Our music, their music : identifying meaning in musical experiences

Abstract

In contemporary cultures it is possible to experience many different musics within a single environment. At times, musics from different cultures are mixed together and released in recorded form for consumption by Western listeners. This study investigates two such recordings, Lambarena (1995) and Mozart in Egypt (1997) from the perspective of the target audience. These recordings each involve the juxtaposition of a musical tradition from the African continent with music from the Western II classical" tradition. A cultural studies approach is taken in order to understand issues of meaning and identity that these recordings raise, including theories and terms from media studies and semiology. Results of a series of semi-structured interviews with members of the target audience are presented and analysed within the theoretical framework that is developed.

The Introduction to this study provides a background to the recordings and outlines the approach to be taken. Chapter One discusses issues of group identity as they pertain to these recordings. In Chapter Two, a model is proposed for the decoding of musical signs and the relationship between music and group identity is considered. Chapter Three investigates the Western representation of cultures of the African continent and illustrates the role that music plays in this process. Western II classical" music is considered in Chapter Four in terms of the meanings with which it is encoded in contemporary settings. Aspects of the research participants' responses that relate to these ideas are presented in Chapter Five. Chapter Six considers the interaction of musical signifiers and discusses various attitudes toward cultural and musical difference. In Chapter Seven, further material from the research interviews is presented and analysed according to the participants' responses to the interaction of musics in the case-study recordings.

The Conclusion brings together the issues of musical meaning, group identity and difference that are central to the argument, and indicates areas in which further research may be undertaken. A number of conclusions can be drawn relating to the ways music is heard and understood, the ways identifications of the cultural basis of music are made, and the ways that music reflects contemporary attitudes to cultural difference