Folklore | MIDDLE EASTERN MUSIC
F617 | 2249 | R. Stone
This course explores the complex of musical styles that people create in the
Middle East and the extended diaspora where migrants from this region have
traveled and settled. We will examine performance in the nexus of Islamic,
Jewish and Christian practices within the various cultural matrices. We
will also explore music as communicated in a variety of media? film,
television, and radio broadcasts that are part of everyday experiences in
Middle Eastern communities. We will include the music of various expatriate
groups who live and work in this region.
The class will combine lecture and discussion format. Students will be
responsible for preparing one research project that consists of a paper (25
pages) or a website project. In addition students will be responsible for
keeping a journal that comments on the readings and class discussions.
Texts: The readings for the class will be draw from a packet of articles as
well as the following books: Toouma, Habib Hassan, The Music of the Arabs;
Shelemay, Kay Kaufman, Let Jasmine Rain Down: Remembrance among Syrian Jews;
and Danielson, Virginia, The Voice of Egypt: Umm Kulthum, Arabic Song, and
Egyptian Society in the Twentieth Century.