Shadows in the Field: New Perspectives for Fieldwork in Ethnomusicology - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195109104 ISBN 13: 9780195109108

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1996

Synopsis

Ethnomusicological fieldwork has significantly changed since the end of the the 20th century. Ethnomusicology is in a critical moment that requires new perspecitves on fieldwork - perspectives that are not addressed in the standard guides to ethnomusicological or anthropological method. The focus in ethnomusicological writing and teaching has traditionally centered around analyses and ethnographic representations of musical cultures, rather than on the personal world of understanding, experience, knowing, and doing fieldwork. Shadows in the Field deliberately shifts the focus of ethnomusicology and of ethnography in general from representation (text) to experience (fieldwork). The "new fieldwork" moves beyond mere data collection and has become a defining characteristic of ethnomusicology that engages the scholar in meaningful human contexts.

In this new edition of Shadows in the Field, renowned ethnomusicologists explore the roles they themselves act out while performing fieldwork and pose significant questions for the field: What are the new directions in ethnomusicological fieldwork? Where does fieldwork of "the past" fit into these theories? And above all, what do we see when we acknowledge the shadows we cast in the field?

The second edition of Shadows in the Field includes updates of all existing chapters, a new preface by Bruno Nettl, and seven new chapters addressing critical issues and concerns that have become increasingly relevant since the first edition.

About this title

About the Author

Gregory F. Barz and Timothy J. Cooley are both at Brown University.

Review

"Shadows in the Field should be required reading in all such courses because the essays represent a sustained effort by ethnomusicologists to grapple with experimental and representational issues that are central to contemporary research and writing practices in the discipline....a welcome--and essential--addition to the ethnomusicology syllabus and bookshelf."--Ethnomusicology

"The essays in Shadows in the Field address one of the key facets of ethnomusicological research, providing a stimulating set of reflections on fieldwork as experienced in a number of different settings."--The World of Music

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0195109104
• ISBN 13: 9780195109108
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 256
• Editor: Barz Gregory F., Cooley Timothy J.