Music
320 Fall 2001
The Music of Africa and the Diaspora
Dr. Andrew Schloss
Office: A177 Local: 721-7931 or studio: 721-7929
Office hours: Tues 4:30-5:30 pm, Weds 4:30-5:30 pm or by appointment (call to
confirm)
Classes: MacLaurin A166 Tues,
Weds, Fri 11:30 pm —12:20 pm
Required text (in bookstore):
The Music of Africa, J.
Kwabena Nketia 1974
On reserve or available in the library (See complete list posted
in Music and Audio)
J. Kwabena Nketia 1974 The Music of Africa
John Storm Roberts 1998 Black Music of Two Worlds
Peter Manuel Popular Music of the World
John Miller Chernoff African Rhythm and African Sensibility
Jaap Kunst Ethnomusicology
Helen Myers, et alia Ethnomusicology, An Introduction
Joseph Conrad 1902 Heart of Darkness
Andrew Apter 1992 Black Critics and Kings: The Hermeneutics of
Power in Yoruba Society
Liisa Malkki 1995 Purity and Exile: Violence, Memory, and National
Consciousness Among Hutu Refugees in Tanzania
Sipho Sepamla 1981 A Ride on the Whirlwind
David Hecht et al 1994 Invisible Governance: The Art of African
Micropolitics
Jared Diamond 1998 Guns, Germs and Steel
(Encarta Africana -- Microsoft CD-ROM available late 1999)
plus numerous CDs and LP's on reserve (see reserve list)
MU320C Videos Shown in Class and other Library
Reserve Materials
Grading:
paper 20%
video journal and short paper about videos 20%
in-class presentation 25%
Final exam (listening) 35%
Africa is the birthplace of humankind, and therefore also the birthplace
of music. Africa today
is an incredibly diverse and complex continent; over seven hundred
distinct languages and a multitude of musical cultures abound. During
the 20th century, the influence of African music and culture has
become a worldwide phenomenon—popular culture as we know it today
would not exist without the existence and profound power of the
African aesthetic. Interwoven with this story of global influence
are multiple histories of imperialism, colonialism, slavery, dictatorships,
markets, nationalism, and neo-colonialism.
This course serves for many students as an introduction to the perspective
of Ethnomusicology as well as to African music and
culture. We will examine and attempt to understand in context, the
numerous and complex differences between the "Eurological"
versus "Afrological" views of the universe. We will study
Africa's folklore, traditional, popular and religious music, all
of which are interrelated. Because Africa's history and culture
are so unfamiliar , documentary film and video will be used to help
us understand African culture beyond the intellect.
Class summary (subject to modification):
Week 1 Introduction, overview,
backgrounds of students
Sept 5 video: Listening to the Silence (33
mins)
Week 2 Ethnomusicological
approach to African music
Sept 11 Reading:
Nketia, Section 1
video: Africa/National
Geographic Society (27 Min.)
video: Africa Before
the Europeans (26 min)
guest: Dr. Lisa Gould,
Music and Culture in Madagascar
video: Angano....Angano: Tales From Madagascar (64 Min)
Week 3 Aesthetic
differences between Africa and Europe
Sept 18 video: Angano (cont’d)
video: Black Athena (52 min)
video: You, Africa!
: Youssou N'dour And Super Etoile :The African Tour
Week 4
"Drum Talk" Language surrogates and the influence on drumming
and rhythm.
Sept 25 Tonal languages in Africa, playing "nonsense."
video: KONKOMBE: The Nigerian Pop Music Scene
Week 5
Organology of African instruments
Oct 2 Reading: Nketia, Section 2
video: KEITA : THE HERITAGE OF THE GRIOT
Week 6 The structure
of African rhythm: bell patterns, mesoperiodicity
Oct 9 Reading: Nketia,
Section 3
video: OLIVER JONES IN AFRICA (53 min)
Week 7 The Black
Diaspora, Slavery, Colonialism and Hegemony
Oct 16 Heart of Darkness (Conrad/Apocolypse Now)
video: THE TRIBAL MIND (52 min)
Week 8 Islamic/Christian
influences in African music
Oct 23
Week 9 African Popular
music vs. traditional music
Week 10 Reading: Nketia, Section 4 (Reading Break)
Nov 6 The New World/Africa: Reflections in both
directions
eg Africando: revisit Cuba via Africa, and other examples (anthology)
Week 11 In-class
presentations
Nov 13 READING BREAK
Nov 16 Paper
Due
Week 12 In-class presentations
Nov 20
Week 13 Review for exam
Nov 27
Week 14
Last Class December 5
VIDEO JOURNAL DUE December 5
PAPER
Based on the extensive list of books and journal articles given
in the syllabus, write a paper dealing with any traditional musical
culture in Africa. You can also write about the dance and/or visual
arts of that culture. You must cite at least two of the references
given in the syllabus, but you can use any other references available,
including web resources or CD notes in addition to the more traditional
types of references given in the syllabus. (5-10 PAGES) DUE NOVEMBER
16
VIDEO JOURNAL:
Keep a journal of each video you see; with two goals in mind:
• For your own use, write
your impressions, as a study guide for the exam
• To write three interesting
questions/issues that come to mind while watching each video in
class. To be handed in on Weds, December 5.
Other Videos (partial list):
Visiting Lecturers (on video)
Robert Farris Thompson Yale University Cuba, Nigeria (Yoruba)
Henry Frank Caribbean Cultural Center Haitian dance
Errol Hill Dartmouth College Trinidad Carnival
Margaret Drewal Northwestern University Yoruba culture
Orlando Puntilla Nueva Generación Cuba, New York
Mackie Burnette Brown University Trinidad
Mor Thiam Senegal/New York Senegal
Milford Graves jazz musician, drummer African influence in Jazz
Veve Clark Brown University Haiti
African ethnicities (sampling):
Ghana: Ewe, Ashanti, Akan, Ga, Dagomba
Nigeria: Yoruba, Tiv, Ibo, Efik, Hausa
Senegal: Wolof, Malinke, Tucalor
Mali: Bambara
Zaire: Pygmy
Zimbabwe: Shona
Tanzania: Masai
Mozambique: Chopi
South Africa: Xhosa, Zulu
African Roots in Latin America:
Cuba: Rumba, Santería, Abakuá, Arará, Tumba
Francesa, Bembé, Palo
Haiti: Vodun
Jamaica: Reggae, ska
Brazil: Candomble, batucada, samba, bossa nova, capoeira
Colombia: Cumbia
Dominican Republic: Merengue
Other books available in Library:
Abraham The Mind of Africa
Roger Bastide African Civilizations in the New World
Lydia Cabrera El Monte, Sociedad Secreta Abakuá,
Anaforuana
J. F. Carrington Talking Drums of Africa London, 1949
Maya Deren Divine Horsemen
Cheikh Diop Precolonial Black Africa
Margaret, H. Drewal Gelede: Art and Female Power Among the Yoruba
Lynn Emery Black Dance From 1619 to Today
Sheldon Gellar Senegal—An African Nation Between Islam and
the West
Geoffrey Gorer Africa Dances
Ronnie Graham The Da Capo Guide to Contemporary African Music
Judith Lynne Hanna To Dance is Human
Paul Carter Harrison The Drama of Nommo
Paul Carter Harrison Totem Voices
Errol Hill The Trinidad Carnival
Errol Hill (editor) The Theatre of Black Americans
Michel Huet The Dance Art and Ritual of Africa
Janheinz Jahn Muntu Grove 1961
A.M. Jones Studies in African Music
Alfred Métraux Voodoo in Haiti Schocken
Jean Price-Mars Lemba, 1650-1930: A Drum of Affliction
Garland
John Mbiti African Religions and Philosopy
Joseph Murphy Santería: An African Religion in America
Rex Nettleford Dance Jamaica
Fernando Ortiz Los Instrumentos de la música afrocubana
Fernando Ortiz Africanía de la música folklórica de CubaLa
Habana
Gilbert Rouget Music and Trance Chicago 1985
Curt Sachs World History of the Dance
Curt Sachs Rhythm and Tempo
Thomas Sebeok Speech Surrogates: Drum and Whistle Languages
(2 vols)
Wole Soyinka Death and the King's Horseman
Michael Taussig Shamanism, Colonialism, and the Wild Man
Robert Farris Thompson African Art in Motion
Robert Farris Thompson Flash of the Spirit
Jeff Titon (editor) Worlds of Music
Victor Turner The Ritual Process
Derek Walcott Dream on Monkey Mountain and Other Plays
Articles For Paper
(NOTE: Some of these may be difficult
to find!)
Agawu, V. Kofi " 'Gi Dunu,' 'Nyekpadudo,' and the Study of
West African Rhythm," Ethnomusicology, Winter 1986
Amoaku, W. Komla "Toward a Definition of Traditional African
Music: A Look at the Ewe of Ghana," (source?)
Bailey, Ben E. "The Lined-Hymn Tradition in Black Mississippi
Churches," The Black Perspective in Music, (date?)
Baklanoff, Joy Driskell "The Celebration of A Feast: Music,
Dance, and Possession Trance in the Black Primitive Baptist Footwashing
Ritual ," Ethnomusicology, Fall 1987
Behague, Gerard "Bossa & Bossas: Recent Changes in Brazilian
Urban Popular Music," Society for Ethnomusicology and The American
Musicological Society, November 1971
Berrett, Joshua "The Golden Anniversary of the Emancipation
Proclamation," The Black Perspective in Music, Summer 1987
Blacking, John "Political and Musical Freedom in the Music
of Some Black South African Churches," from Ladislov Holy and
Milan Stuchlik's The Structure of Folk Models, ASA Monograph
20, London Academic Press, 1980
Blacking, John "Some Problems of Theory and Method in the Study
of Musical Change," Yearbook of the International Folk Music
Council , 1977
Blacking, John "The Structure of Musical Discourse: the Problem
of the Song Text, Yearbook for Traditional Music, Vol.14, 1982
Blacking, John "The Value of Music in Human Experience,"
Yearbook of the International Folk Music Council, 1969
Booker, Queen "Congregational Music in a Pentecostal Church,"
The Black Perspective in Music (date?)
Burnim, Mellonee "Culture Bearer and Tradition Bearer: An Ethnomusicologist's
Research on Gospel Music," Ethnomusicology, Fall 1985
Coplan, David "Go to My Town, Cape Coast! The Social History
of Ghanaian Highlife," Eight Urban Musical Cultures (source,
date?)
Crook, Larry "A Musical Analysis of the Cuban Rumba,"
Latin American Music Review, Vol. 3, No.1, Spring/Summer 1982
Cowdery, James R. "A Fresh Look of the Concept of Tune Family,"
Ethnomusicology, September 1984
Drewel, Margaret Thompson "Art and Trance Among Yoruba Shangó
Devotees" African Arts
vol 20 no 1 1986
Drewel, Margaret Thompson and Henry John Drewel "Composing
Time and Space in Yoruba Art" Word and Image
vol 3 no 3 1987
Erlman, Veit "Trance and Music in the Hausa Boorii Spirit Possession
Cult in Niger," Ethnomusicology, January 1982
Feld, Steven "Linguistic Models in Ethnomusicology," Journal
of Ethnomusicology, XVIII:2 (date?)
Feld, Steven "Sound Structure as Social Structure," Ethnomusicology,
September 1984
Fiagbedzi, Nissio "On Signing and Symbolism in Music: The Evidence
from among an African People," (source, date?)
Gridley, Mark and Wallace Rave. 1984. "Towards Identification
of African Traits in Early Jazz" The Black Perspective in Music
v12 p 44-56.
Guilbault, Jocelyne "Fitness and Flexibility: Funeral Wakes
in St. Lucia, West Indies," Ethnomusicology, Spring/Summer
1987
Hatton, Orin T. "In the Tradition: Grass Dance Musical Style
and Female Pow-Wow Singers," Ethnomusicology, Spring/Summer
1986
Herndon, Marcia " Toward Evaluating Musical Change through
Musical Potential," Ethnomusicology, Fall 1987
Hornbostel, E.M. Von "The Ethnology of African Sound-Instruments,"
Africa: Journal of the International Institute of African Languages
and Cultures, April 1933
Kauffman, Robert "African Rythm: a Reassessment," Ethnomusicology,
September 1980
Kerr, David. 1987. "Unmasking the Spirits" TDR vo 31 no
2
Kirby, E.T. 1974. "Indigenous African Theatre" TDR vol
18 no 4
Koetting, James "What Do We Know About African Rythm?,"
Ethnomusicology, Winter 1986
List, George " Acculturation and Musical Tradition," International
Folk Music Journal, 16, 1964
Midgett, Douglas "Performance Roles and Musical Change in a
Caribbean Society," Ethnomusicology, January 1977
Needham, Rodney. 1967. "Percussion and Transition." Man
n.s., 2:606-14 (date?)
Neher, Andrew. 1962. "A Physiological Explanation of Unusual
Behavior in Ceremonie Involving Drums" Human Biology 4:151-60
Nettl, Bruno "Speculations on Musical Style and Musical Content
in Acculturation," (source, date?)
Porter, James "Prolegomena to a Comparative Study of European
Folk Music," Ethnomusicology, September 1977
Rice, Timothy "Toward the Remodeling of Ethnomusicology,"
Ethnomusicology, Fall 1987
Roberts, John Storm "Salsa! The Latin Dimension in Popular
Music" BMI Magazine (date?)
Rosenberg, Bruce A. "The Genre of the Folk Sermon," Negro
Folk Music, 1963
Singer, Roberta and Robert Friedman "Puerto Rican and Cuban
Musical Expression in New York," New World Records, recorded
anthology of American Music
Stanford, E. Thomas "The Mexican Son," Yearbook of the
International Folk Music Council, 1972
Smith, Barbara Barnard "Variability, Change, and the Learning
of Music," Ethnomusicology, Spring/Summer 1987
Snead, James "On Repetition in African Culture" Black
American Literary Forum 15, no 4 (Winter 1981).
Stigberg, David K. "Jarocho, Tropical, and 'Pop': Aspects of
Musical Life in Veracruz, 1971-72," Eight Urban Musical Cultures
(date?)
Stone, Ruth M. "Commentary: The Value of Local Ideas in Understanding
West AfricanRhythm," Ethnomusicology, Winter 1986
Teske, Raymond H. & Bardin Nelson " Acculturation and Assimilation:
a Clarification," American Ethnologist (date?)
Thompson, Robert Farris "An Aesthetic of the Cool" (source,
date)
Ventura, Michael "Hear That Long Snake Moan," Whole Earth
Review, Spring 1987
Waterman, Richard Alan "African Influence on the music of the
Americas,"
Tax: Acculturation in the Americas, Vol. II (The University
of Chicago Press, 1952)
Available in the music office:
Grupo Ilu Aña—Sacred Rhythms of Cuba Fundamento Pdns.
¡Afrocubanismo! at Banff Fundamento/Bembé
Yoruba talking
drum (dundun) with equivalent "speech" played on drum
(Dundun is one of the most striking examples of a language surrogate
known anywhere in the world):
Talking Drum
example
(mp3)
Bell pattern -- what is it? Where is "one?" Can you write this down?
(mp3)