Introduction to the Special Issue on Ethnography and Analysis

• Main Author: Malin, Yonatan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Analytical Approaches to World Music 2020-01-01
• Series: Analytical Approaches to World Music
• Subjects: ethnography; music analysis; music theory; ethnomusicology; analytical approaches to world music; interdisciplinarity
• Online Access: http://aawmjournal.com/articles/2019b/Malin_intro_AAWM_Vol_7_2.pdf

The introduction sets out the goal of this special issue: to explore relationships between ethnography and analysis in an open way, strengthening the discursive web of analytical approaches to world music while also bringing some of its challenges to light. The introduction reviews prior work beginning with a model from Nettl (2015) and the contrast between studies of Arabic maqam by Marcus (1992) in Ethnomusicology and Abu Shumays (2013) in Music Theory Spectrum. Four prior studies are shown to combine ethnography and analysis in distinct ways: Locke (2010) makes a notable move from ethnography to author-driven music analysis, Hesselink (2013) uses ethnography to decenter the solo author/analyst model, Polak (2010) develops questions for empirical analysis from musical experience in ethnographic settings, and Berliner (1994) treats ethnography and music analysis as complementary, mutually corroborating methods. Finally, the introduction presents the four articles of this special issue, situating them in dialogue with prior work.