ETHNOMUSICOLOGY

Academic year
2020/2021 Syllabus of previous years
Official course title
ETNOMUSICOLOGIA SP.
Course code
FM0076 (AF:334152 AR:180886)
Modality
On campus classes
ECTS credits
6
Degree level
Master's Degree Programme (DM270)
Educational sector code
L-ART/08
Period
2nd Term
Where
VENEZIA
Moodle
Go to Moodle page
Given the different backgrounds of the students, the course will begin with a survey on terms, concepts and tools of the ethnomusicological and anthropological research intended for those who are not familiar with such a research and who didn't attended to the course "Fundamentals in Ethnomusicology".
From this general introduction, this year's monographic course is dedicated to the relations between music and those particular phenomena called "Altered States of Consciousness" (ASC), recently corrected with: "Modified states of consciousness".
In particular, according to Alan P. Merriam and J.J. Nattiez, music is present in the activation of particular states of consciousness because it affects the function of the physical response, it interferes with the basic functions of the body, with the heartbeat, with breathing, with muscle performance.
Music, then, sets a time that is "other" because it is subject to other parameters (rhythm, meter) which are not those of the usual, measured, time. This "other" time can contribute to induce in the participant a temporal and sometimes spatial disorientation which encourages the exit from oneself. And of course, it should be noted that in a ritual "music" and "dance" coexist.
The course will examine some particular cases of musical and choreutic rituals that have arisen on the planet, from East to West, from antiquity to the present.
According to the framework for the European Higher Education, the so called Dublin descriptors, the expected results are:
1. Knowledge and Understanding
a) To know the basic terms and concepts of the discipline and to understand the texts that use such terms and concepts.
b) To understand the peculiarities of Ethnomusicological research.

2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
a) Being capable of a simple analysis of some given musical examples, being aware of the singles musical languages and cultures.
b) Ability to connect a musical tune with its cultural framework.

3. Judgement's ability
a) Being capable to formulate and to argument simples hypothesis.

4. Communications Skills
a) Being able to communicate the peculiarities of the Transcultural Musicology approach to music, using an appropriate terminology.

5. Learning Ability
● Being able to take notes and to share them in a collaborative form.
● Being able to consult to consult the texts critically and the Bibliography immanent.
No particular prerequisites are required but open-mindedness, curiosity and attention.
The course is dedicated to the relationship between music and the Altered (or Modified) States of Consciousness by isolating some case studies between different traditions, from East to West, from the past to the present.
1) Gilbert ROUGET, Musica e trance. I rapporti fra la musica e i fenomeni di possessione, nuova edizione, Torino, Einaudi, 2019. (Ed. or: La musique et la transe. Esquisse d’une théorie générale des relations de la musique et de la possession, Paris, Gallimard, 1980).
2) Jean DURING, Musica ed estasi. L’ascolto mistico nella tradizione sufi, Traduzione e cura di Giovanni De Zorzi, versione riveduta e aggiornata dell'edizione originale, Roma, Squilibri (con CD allegato). (Ed. or. Musique et extase. L’audition mystique dans la tradition soufie, Paris, Albin-Michel, 1988).
3) Giovanni DE ZORZI, 2019b “Tra sciamani e bakhshı, tra l’estatica e l’estetica” in Il cosmo sciamanico. Ontologie indigene fra Asia e Americhe, a cura di Stefano Beggiora, Milano, Franco Angeli, 2019: 34-49.

Non attending students will add the complete: Il cosmo sciamanico. Ontologie indigene fra Asia e Americhe, a cura di Stefano Beggiora, Milano, Franco Angeli, 2019.
Oral exam. Welcome personal deepening on specific genres or authors arranged in advance with the professor.
Lessons with musical listenings, visual examples and musical scores.
Italian
Before starting a course I order the necessary texts for the course in BAUM; obviously, being exam papers, these are not available for loan.
You can also find the texts for the exam in Venetian and national bookstores, online, or in the many Venetian libraries.
oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development

Definitive programme.
Last update of the programme: 14/04/2020