THE MUSIC OF CENTRAL ASIA (2012)
Spring Quarter, Graduate Seminar
Department of Music
California State University, East Bay
Instructor: Peter K. Marsh
MUS6155 Music & Culture of Asia is a topics course within the graduate program in music at Cal State East Bay. The specific focus of this graduate seminar changes each time it is offered. The focus in Spring Quarter 2012 is on the music of Central Asia, using Ted Levin's Hundred Thousand Fools of God (1999) and the recently released Smithsonian-Folkways "Music of Central Asia" CD/DVD set (2011) as a basis of our exploration.
In our seminar meetings we will explore the complexity of the contemporary music-cultures of Central Asia and Mongolia. Moving away from the Orientalist approaches that have defined the study of Asian music and culture in the past, this course will examine the so-called traditional music of each nation within contemporary cultural contexts, paying particular attention to the influence of globalization, economics, politics, gender relations and so on, particularly since the early twentieth century. The examination of case studies will allow us to investigate issues about the nature of musical tradition, the processes of musical syncretism, and the questions of authenticity, as well as the presence (or not) of Western cultural imperialism, the legacy of Soviet imperialism, and the influence of contemporary nationalist movements on musical practice. You will be asked to work with partners to research and present to your classmates a case study of a Central Asian music-culture of your choice. You will then prepare a webpage featuring your research. You will also be expected to actively participate in in class discussions. While no formal training in world music is required, students should have a fascination of how music works within human societies. Classes will vary between lectures and discussions of the reading and listening assignments.
Objectives:
Required Readings:
Theodore Levin, The Hundred Thousand Fools of God: Musical Travels in Central Asia (And Queens, New
York). Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999.
Other materials for this course will be available on the course Blackboard and Library Reserve
In our seminar meetings we will explore the complexity of the contemporary music-cultures of Central Asia and Mongolia. Moving away from the Orientalist approaches that have defined the study of Asian music and culture in the past, this course will examine the so-called traditional music of each nation within contemporary cultural contexts, paying particular attention to the influence of globalization, economics, politics, gender relations and so on, particularly since the early twentieth century. The examination of case studies will allow us to investigate issues about the nature of musical tradition, the processes of musical syncretism, and the questions of authenticity, as well as the presence (or not) of Western cultural imperialism, the legacy of Soviet imperialism, and the influence of contemporary nationalist movements on musical practice. You will be asked to work with partners to research and present to your classmates a case study of a Central Asian music-culture of your choice. You will then prepare a webpage featuring your research. You will also be expected to actively participate in in class discussions. While no formal training in world music is required, students should have a fascination of how music works within human societies. Classes will vary between lectures and discussions of the reading and listening assignments.
Objectives:
- To learn to understand and appreciate music from an ethnomusicological perspective, that is, as a musical-cultural phenomenon;
- To explore a selected group of Central Asian music-cultures and learn to see them and speak about them with an understanding of their unique cultural perspectives;
- To understand how music-cultures are constantly developing and changing in relation to the historical and cultural contexts in which they exist.
Required Readings:
Theodore Levin, The Hundred Thousand Fools of God: Musical Travels in Central Asia (And Queens, New
York). Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999.
Other materials for this course will be available on the course Blackboard and Library Reserve