive valuations in the mind of the European.” In addition, the article seems more concerned with the arrangement of a museum exhibit on Ugandan instruments – dedicating an entire paragraph to the background colors display cases.

Other articles seem oddly lacking in ethnography. They are almost all under ten pages, and frequently very narrow. Many read like handbooks, like “The Rhythmic Orientation of Two Drums in the Japanese No Drama,” which is a technical inventory of terminology and rhythmic patterns. It is certainly not centered around the “affective experience” of the performers or the ethnographer, and it is not even clear who performed the fieldwork. Other articles, such as “The Society for Research in Asiatic Music; Its Aims, Functions, and Achievements” just alert readers to the formation of new institutions devoted to the study of Ethnomusicology. These articles, short in duration and very precursory in their treatment of topics, seem like articles from a newspaper, not an academic journal.

Letters to the editor provide a fascinating perspective on the minds of readers. “The Phonograph and Primitive Music” shows signs of colonial attitudes and positivism in statements like, “the phonograph is destined to become a most valuable aid in the investigation of savage music, but it must be used scientifically.” This contributor's choice of language juxtaposes with the proclamation in the article on Ugandan music discussed above that strives to European perceptions of “savageness” is non-Western music. Clearly, the world of Ethnomusicology at this time was very heterogeneous, and signs of both shockingly outdated and surprisingly modern viewpoints are present.