Department: Music Ethnomusicology ![[clear]](close-x.png "Remove this limiter")
21 matches in the database.
These are records: 1 - 21.
1.
Acee, Dana F.
Women in Sha'bi Music: Globalization, Mass Media and Popular Music in the Arab World.
Degree: MM, Music Ethnomusicology, 2011, Bowling Green State University
► This thesis focuses on sha’bi music, a style of popular music in…
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▼ This thesis focuses on sha’bi music, a style of popular music in the Arab world. More specifically, it discusses the role of women in sha’bi music, focusing on singers Nancy Ajram and Haifa Wehbe as examples of female pop singers. I take a feminist approach to understanding the lives, images, and legacies of two of the most influential female singers of the twentieth century, Umm Kulthum and Fairouz, and then I explore how these legacies have impacted the careers and societal expectations of Ajram and Wehbe. Several issues are explicated in the thesis, including the historic progression of popular music, the impacts of globalization and westernization, and the status of women as performers in the Arab world. The fan bases of the various female sha’bi singers are explored to examine why people are drawn to popular music, how youth cultures utilize music to define their generations, and why some people in the Arab world have problems with this music and/or with the singers: their lyrics, clothing, dancing bodies, and music videos. My ethnography on these issues among Arabs in Bowling Green, Ohio, reveals how members of the diaspora address the tensions of this music and the images of female performers. I posit that, while there are many thousands of sha’bi fans of such female performers as of Ajram and Wehbe, the many critical voices are comparing these women to the constructed images and legacies of the luminaries, Umm Kulthum and Fairouz, and rejecting the notions of globalization that are influencing the current generations in most Arab countries.
Advisors/Committee Members: Harnish, David.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: Arab music, popular music, feminist theory and music, women in music, globalization, mass media
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2.
Bergseth, Heather A.
Music of Ghana and Tanzania: A Brief Comparison and Description of Various African Music Schools.
Degree: MM, Music Ethnomusicology, 2011, Bowling Green State University
► This thesis is based on my engagement and observations of various music…
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▼ This thesis is based on my engagement and observations of various music schools in Ghana, West Africa, and Tanzania, East Africa. I spent the last three summers learning traditional dance-drumming in Ghana, West Africa. I focus primarily on two schools that I have significant recent experience with: the Dagbe Arts Centre in Kopeyia and the Dagara Music and Arts Center in Medie. While at Dagbe, I studied the music and dance of the Anlo-Ewe ethnic group, a people who live primarily in the Volta region of South-eastern Ghana, but who also inhabit neighboring countries as far as Togo and Benin. I took classes and lessons with the staff as well as with the director of Dagbe, Emmanuel Agbeli, a teacher and performer of Ewe dance-drumming. His father, Godwin Agbeli, founded the Dagbe Arts Centre in order to teach others, including foreigners, the musical styles, dances, and diverse artistic cultures of the Ewe people. The Dagara Music and Arts Center was founded by Bernard Woma, a master drummer and gyil (xylophone) player. The DMC or Dagara Music Center is situated in the town of Medie just outside of Accra. Mr. Woma hosts primarily international students at his compound, focusing on various musical styles, including his own culture, the Dagara, in addition music and dance of the Dagbamba, Ewe, and Ga ethnic groups. The DMC recently celebrated its 10th anniversary in the summer of 2010. This thesis is also a comparison of the above music schools with those that I have observed in Tanzania, East Africa, primarily situated along the Swahili coast. I spent a month teaching music to primary and secondary school children in various private and government schools in Arusha, Bagamoyo, Tanga, and Zanzibar. This opportunity allowed me to witness the methods of musical education in public schools as well as in arts-centered specialty schools or after-school community groups. Two such schools that I focus on include programs that teach primarily Tanzanian musical styles to native Tanzanians: the Bagamoyo Young Artist Center (BYAC) and the Dhow Countries Music Academy (DCMA). I spent a few days at the Dhow Countries Musical Arts School in Zanzibar, an NGO founded and sponsored primarily by the Norwegian government. The Dhow Countries Music Academy, or DCMA, teaches traditional dance-drumming, called ngoma in the native language of Kiswahili, and also taarab, a popular song genre with Arab instruments and other musical influences. The Bagamoyo Young Artist Center is an afterschool program for children in Bagamoyo where they learn and perform traditional ngoma as well. I briefly discuss the traditional music of each of the schools’ curriculum and discuss the methods used in transmitting their respective musical cultures. I compare and contrast the schools from various positions: their missions, audiences, as well as their histories and visions for the future. I also investigate the status of music in the national educational systems in Ghana and Tanzania. In addition, I explore issues of commodification, cultural tourism, authenticity, and appropriation. Through research, interviews, and observations, I provide a picture, if only partial, of the state of teaching traditional African musics in Ghana and Tanzania.
Advisors/Committee Members: Harnish, David.
Subjects: African Studies; Art Education; Dance; Education; Music; Music Education
Keywords: Ghana; Tanzania; music education; ethnomusicology; applied ethnomusicology
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3.
Brinson Woodruff, Abbie R.
Lady Gaga, Social Media, and Performing an Identity.
Degree: MM, Music Ethnomusicology, 2012, Bowling Green State University
► This thesis is a discussion of the role popular musicians play in…
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▼ This thesis is a discussion of the role popular musicians play in forming and informing the identities of fans. I specifically look at the ways in which Lady Gaga as an individual, as well as her body of work, provides a framework for fans to craft their own identities. I view popular music and Lady Gaga’s career through a feminist lens, analyzing how Gaga’s texts, music, videos, performances, and other public appearances are presented to project ideas that coincide with some of the goals of third wave feminism. Gaga’s most fanatic fans, deemed her Little Monsters, craft a large portion of their identities around Gaga’s public presentations. Not only do these Little Monsters individually identify with Gaga, they often form communities based around their Gaga centered commonalities. In this thesis I explore those who self-identify as Little Monsters and how being a part of the Monster collective impacts the way in which they view both themselves and others. I also explore how identities are crafted and perpetuated via the internet and online communication.
Advisors/Committee Members: Attrep, Kara.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: Lady Gaga; Identity; Feminism; Gender; Popular Music; Katy Perry; Taylor Swift; Social Media; Little Monsters
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4.
Brown, Kwesi Ewusi.
SOCIAL CONFLICTS IN CONTEMPORARY EFFUTU FESTIVALS.
Degree: MM, Music Ethnomusicology, 2005, Bowling Green State University
► The annual Deer Hunt Festival of the Effutu people of Ghana’s Winneba…
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▼ The annual Deer Hunt Festival of the Effutu people of Ghana’s Winneba state continues to perplex the elders and chiefs of that land. Until recently, Aboakyer, which translates literally as “animal catch,” had been known as the nation’s most important traditional festival. But this has begun to change. A recent report in Ghana’s Sunday Mirror noted that the Aboakyer festival has decreased in importance. In its place, residents have begun to put their energy into the Fancy Dress Festival which, though initiated in the 1920s as a spoof on Western culture, has now taken on new importance, even replacing (for many) the Aboakyer. This shift is due to a variety of developments, including: arguments between practitioners of traditional religion and converts to Christianity, divisions between age groups (elders remaining committed to Aboakyer), and national political parties (with members of the National Democratic Congress supporting the Aboakyer and members of the New Patriotic Party supporting the Fancy Dress Festival). Complicating this further is an ongoing dispute, which has repeatedly resulted in violence, within the Effutu royal family, where the Gyateh (or Ghartey) line is fighting with the Ayrebi Acqua line over which line is the rightful ruler. This ongoing violence has generally pushed people away from celebrating the Aboakyer festival, including commercial companies that once offered financial and administrative assistance. The activities of both festivals are dominated by music and dance. For example, at the commencement of the deer hunt festival, elders meet at a shrine and invoke the spirit of the war god Penkye-Otu, who will lead them to the forest to hunt for a deer. Invocation is accomplished by singing provocative songs that anger the spirit who in turn mounts and possesses his followers, preparing them for the hunt. Though done surreptitiously, leaders of the Fancy Dress Festival invoke Penkye-Otu as well. These same songs, now presented in a secular context, are later performed by brass bands. This thesis will compare and contrast these two festivals. Research for the project was undertaken in Winneba in the summer of 2004 and included interviews with members of the Winneba traditional council, members of the brass ensembles, as well as elders, choreographers, and spiritual leaders of the four Fancy Dress Festival groups and the confederation that unites them. In addition I draw upon my own experience having grown up in Winneba and having participated in both festivals.
Advisors/Committee Members: Cornelius, Steven.
Subjects: Folklore; Music
Keywords: Aboakyer; winneba fancy dress; winneba brass band
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5.
Campbell, Corinna Siobhan.
Gyil Music of the Dagarti People: Learning, Performing, and Representing a Musical Culture.
Degree: MM, Music Ethnomusicology, 2005, Bowling Green State University
► The gyil, or xylophone, played by the Dagarti of Northwestern Ghana, Southern…
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▼ The gyil, or xylophone, played by the Dagarti of Northwestern Ghana, Southern Burkina Faso, and Eastern Cote d’Ivoire, has steadily gained popularity in recent years. Although the land inhabited by the Dagarti is far from any major city, musicians have brought the gyil to national and international audiences. Communicating as performers and teachers across cultural divides is often challenging. It raises a host of questions about the nature of the music itself, its context, and what cultural outsiders are able to absorb. This thesis is an exploration into the challenges that gyil players face in negotiating musical and personal identity when teaching and performing outside their musical culture. Specifically, I study these issues as they apply to master musician Bernard Woma. After providing background information on Woma, the gyil, and the Dagarti people, I divide the remaining chapters among performer, teacher and student perspectives on cross-cultural communication. First, I contemplate several different performing scenarios; how they signify a change in presentation and audience expectation. I introduce the idea of gyil performance as concert piece, highlighting many of the adjustments made to fit this aesthetic. Further adaptations must be made in the development of a gyil pedagogy. The role of gyil instructor does not exist as such among the Dagarti, rather musicians learn by and large independently, beginning at infancy. Thus, those who wish to teach the gyil to people outside of Dagarti society are faced with a daunting task: to create their own method of instruction, condensing years of knowledge developed in an environment of musical and cultural immersion, and restructure it into a framework to be digested by those with limited knowledge of its context, and varying degrees of musical skill. Here I examine several teaching methodologies. I likewise explore the meanings four American students have derived from their experiences learning the gyil. My research is based on extensive lessons and interviews with Woma, observation of concerts and workshops, and interviews with several advanced players from the United States.
Advisors/Committee Members: Cornelius, Steven.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: Dagara; Dagarti; gyil; xylophone; Ghana
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6.
Closz, Samantha April.
Musicking in Mérida: Creating and Maintaining History and Culture Through La Escuela Municipal De Folclore Regional.
Degree: MA, Music Ethnomusicology, 2007, Bowling Green State University
► The Yucatán Peninsula has been a favorite vacation destination for decades. Outside…
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▼ The Yucatán Peninsula has been a favorite vacation destination for decades. Outside of the resorts of Cancún, Cozumel, and the Mayan Riviera, visitors are able to travel throughout the peninsula in search of mestizo (mixed) gems: Yucatecan cuisine, artisan crafts, music, and ruins. The largest of these exotic destinations is the capital city, Mérida, which sits on the ancient ruins of T’hó. Founded in 1542 by Francisco de Montejo, Mérida rapidly became a cosmopolitan area with Spanish, Maya, and later mestizo peoples who crafted a hybrid of Spanish and indigenous culture. Today, almost five hundred years later, the Yucatecans are proud of their heritage. They have the opportunity to learn Mayan or perfect the colonial dances, called the jarana, through the help of the municipal government’s assistance. With tax dollars, the Ayuntamiento de Mérida, a branch of the city’s municipal government, opened schools thirty years ago throughout the city, encouraging students old and young to preserve and share their musical history. Through this unique governmental support, music and dance survive and are seen as important icons of the region. The strength of the schools during the past thirty years has led to nightly performances in outdoor venues in the historical city for natives and foreigners alike. Researchers in the past rarely focused on the performance and tourist aspects of the jarana and its importance, and there has been no interest generated on the schools that maintain this strong tradition. This thesis is the first work to focus on the school, its history, and its relationship to the Ballet Folklórico, a semi-professional club of dance that perform each week. Using the concept of “musicking” as developed by Christopher Small, I explore the many forces at work in the performance and teaching of the jarana and other arts of the Yucatán.
Advisors/Committee Members: Harnish, David.
Keywords: jarana; Yucatán; Mérida; Ayuntamiento de Mérida; Escuela Municipal de Folclore Regional; Ballet Folklórico
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7.
Davis, Luke R.
Cultivating Identity and the Music of Ultimate Fighting.
Degree: MM, Music Ethnomusicology, 2012, Bowling Green State University
► In this project, I studied the music used in Ultimate Fighting Championship…
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▼ In this project, I studied the music used in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) events and connect it to greater themes and aspects of social study. By examining the events of the UFC and how music is used, I focused primarily on three issues that create a multi-layered understanding of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighters and the cultivation of identity. First, I examined ideas of identity formation and cultivation. Since each fighter in UFC events enters his fight to a specific, and self-chosen, musical piece, different aspects of identity including race, political views, gender ideologies, and class are outwardly projected to fans and other fighters with the choice of entrance music. This type of musical representation of identity has been discussed (although not always in relation to sports) in works by past scholars (Kun, 2005; Hamera, 2005; Garrett, 2008; Burton, 2010; Mcleod, 2011). Second, after establishing a deeper sense of socio-cultural fighter identity through entrance music, this project examined ideas of nationalism within the UFC. Although traces of nationalism fall within the purview of entrance music and identity, the UFC aids in the nationalistic representations of their fighters by utilizing different tactics of marketing and fighter branding. Lastly, this project built upon the above-mentioned issues of identity and nationality to appropriately discuss aspects of how the UFC attempts to depict fighter character to create a “good vs. bad” marketable binary. Although the UFC and its fighters vehemently craft and cultivate a specific projection of who and what they are, the ultimate goal is to convince and sell these projections to UFC fans. And as a result, fights often mark a conflict of not only two fighters, but two contrasting identities as well. In conclusion, it is my hope that the project I propose here will add to the canon of studies involving music and spectacle, and introduces to music scholarship a previously unexplored area within the greater field of Ethnomusicology.
Advisors/Committee Members: Rancier, Megan.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: Ethnomusicology; Identity; Music; Ultimate Fighting; UFC; Mixed Martial Arts; MMA; Performativity; Blood Sport; Cage Fighting; American Identity; Music and Sports; Entrance Music; BJ Penn; Cain Velasquez; Randy Couture; Nationalism; Border Identity
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8.
Eckardt, Allison Lenore.
Kpatsa: An Examination of a Ghanaian Dance in the United States.
Degree: MM, Music Ethnomusicology, 2008, Bowling Green State University
► Kpatsa is a dance of the Ga-Adangme people in Southern Ghana. Mythology…
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▼ Kpatsa is a dance of the Ga-Adangme people in Southern Ghana. Mythology says that Ga-Adangme hunters first learned it from the dwarfs; beliefs about its role in Ga-Adangme society vary. Today, kpatsa is an important teaching piece in Ghana and has also become a popular piece for Ghanaian performers teaching within the United States. This thesis is an examination of kpatsa as it was taught to the author.In Chapter One, I examine kpatsa's place in society. I begin with a discussion of its mythological origins, and then discuss its historical uses. Next, I examine how kpatsa is used in Ga-Adangme society today. I then examine how and why kpatsa has changed as it moved from the Ga-Adangmes, to the Ghanaians, and then to the United States. Chapter Two examines kpatsa and education, beginning with how kpatsa is used to teach about Ga-Adangme culture, and then moving to how kpatsa is taught in Ghana. Finally, I look at how teaching methodology changes when kpatsa is taught in the United States. Chapter Three expands on this discussion by describing my experiences as a student of kpatsa. First I examine my personal reactions and the teaching methodology I experienced. Next, I examine my experiences teaching kpatsa to the Bowling Green State University Afro-Caribbean Ensemble. Chapter Four places my experiences with kpatsa in the context of appropriation. I begin with an examination of the scholarly arguments for why appropriation is wrong. I then present my teachers' reasons for why Americans learning Ghanaian culture is acceptable. Next, I attempt to reconcile these two different ideas, concluding with suggestions to the performer on how to deal with these conflicting points of view. The final chapter provides a transcription of kpatsa as I learned it from Kofi Ameyaw and how I taught it to the Afro-Caribbean Ensemble, including the drumming, singing, dancing, and choreography.
Advisors/Committee Members: Cornelius, Dr. Steven.
Subjects: Dance; Music
Keywords: Kpatsa; Ghanaian Music; Dance
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9.
Gerolami, Mark T.
“I Love This Bar”: Working-Class Expression Through Karaoke Song Selection.
Degree: MM, Music Ethnomusicology, 2007, Bowling Green State University
► This thesis probes the meaning and processes of karaoke song selection at…
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▼ This thesis probes the meaning and processes of karaoke song selection at Whiskey Dick’s, a working-class bar in Bowling Green, Ohio. Through research, observations, and interviews conducted from 2005 to 2006, it examines how working-class identity manifests itself in karaoke song selection. An analysis of a single night at Whiskey Dick’s creates a framework for specific observations and gives the reader greater context, while the lengthy enthnography provides for more generalized observations. In interviews and discussions with the singers I attempt to uncover the meaning behind each song selected, discovering how conscious singers are of their choices. For some participants my research eventually impacted how they pick songs thus raising issues of intrusion by the ethnomusicologist. I examine several of the most popular songs at Whiskey Dick’s and analyze the lyrics of each, focusing on class representation within the lyrics. In addition, the difficulties of speaking about music and our musical preferences are explored and discussed in reference to the singers at Whiskey Dick’s.
Advisors/Committee Members: Harnish, David.
Keywords: Karaoke; karaoke singing; working-class; class culture; bar; working-class bar; Bowling Green bar; karaoke performance
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10.
Godula, Olga Dominika.
Echoes and Memories of Poland: Music and Dance in the Polish Community of Toledo, Ohio.
Degree: MM, Music Ethnomusicology, 2008, Bowling Green State University
► Immigrant groups in the United States have been extensively studied by social…
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▼ Immigrant groups in the United States have been extensively studied by social scientists, anthropologists, and ethnomusicologists. While first and second generations draw attention with their otherness, subsequent generations provoke researchers to explore their compound, often blurred, identities. Although immigrants tend to remain committed to their heritage the ways they do it are diverse. Not being provided with an immediate model they are forced to construct their identities from scratch, which often results in an unusual hybrid. In this thesis I explore multiple ways in which members of the Polish-American community of Toledo, Ohio, craft their immigrant identities. Specifically, I investigate where and how they look for models of Polishness. Throughout the study it becomes apparent that the community is significantly diverse and therefore projects itself on the Toledo map as a colorful mosaic. In the study of ethnic identity there exists a bi-polar continuum. A primordial view, which takes ethnic identity as biologically given, is countered by instrumentalism, where ethnic identity is not fixed but constantly mediated. Polish-Americans from Toledo tend to constantly mediate, create, and recreate their identities according to specific situations. I focus on three Toledo sites where Polish-oriented activities are especially alive: a church, a restaurant, and a radio show. There, an image of Poland is presented in three different ways. Further, a close analysis of the Echoes of Poland dance group reveals music and dance as powerful tools in performing identities. Understanding dance as a cultural text combines in itself ethnochoreographical and anthropological approaches. While dancing, Echoes members perform not only dances from their homeland but also enhance their Polishness, otherwise hidden. My research is based on extensive interviews with the members of Polish-American community in Toledo, as well as my observation and participation in several community activities.
Advisors/Committee Members: Harnish, David.
Subjects: Dance; Folklore; Minority and ethnic groups; Music
Keywords: ethnicity; identity; immigrants; minorities; diasporas; folklore; folk dance
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11.
Jackson, Stephanie Lou.
Beyond Kitsch: A. R. Rahman and The Global Routes of Indian Popular Music.
Degree: MM, Music Ethnomusicology, 2010, Bowling Green State University
► At the 2009 Academy Awards, A. R. Rahman became the first Indian…
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▼ At the 2009 Academy Awards, A. R. Rahman became the first Indian composer to win Best Score and Best Song (“Jai Ho”) for his music in the film, Slumdog Millionaire (2008). This event not only granted Rahman another prestigious accolade for his accomplishments as a popular film music composer (i.e., he has been awarded many times over in India for his music), but it gave Rahman new star-status recognition among a Western audience. Although enormously famous in India and well-known among the South Asian diaspora located throughout many parts of the world, Rahman remained, up until that time, virtually unknown among mainstream U.S. audiences. U.S. audiences today are perhaps more likely than a decade ago to recognize the sounds and images of Indian cinema known as Bollywood, a cultural artifact that increasingly traverses international popular cultures. Consequently, the appeal of Rahman’s Bollywood music among a wider global audience (as presented in Slumdog Millionaire) coincides with the global circulation and consumption of Bollywood films and music in recent years. More so, however, I suggest that the appeal for Rahman’s music pertains little with Western fascination of the exotic Other, but mainly involves a cultural affinity for a type of style and sound set forth in Rahman’s music. I argue that Rahman’s music exhibits high production quality and a synthesis of Indian film music and global pop sounds created through his use of digital technology. In this thesis, I explore the cultural implications of Rahman’s use of digital technology within the context of the Bollywood film music industry and the historical presence and adoption of new music technologies. I also examine Rahman’s musical career and background which reveals the effect and ramification of multidirectional processes of globalization in the consumption and production of global pop. While some might argue that mass-mediated efforts due to globalization risk homogenizing music, I believe we must confront the creative potential of local artists who choose to ride the wave of transnational trends in music making. I analyze Rahman’s compositions in Slumdog Millionaire and explore globalist discourses surrounding the production and consumption of his music. The commercial success and public praise for Rahman’s music in the U.S. present a convergence of topics related to musical authenticity, ownership, cultural representation, as well as the transformative properties and qualities of sound (on its listeners) as mediated through popular music recordings.
Advisors/Committee Members: Harnish, David.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: A. R. Rahman; Rahman; Indipop; Remix; Bollywood; Kollywood; Globalization and Indian Popular Music; Transnationalism and Indian Music
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12.
Kavka, Daniel Robert.
Young Americans to Emotional Rescue: Selected Meetings Between Disco and Rock, 1975-1980.
Degree: MM, Music Ethnomusicology, 2010, Bowling Green State University
► Disco-rock, composed of disco-influenced recordings by rock artists, was a sub-genre of…
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▼ Disco-rock, composed of disco-influenced recordings by rock artists, was a sub-genre of both disco and rock in the 1970s. Seminal recordings included: David Bowie's Young Americans; The Rolling Stones' “Hot Stuff,” “Miss You,” “Dance Pt.1,” and “Emotional Rescue”; KISS's “Strutter '78,” and “I Was Made For Lovin' You”; Rod Stewart's “Do Ya Think I'm Sexy“; and Elton John's Thom Bell Sessions and Victim of Love. Though disco-rock was a great commercial success during the disco era, it has received limited acknowledgement in post-disco scholarship. This thesis addresses the lack of existing scholarship pertaining to disco-rock. It examines both disco and disco-rock as products of cultural shifts during the 1970s. Disco was linked to the emergence of underground dance clubs in New York City, while disco-rock resulted from the increased mainstream visibility of disco culture during the mid seventies, as well as rock musicians' exposure to disco music. My thesis argues for the study of a genre (disco-rock) that has been dismissed as inauthentic and commercial, a trend common to popular music discourse, and one that is linked to previous debates regarding the social value of pop music. The result is a study that compiles the work of previous disco scholars and provides a first step towards the study of disco-rock within the social and musical culture of the 1970s.
Advisors/Committee Members: Wallach, Jeremy.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: pop; pop music; popular music; rock; disco; club culture; dance music; 1970s; american; ethnomusicology
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13.
Keeler, Matthew.
BESSIE SMITH: AN AMERICAN ICON FROM THREE PERSPECTIVES.
Degree: MM, Music Ethnomusicology, 2005, Bowling Green State University
► Bessie Smith: an American Icon from Three Perspectives examines biographies, literary…
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▼ Bessie Smith: an American Icon from Three Perspectives examines biographies, literary studies, and black feminist writings about the quintessential blueswoman of the 1920s American recording industry. Problems have arisen from each group of scholars interpreting Smith’s contributions and importance to American culture differently, often at the expense of someone else’s viewpoint. Historically, biographers tried to dispel myths in order to determine the true events of Smith’s life, but dismissed the necessity of myth in shaping her legacy. Literary scholars analyzed Smith’s lyrics for deeper social meanings and contributions to literature, but overlooked her role as a performer. Black feminists acknowledged Smith as a model for strong African-American womanhood among the urban working-class, but neglected her innovations as a musician. All of these perspectives contribute to our overall understanding of Smith, but possess fundamental flaws. I have examined nearly fifty years of Bessie Smith scholarship, considering the socio-cultural backgrounds, time periods, genders, and research limitations of scholars representing these various groups. Ultimately, their biases compromise our understanding of Smith. To address this problem, future researchers need to look beyond individual histories to understand the reasoning and research processes that created them.
Advisors/Committee Members: Cornelius, Steven.
Keywords: musicology; music history; ethnomusicology; historiography; Bessie Smith; blueswomen; blues music; blues; early jazz; jazz; American music; American studies; literary studies; black feminist studies; biographical studies
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14.
Lawrence, Sidra Meredith.
Killing My Own Snake: Fieldwork, Gyil, and Processes of Learning.
Degree: MM, Music Ethnomusicology, 2006, Bowling Green State University
► This thesis is an account of my experiences studying the gyil, a…
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▼ This thesis is an account of my experiences studying the gyil, a xylophone played by the Dagara, an ethnic group located in Northwest Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Côte D’Ivoire. I spent six weeks living and learning with a group of Dagara musicians in Medie, a village north of Accra, Ghana’s capital city. While there, I studied with Bernard Woma and Jerome Balsab. I explore the process of learning gyil in Medie beginning with my teachers’ instructional methods and ending with the ways in which I came to situate the music within my own Western framework. I examine the field work situations I experienced in Ghana, reflecting upon the challenges posed to me as an ethnomusicologist, a musician, a woman, and an individual. I relate the struggles of learning to play gyil music in a context that operated outside of the framework in which I normally perceived and learned music. I present a self-developed transcription model, which I implement in the transcription of one gyil piece. I then analyze this piece, focusing on topics of meter and time conception. I propose an alternative means of framing musical understanding through the incorporation of dance rhythms, a relatively unexplored topic. Finally, I investigate how gyil music is transmitted, from the traditional Dagara approach to Woma’s eclectic method, and to my own methods. I reflect on how teaching methods become more methodical as the music and dance move farther from their original context. I then develop a method—including transcriptions and coordination exercises—by which this information can be disseminated to Western-trained musicians.
Advisors/Committee Members: Cornelius, Steven.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: Gyil; Dagara (African people) – music; Ghana – music; Africa – music; xylophone – Africa; Fieldwork experiences
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15.
Rosner, Elizabeth.
"It's the Real Thing": The Marketing of an African Identity in a West African Dance Class.
Degree: MM, Music Ethnomusicology, 2012, Bowling Green State University
► In this paper I will analyze the construction of a homogeneous African…
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▼ In this paper I will analyze the construction of a homogeneous African identity in the context of a West African dance class in Toledo, Ohio. The dance classes are taught by members of the ALMA Dance Experience, a folkloric ensemble that promotes itself as the only professional West African dance troupe in northwest Ohio. Through ethnographic research, I investigate how the instructors of the dance classes represent African culture. Drawing upon postcolonial theory, I focus on the ways in which the instructors imagine, maintain, commodify, and market essentialized perceptions of African identity. As a Seneglese musician, one of the instructors is seen by the students as a culture bearer. Perceptions of “authentic” Africa thus become mapped on him. It is crucial to understand how ideas of Africa as an exotic “other” persists in representations by privileged parties, and also how these perceptions are negotiated by participants. I argue that the creation and performance of an authentic African identity serves to reinforce notions of difference and otherness. I examine this through an analysis of how authenticity is constructed through folkloric repertoire, liveness, the physicality of dance, and an African instructor. Issues surrounding race and racial ownership over African music and dance are a necessary part of the discourse surrounding African authenticity. The questions of African authenticity and representational politics are relevant within community dance classes, university African ensembles in the United States, study abroad programs to Africa, and other forms of African musical representation and dissemination; my work therefore has implications beyond this immediate case study and serves as a broader commentary on the performance and representation of African music.
Advisors/Committee Members: Lawrence, Sidra.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: Ethnomusicology; Music; West Africa; Senegal; Folkloric Dance; Exercise; Identity; Race; Africanity; Authenticity; World Music Ensembles
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16.
Spatz, Garrett M.
Born (Again) This Way: Popular Music, GLBTQ Identity, and Religion.
Degree: MM, Music Ethnomusicology, 2012, Bowling Green State University
► This thesis is an exploration of the relationship between religion and Gay,…
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▼ This thesis is an exploration of the relationship between religion and Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (GLBTQ) identity in the United States as revealed and complicated through popular music. It is based upon three case studies consisting of the 2011 Chicago Gay Pride Parade, the musical voice of the GLBTQ community as portrayed through gay anthems and historical gay icons, and pop star Lady Gaga’s music and concert “The Monster Ball.” These three case studies build upon one another in order to further contextualize each other: the Chicago Gay Pride Parade uses music in order to redefine spaces in Chicago, the musical voice builds upon the concept of “gay” anthems by female singers, and Lady Gaga is one of the most popular contemporary gay icons. I completed much of the research for this project through ethnographic methods of participant observation and several interviews with community insiders. I examine the 2011 Chicago Gay Pride Parade as a ritualesque event that allows for personal and societal transformations needed in order to promote acceptance of GLBTQ individuals within the United States and as a celebration of a range of identities. By reflecting on my own and others’ experiences as parade attendees and participants, I analyze music’s role in the creation of a safe space that is necessary for these transformations. This study also reveals how the GLBTQ rights movement’s aims and goals draw extensively on narratives of the American Dream, with its focus on narratives of transformation, since the movement’s aims are on transforming the GLBTQ community’s role in the United States. Next, to show certain strategic, political aims of the GLBTQ community, I explore the musical voices with which it has identified. More often than not, GLBTQ individuals do not turn to their own voices in choosing their musical anthems but rather the voices of non-GLBTQ individuals, in a manner that I understand as strategic identification. I detail how examining the chosen voices can provide insights into the GLBTQ community. I reveal the way that black musical practices influence popular music now and historically, influencing the current gay anthems. I suggest that gay men identify with voices influenced by these black musical practices in to strategically connect the GLBTQ rights movement with the African American civil rights movement. Finally, I explore Lady Gaga’s use of Christian-inspired language in her support of her GLBTQ fans and detail the political implications of this language. Her language reveals the importance of religious rhetoric in the United States and connects her to a larger history where religion becomes a key component of American identity and reinserts GLBTQ individuals into this discursive framework.
Advisors/Committee Members: Meizel, Katherine.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: Popular Music; Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Identity; Religion; Politics; Civil Religion; American Exceptionalism; American Dream; Divas; Lady Gaga; "Firework" by Katy Perry; Gay Men
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17.
Stiegler, Morgen Leigh.
African Experience on American Shores: Influence of Native American Contact on the Development of Jazz.
Degree: MM, Music Ethnomusicology, 2009, Bowling Green State University
► Over the past century, musicians and researchers alike have argued how specifically…
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▼ Over the past century, musicians and researchers alike have argued how specifically “African” or “European” jazz is. Some camps stand by a clearly African origin of Jazz with its common elements of syncopation, polyphony, and presence of “blue” notes and raspy timbre elements that cannot be traced to Western music, while others who attribute jazz a more Western parentage often cite non-African elements such as a written music tradition and the use of Western harmonic structure. An inconsistency in these arguments, however, emerges in some styles of jazz; for example, early jazz, blues, and ragtime were not always “swung.” This inconsistency, among others, might be attributable to European music, to some styles of African music, or even to Native American music, a possibility that has been largely overlooked by jazz scholars. Jazz is often characterized by the “African” elements of oral transmission, repetition, and the centrality of rhythm; these elements, however, are also characteristic of most Native American musics. Despite the debates above, the exact origins of jazz remain obscure. One point that scholars most often agree on is that, regardless of where jazz's musical roots lie, the very beginnings of this American music were synthesized by the “African experience on American shores” (Gerard 136), which involved cultural contact with both Europeans and Native Americans during and after slavery and into the period when jazz started to develop in cities such as New Orleans and Chicago. The living experience of Africans in America, in at least some parts of the country, was often collective with Native Americans. These two groups frequently shared blood, culture, and sometimes even the experience of slavery together. The shared African American and Native American history can be seen not only in remaining musical and cultural remnants in New Orleans (often considered the birthplace of jazz) but also in the heritage of many of the jazz “greats,” such as George Lewis, Don Cherry, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Baby and Warren Dodds, Oscar Pettiford, and Don Pullen, who all claimed both Native American and African American heritage. In such a project, methodology and interpretation are difficult tasks. Because race, identity and cultural negotiation were key elements in this contact and the subsequent formation of jazz, I utilize Winton and Corr's model of “Hybridity, Mixture, and Racial Separation” as a starting point for this project. With few exceptions, little research has been done on the Native American influence in the development of jazz. Ron Welburn is one of the few who has done significant work on the Afro-Native American identity in the development of jazz (Welburn, ed. Brooks 2002). In addition, several jazz artists have generated crossover albums, including Jim Pepper, Don Pullen, and Catherine Dupuis. This thesis does not seek to “prove” anything new about jazz. Rather, I examine some burning and perhaps unanswerable questions regarding jazz history. Is it possible that even jazz, a traditionally African American music, has a little bit of Seminole, Creek, or Cherokee embedded within it? Is it at all likely that the Native American stomp dance may partially originate from Africa or at least influenced by Africans? This ethnography explores both the historical and musical “common ground” that I believe could have influenced America's native music: Jazz.
Advisors/Committee Members: Harnish, David.
Subjects: African Americans; American history; American studies; Black history; Fine Arts; Folklore; History; Music; Native Americans; Native studies; Social studies education
Keywords: Native Americans in Jazz; American Indians in Jazz; Native American influence on the development of jazz; Native Americans jazz; Development of jazz; New Orleans; Cultural sharing; African and Native American cohabitation; slavery in North America
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18.
Strohschein, Heather Anne.
Between Modern Dance and Intercultural Performance: The Multiple Truths of the Bird Belly Princess.
Degree: MM, Music Ethnomusicology, 2007, Bowling Green State University
► This thesis examines the stance of cultural appropriation in relation to modern…
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▼ This thesis examines the stance of cultural appropriation in relation to modern dance, music, and intercultural performance. The focus of the examination is At Last, The Tale of the Bird Belly Princess, Tien-Savi-Tsuru-Chak, a production directed and choreographed by Professor Tammyan Starr, a dance instructor at Bowling Green State University, that incorporated elements of Korean and Balinese music and dance. I begin by situating this production within the history of modern dance and the ideology of intercultural performance. I then consider the continuum created by the Romantic individualist and essentialist poles. Ideas of authenticity, identity, and appropriation are examined in light of these two ideologies. Close analysis of the non-Western costuming, props, music and dance used in Bird Belly Princess provides the opportunity for the application of the aforementioned ideas to a specific work. Multiple perspectives on the purpose and perception of Bird Belly Princess are also taken into account.
Advisors/Committee Members: Harnish, David.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: Modern dance; Intercultural performance; Cultural appropriation; Authenticity; Identity; Multiple perspectives; Korea; Bali
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19.
Strothers, Sarah Renata.
Shakuhachi in the United States: Transcending Boundaries and Dichotomies.
Degree: MM, Music Ethnomusicology, 2010, Bowling Green State University
► The shakuhachi is a bamboo flute that came to Japan from China…
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▼ The shakuhachi is a bamboo flute that came to Japan from China during the Nara Period (646-794 CE) and has since been affiliated with traditional Japanese culture. Thanks to the processes of globalization, the shakuhachi and other indigenous Japanese traditions have flourished in other parts of the world, especially in the United States. In the U.S., a shakuhachi subculture has developed in recent decades, consisting of shakuhachi camps, online and in-person forums, lessons with licensed teachers, and performances/concerts. This shakuhachi subculture is flourishing and growing intensely; however, there is very little ethnomusicological research on this growing phenomenon that is making its mark in the United States. Within the past two years, I have been investigating this subculture by joining the community as a student shakuhachi player, as a member of the shakuhachi web forums, and by attending shakuhachi camps and performances. This ethnomusicological project explores the dynamics of the shakuhachi subculture by tracing the shakuhachi's history to and practices within the United States. It also provides an explanation of the instrument's transnationality by highlighting the different dichotomies and boundaries that are transcended, “landscaped,” and “glocalized.”
Advisors/Committee Members: Harnish, David.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: shakuhachi; Japanese culture; Japanese music
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20.
Tung, Yu-Ting.
Nodame Cantabile: A Japanese Television Drama and its Promotion of Western Art Music in Asia.
Degree: MM, Music Ethnomusicology, 2009, Bowling Green State University
► The fictional Japanese TV drama series, Nodame Cantabile, based on the lives…
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▼ The fictional Japanese TV drama series, Nodame Cantabile, based on the lives of Western art music performance majors in a Japanese music conservatory, has successfully reached out and appealed to the Japanese common audience since it was first aired in Japan in October, 2006. It has also attracted an international following, been aired in various Asian countries (including Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Malaysia), and found mass audiences beyond national boundaries. Why is a TV drama depicting such a specific group (i.e. music majors) able to cater to a mass audience in Japan and even to millions of viewers beyond Japan? In this thesis, I will argue that Nodame Cantabile not only has the typical prerequisites to be a successful Japanese TV drama, it also enchants its spectators by employing a unique, almost unprecedented approach—using Western art music as the thematic music and main soundtrack—which results in a whimsical, sensational, cross-cultural success. By contrast, most music in similar drama series uses Japanese pop music and electronic music. I will decode how this drama attracts mass audiences by interpreting/elucidating it from different perspectives, including: 1) how it portrays/reflects the Japanese music conservatory culture; 2) how it reflects the long-term popularity of certain Western art music compositions in/among Japanese music consumers; and, most interestingly; 3) how this drama further changes the perception of mass audiences, especially fans in Taiwan, about Western art music, and serves to increase the popularity of this music in Asian countries.
Advisors/Committee Members: Harnish, David.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: Japanese TV drama; Nodame Cantabile; Taiwan; Western art music
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21.
Watson, Krysten A.
Song Duels: Conflict As A Positive Force.
Degree: MM, Music Ethnomusicology, 2011, Bowling Green State University
► While the Maltese song duel, spirtu pront (“quick wit”), has been researched,…
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▼ While the Maltese song duel, spirtu pront (“quick wit”), has been researched, it has not been explored extensively, partially because the island of Malta is often overlooked in scholarship in favor of the countries and nations surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. Song duels are a form of musical improvisation that can be found in various cultures around the world. Spirtu pront is a unique type of dueling that serves a greater purpose than to provide a winner or a loser. Rather, it is an important form of socialization for Maltese men. In this thesis I explore how spirtu pront uses conflict as a positive resource in Maltese society. Specifically, I examine the complex rules of the duel alongside the unspoken social expectations of men in Malta. After being introduced to the concept of spirtu pront by a family member, I studied the research of my predecessors and utilized modern media including online journals, recorded radio, sound files, and videos. During this process I discovered what I consider to be the most prominent and initially confusing trait of the duel that extends to many other aspects within the country: duality. For every European influence in Malta, there appears to be an Arab counterpart (and vice versa); these two streams of influence somehow mesh, rather than clash, with one another. In addition to exploring duality, I examined the duel as a ritual process navigating the negotiations of gender and sexuality. I found that duality in the language and music serves as a positive example of subtly conflicting ideas working together. Also, the use of insults bandied back and forth has a positive function, serving as a form of socialization, expression of manliness, and maintenance of tradition. Spirtu pront, I discovered, provides the framework for socialization among Maltese men and is laden with many rules that keep arguments from becoming “real” and escalating. Socialization also ensures that the end of the duel brings about a positive resolution, which is proven when the duelers shake hands and remind everyone present that no harm was meant.
Advisors/Committee Members: Harnish, David.
Subjects: Music
Keywords: spirtu pront; Malta; song duel
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