New Course: World Musics on the Move
Undergrad Fiat Lux seminar on transnational music encounters & fusions, with Professor Helen Rees -- Spring 2004
Published: Tuesday, April 06, 2004
A word from Professor Rees:
I'd like to alert any undergrads majoring in East Asian Studies or interested in same about my fiat lux course (ESM 19 SEM 2) running spring quarter every Weds., 3-4 pm. It's called "World Musics on the Move." I attach the course description below, and add a few words spelling out the interest to East Asianists. Four of the eight main case studies we look at pertain to East Asian music broadly defined (Taiwan aboriginal copyright case; Naxi tour of England; Hmong refugee music in U.S.; Inner Mongolian cross-over singer Urna Chahartugchi). Is it possible to let people who might be interested know? There are still some seats in the class, and I hope it might be a novel way for students to explore their geographical area of intereset.
World Musics on the Move (fiat lux seminar, ESM 19 SEM 2, meets every
Wednesday, 3-3:50pm)
Instructor: Helen Rees (Assoc. Professor, Dept. of Ethnomusicology)
Transnational musical encounters and fusions have long existed, but today political, economic, and virtual globalization both speeds the process and raises new issues of authenticity, ethics, and representation. Case studies examined in this seminar include a copyright infringement case arising from sampling of Taiwanese indigenous music by European artists; musical expressions of Hmong refugee communities in the United States; international tours by Asian traditional musicians; the Portuguese colonial legacy in Asia; Western appropriations of Balinese music in art music composition; the African diaspora to India (Sidis of Gujarat); and exciting new fusions from Mongolian, Tuvan, and Tibetan artists. Theoretical implications of this phenomenon are also stressed. We use a variety of readings, websites, and sound and video recordings as source material. Each student keeps a brief reading diary, helps lead one class discussion, and documents a "world music" performance or other event. Global pop will never seem the same again!
Case studies with East Asian interest:
- Copyright infringement lawsuit arising from Enigma's sampling of Taiwan aboriginal folk song in their song "Return to Innocence," used in a promotional video for the Atlanta Olympics
- First international tour by traditional Naxi (Tibeto-Burman) musicians
from SW China in 1995 - Music of Hmong refugee communities in U.S.
- Inner Mongolian cross-over singer Urna Chahartugchi
* * *
Helen Rees is an Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology. Since 1989 she has conducted research on the musical traditions of SW China near the Tibetan and Burmese borders. In addition to her books and articles on Chinese music, she interpreted for the Naxi musicians of SW China on their first international concert tour to England in 1995.
