British Forum for Ethnomusicology

Review: [untitled]
Author(s): Veronica Doubleday
Reviewed work(s):
Images of Enchantment: Visual and Performing Arts of the Middle East by Sherifa Zuhur
Source: British Journal of Ethnomusicology, Vol. 8 (1999), pp. 130-133
Published by: British Forum for Ethnomusicology
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3060859
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130 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.8 1999 130 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.8 1999
process)
-
work which continues in
Germany,
and
(using
different
techniques)
in London at the British
Library
National Sound Archive.
Martin Muller's
paper
looks at
Hombostel's
interdisciplinary
research in
the context of the
development
of the
Berlin School of Gestalt
Psychology.
Karlheinz Barck makes a diversion from
the main
topic
to consider the work of
German American
anthropologist
Franz
Boas, in
particular
his anti-Nazi article
"Aryans
and
non-Aryans", published
here in facsimile for the first time in
Germany.
Editor Sebastian Klotz
addresses the
fascinating
issue of what he
calls "Hombostel's ambivalent stance
towards mass culture and
modernity"
(253), suggesting
an unresolved tension
in the latter's work between "his
insistence on a holistic
anthropology
of
the senses" and his pursuit of
rudimentary
sound
recordings.
If the
range
of
topics
and
approaches
taken here is
impressive,
so too is the
extent of the illustrative material
(including photographs
and numerous
facsimilies of
contemporaneous
documents)
and the
reprint
of Kunst's
Hombostel
bibliography.
If I have one
small
regret,
it is the relative lack of
consideration of
relationships
between
Hombostel and
colleagues
in other
parts
of the world
(besides
Kunst and
Boas).
My
own work on
early
British field
recordings,
for instance
(Clayton 1996)
-
in which I was
greatly
assisted
by
Susanne
Ziegler
and her
knowledge
of
the Berlin archive
-
revealed
previously
unknown links between Hombostel and
British
colleagues
such as Charles
Myers,
most of whom were based at
Cambridge
for at least
part
of their careers,
connections which
may
have a
bearing
on
Hombostel's move there in the final
year
of his life. In the context of such a useful
book, however,
this is but a minor
grumble.
process)
-
work which continues in
Germany,
and
(using
different
techniques)
in London at the British
Library
National Sound Archive.
Martin Muller's
paper
looks at
Hombostel's
interdisciplinary
research in
the context of the
development
of the
Berlin School of Gestalt
Psychology.
Karlheinz Barck makes a diversion from
the main
topic
to consider the work of
German American
anthropologist
Franz
Boas, in
particular
his anti-Nazi article
"Aryans
and
non-Aryans", published
here in facsimile for the first time in
Germany.
Editor Sebastian Klotz
addresses the
fascinating
issue of what he
calls "Hombostel's ambivalent stance
towards mass culture and
modernity"
(253), suggesting
an unresolved tension
in the latter's work between "his
insistence on a holistic
anthropology
of
the senses" and his pursuit of
rudimentary
sound
recordings.
If the
range
of
topics
and
approaches
taken here is
impressive,
so too is the
extent of the illustrative material
(including photographs
and numerous
facsimilies of
contemporaneous
documents)
and the
reprint
of Kunst's
Hombostel
bibliography.
If I have one
small
regret,
it is the relative lack of
consideration of
relationships
between
Hombostel and
colleagues
in other
parts
of the world
(besides
Kunst and
Boas).
My
own work on
early
British field
recordings,
for instance
(Clayton 1996)
-
in which I was
greatly
assisted
by
Susanne
Ziegler
and her
knowledge
of
the Berlin archive
-
revealed
previously
unknown links between Hombostel and
British
colleagues
such as Charles
Myers,
most of whom were based at
Cambridge
for at least
part
of their careers,
connections which
may
have a
bearing
on
Hombostel's move there in the final
year
of his life. In the context of such a useful
book, however,
this is but a minor
grumble.
References
Abraham, Otto and Erich M. von
Hombostel
(1994) "Suggested
methods for the
transcription
of exotic
music"
(trans.
G. and E.
List),
Ethnomusicology 38.3, pp.425-56.
Clayton,
Martin
(1996) "Ethnographic
wax
cylinders
at the British
Library
National Sound Archive: a brief
history
and
description
of the
collection", British Journal
of
Ethnomusicology
5, pp.67-92.
Reinhard, Kurt and
George
List
(1963)
Commentaries to The Demonstration
Collection
of
E.M. von Hornbostel
and the Berlin
Phonogramm-Archiv.
Ethnic
Folkways Library,
LP number
FE4175.
Stumpf,
Carl
(1911)
Die
Anfange
der
Musik.
Leipzig.
Wachsmann, Klaus, Dieter Christensen
and Hans-Peter Reinecke
(eds) (1975)
Hornbostel
Opera Omnia,
vol.1. The
Hague:
Martinus
Nijhoff.
Ziegler,
Susanne
(1994)
"From wax
cylinders
to
digital storage
-
the
Berlin
Phonogram
Archive
today",
Resound, a
quarterly of
the Archives
of
Traditional Music, 13.1/2, pp.
1-5.
MARTIN CLAYTON
The
Open
University
m. r 1.
claytongopen.
ac. uk
References
Abraham, Otto and Erich M. von
Hombostel
(1994) "Suggested
methods for the
transcription
of exotic
music"
(trans.
G. and E.
List),
Ethnomusicology 38.3, pp.425-56.
Clayton,
Martin
(1996) "Ethnographic
wax
cylinders
at the British
Library
National Sound Archive: a brief
history
and
description
of the
collection", British Journal
of
Ethnomusicology
5, pp.67-92.
Reinhard, Kurt and
George
List
(1963)
Commentaries to The Demonstration
Collection
of
E.M. von Hornbostel
and the Berlin
Phonogramm-Archiv.
Ethnic
Folkways Library,
LP number
FE4175.
Stumpf,
Carl
(1911)
Die
Anfange
der
Musik.
Leipzig.
Wachsmann, Klaus, Dieter Christensen
and Hans-Peter Reinecke
(eds) (1975)
Hornbostel
Opera Omnia,
vol.1. The
Hague:
Martinus
Nijhoff.
Ziegler,
Susanne
(1994)
"From wax
cylinders
to
digital storage
-
the
Berlin
Phonogram
Archive
today",
Resound, a
quarterly of
the Archives
of
Traditional Music, 13.1/2, pp.
1-5.
MARTIN CLAYTON
The
Open
University
m. r 1.
claytongopen.
ac. uk
SHERIFA ZUHUR
(ed.)
Images
oj
enchantment: visual and
performing
arts
of
the Middle East.
Cairo: American
University
in
Cairo Press,
1998.
324pp.,
14
plates (13 colour).
ISBN 977-424-
467-2
(pb
?15.95; $23.00).
This collection of articles
brings together
work on four artistic
categories
-
dance,
music, painting
and cinema
-
as
experienced
and
practised
both within
SHERIFA ZUHUR
(ed.)
Images
oj
enchantment: visual and
performing
arts
of
the Middle East.
Cairo: American
University
in
Cairo Press,
1998.
324pp.,
14
plates (13 colour).
ISBN 977-424-
467-2
(pb
?15.95; $23.00).
This collection of articles
brings together
work on four artistic
categories
-
dance,
music, painting
and cinema
-
as
experienced
and
practised
both within
BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.8 1999
and outside the Middle East. The
emphasis
is on the twentieth
century.
Each section carries a thematic
heading.
Four
chapters
on
dance,
"'Tradition and
transformation", focus
primarily
on women.
They
relate to
professional
dancers in
Egypt;
ritual
dance
performance among
the
Rashayda
Bedouin of
Sudan;
dance and music in
Arabia; and elite
weddings
in Cairo. The
music section, "History, memory,
and
reimaging in Middle Eastem
music",
contains four
chapters
-
on Asmahan,
Umm Kulthum, Western classical music
in
Egypt,
and Arab music among Arab
Americans
-
plus
an interview with the
Palestinian musician, Simon Shaheen.
The sections on
painting
("Contemporary painting: subject
and
frame")
and cinema
("Political
and
gendered imagery
in
film")
bear little
relevance to
ethnomusicological
concerns, except
one
chapter
on the
female dancer in
Egyptian
film.
Seven of the
eighteen chapters
focus
specifically
on
Egypt, only
one is on non-
Arab Middle Eastem art
(Iranian cinema),
and Turkish, Israeli and Kurdish material
is
conspicuously
absent. In a
region
where
issues of
representation
are
particularly
sensitive,
this
hardly
covers "the Middle
East"
(by any definition).
The editor
acknowledges
that a
"relatively large
portion"
of the
essays
focuses
specifically
on
Egypt, stating:
"This
emphasis [on
Egypt]
reflects the
country's high
proportion
of the total Middle Eastern
population,
its historical role as a center
for entertainment and
recording,
and the
interests of the authors"
(2-3).
A subtitle
containing
the
phrase "Egypt
and the Arab world" would have been
more
accurate, although
it would have
necessitated
omitting
Hamid
Naficy's
excellent
analysis
of Iranian cinema under
the Islamic
Republic (reprinted
from
American
Anthropologist).
The main
title, "Images
of
enchantment", is
catchy
and
intriguing.
Zuhur
explains
that "enchantment"
relates to the Arabic word tarab, the
semi-mystical
emotional excitement that
comes with effective musical
performance.
She defines it as "a
reflexive
process,
a more active
response
on the
part
of the viewer or audience
member". Her claim that tarab is an
aesthetic
particular
to
dance, music,
painting
and cinema is
questionable,
and
she
acknowledges
that it is most often
associated with music.
It was a
good
idea to start with dance.
Female
sexuality,
the
body
and honour
have
long
been emotive
topics
within the
Middle Eastern
performing
arts. Karin
van Nieuwkerk
opens up
the debate with
a
description
and
analysis
of the
changing
image
of
Egyptian professional
female
dancers from the late
eighteenth century
to the
present day, charting
their fall from
respectability.
Her fieldwork in
Mohammad Ali Street
(the quarter
of
Cairo where musicians and dancers
operate)
is more
fully
elaborated in her
bookA trade like
any
other
(1995).
Kay Hardy Campbell's chapter
"Folk
music and dance in the Arabian Gulf and
Saudi Arabia" discusses the social
relevance of these arts, which are
very
much alive. She
provides
a
layout
of the
traditional
performance space
(majlis
al-
tarab)
and a
good explanation
of tarab:
"Drama and emotional
power
are
among
the
key
characteristics of Arabic
music and dance in
general.
The
power
transports
the audience and
performers
to
a state of musical
ecstasy (tarab),
which
the audience
expresses by shouting
verbal
appreciation
at certain times in the
performance.
This contrasts with Western
classical musical traditions in which the
audience waits until the final measure of
a
piece
before
reacting
with
polite
applause
and
only
an occasional shout of
'Bravo!'
"(57)
William
Young's chapter
on the
131
BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.8 1999
Rashayda
Bedouin of Sudan
provides
good
ethnographic
detail on the seven-
day wedding ritual, including
information on
sung texts, gift exchange,
etc. This contrasts
neatly
with Carolee
Kent and
Marjorie
Franken's
description
of
newly
elaborated ritual
processions
with
dancing
at elite
weddings
in Cairo
(also
mirrored
by
Arab communities in
the United
States).
In the cinema section,
Marjorie
Franken's "Farida
Fahmy
and
the dancer's
image
in
Egyptian
film"
provides further material and discussion
of the themes of
"respectability"
and
status raised earlier.
The music section focuses on
popular
and classical traditions. The
chapters
on
Asmahan and Umm Kulthum work as a
themed
pair.
Others treat
aspects
of
Western music and culture, including
a
useful historical account of Western
classical music in
Egypt by
Selim
Sednaoui,
a concert
pianist
and music
critic. In "Asmahan: Arab musical
performance
and
musicianship
under the
myth",
Zuhur does not
really explain
what constitutes Asmahan's
"myth"
and
mystique, although
her
sophistication,
vocal skill and
ability
to communicate
emotional
depth
are evident. We look
forward to Zuhur's
full-length
book on
Asmahan
(forthcoming
from
University
of Texas
Press).
Virginia
Danielson
provides
a
chapter
on Umm Kulthum,
an obvious rival to
Asmahan. In a book that
purports
to deal
with "enchantment" her choice of
political subject
matter
-
the
politics
of
the Gamal 'Abd al-Nasir
period
-
is
perhaps surprising,
since Umm Kulthum's
ability
to entrance her
public
is
legendary.
But Danielson's book, The voice
of Egypt
(1997),
a landmark in
biographical
contextual
writing,
has
already
thoroughly
covered that
theme,
and the
new
political
material is
interesting.
Anne Rasmussen's
chapter,
"The
music of Arab Americans: aesthetics and
performance
in a new land", is based on
fieldwork in Arab communities in New
England.
She focuses on two
types
of
performance event, a formal music
party
known as
hafla,
and a
large-scale
three-
day
outdoor event called
mahrajan,
but
does not mention weddings, surely
an
important
context for music. Her clear
description
of the acculturation
process
and its
long-term
effects should make
useful
comparisons
with other studies of
diasporic
communities.
All in all, this volume is full of
good
information,
if somewhat uneven in
quality.
Women
performers
and
gender
issues are well
represented,
there is some
worthwhile new research, and a useful
and
comprehensive bibliography.
The
selection offsets the
previous scholarly
emphasis
within Arab music studies on
classical and
maqam
themes. But there
are loose ends. For instance, questions
about the
pervasive
influences of Western
(or American) styles
and tastes are raised
in
many chapters
-
all the music
chapters
except
Danielson's
-
and
they linger.
In
his interview,
Simon Shaheen
explicitly
decries the
negative
effects of
acculturation, stating unequivocally
that
musical standards have
plummeted.
In
comparing
Umm Kulthum's
accompanying
ensemble with a modem
ensemble of
today,
he
says:
"It is the
difference between heaven and hell ...
And with the
keyboards
and
guitar
-
well
the Arabic 'ear' in the street has
adapted
to the new
pop
sound and cannot
distinguish
the sensitive
[microtonal]
intervals and
pitches
-
they
have no taste
for it
anymore" (164).
A focus on America or "the West"
could have been
helpful.
There was also
little
attempt
to make connections
between music, dance, painting
and
cinema.
Finally,
to return to the title
"Images
of enchantment". How
literally
are we
supposed
to take these
"sexy"
titles? Is it
132
BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.8 1999 133 BRITISH JOURNAL OF ETHNOMUSICOLOGY VOL.8 1999 133
pedantic
to
expect
a title theme to be
explored
in
depth?
Here it is
certainly
not. Tarab is a
great
idea for a collection
of
essays,
but none of the nine articles on
painting
and cinema makes
any
reference
to it and nor do most other articles. In his
chapter
on trance
among
the Arabs in La
musique
et la transe
(1980/1990),
Gilbert
Rouget
concludes that secular trance
(tarab)
and
religious
trance
(wajd)
are
triggered
in the same
way, through
extreme
emotion, and he
suggests
that
tarab is more
closely
connected with
singing (and
the
impact
of
poetic texts)
than with instrumental music. These are
interesting questions.
One also wonders:
is tarab
applicable
to non-Arab Middle
Eastem cultures? What is the
relationship
between
improvisation
and tarab? As
must be
evident,
I am
grateful
for
stimulus this volume
provided.
Note: In this review we have followed
S. Zuhur's transliteration
system which
omits diacritics.
References
Danielson, Virginia (1997)
The voice
of
Egypt:
Umm
Kulthum, Arabic
song,
and
Egyptian society
in the twentieth
century. Chicago:
The
University
of
Chicago
Press.
Naficy,
Hamid
(1995)
"Iranian cinema
under the Islamic
republic".
American
Anthropologist
97.3.
Rouget,
Gilbert
(1990)
La
musique
et la
transe. Paris: Gallimard
(repr.
and
revised from
1980); English
version:
(1985)
Music and
trance, Chicago:
The
University
of
Chicago
Press.
Van
Nieuwkerk, Karin
(1995)
A trade
like
any
other.
female singers
and
dancers in
Egypt. Austin, Texas:
Texas
University
Press.
VERONICA DOUBLEDAY
University of Brighton
pedantic
to
expect
a title theme to be
explored
in
depth?
Here it is
certainly
not. Tarab is a
great
idea for a collection
of
essays,
but none of the nine articles on
painting
and cinema makes
any
reference
to it and nor do most other articles. In his
chapter
on trance
among
the Arabs in La
musique
et la transe
(1980/1990),
Gilbert
Rouget
concludes that secular trance
(tarab)
and
religious
trance
(wajd)
are
triggered
in the same
way, through
extreme
emotion, and he
suggests
that
tarab is more
closely
connected with
singing (and
the
impact
of
poetic texts)
than with instrumental music. These are
interesting questions.
One also wonders:
is tarab
applicable
to non-Arab Middle
Eastem cultures? What is the
relationship
between
improvisation
and tarab? As
must be
evident,
I am
grateful
for
stimulus this volume
provided.
Note: In this review we have followed
S. Zuhur's transliteration
system which
omits diacritics.
References
Danielson, Virginia (1997)
The voice
of
Egypt:
Umm
Kulthum, Arabic
song,
and
Egyptian society
in the twentieth
century. Chicago:
The
University
of
Chicago
Press.
Naficy,
Hamid
(1995)
"Iranian cinema
under the Islamic
republic".
American
Anthropologist
97.3.
Rouget,
Gilbert
(1990)
La
musique
et la
transe. Paris: Gallimard
(repr.
and
revised from
1980); English
version:
(1985)
Music and
trance, Chicago:
The
University
of
Chicago
Press.
Van
Nieuwkerk, Karin
(1995)
A trade
like
any
other.
female singers
and
dancers in
Egypt. Austin, Texas:
Texas
University
Press.
VERONICA DOUBLEDAY
University of Brighton
Recordings
British traditional and folk musics
The release of two
major
series of
recordings provides
the
opportunity
to
raise the
profile
of British traditional and
folk musics within
ethnomusicology,
and
to discuss issues of representation and
classification. The
recordings
to be
considered are Ewan MacColl's The
Radio Ballads
(8
CD set,
Topic Records);
The Voice
of
the
People (20
CD set, also
Topic); recordings
of Bob Hart and of
Cyril
Poacher
(2 CDs, Musical
Traditions)
and Melodeon
Players from
EastAnglia (Double Tape, Veteran).
The Radio
Ballads,
8
CDs, Topic
TSCD801-808, 1999. Ewan
MacColl
(song lyrics, music,
script), Peggy Seeger (orchestration
and music
direction),
Charles
Parker
(field recordings).
The so-called "radio-ballads" created
by
MacColl,
Parker and
Seeger
were first
broadcast
by
the BBC between 1957 and
1964
(and
were
published
as LPs on the
Argo
label between 1965 and
1970).
Represented
as a new kind of radio based
on the traditional
ballad, this series of
eight
radio
programmes
had a
huge
impact
when it was broadcast and was
hailed as a
breakthrough
in
popular
art.
Why
then do I feel so uncomfortable with
the
programmes
now? Let us look first at
their
compass.
The Ballad
of
John Axon is about the
railwaymen
of
England,
in
particular
the
story
of steam locomotive driver John
Axon, who was
posthumously
awarded
the
George
Cross for his heroic
attempt
to
stop
his train after the brake
pipe
failed
(broadcast
2
July
1958),
TSCD 801.
The
Song of
a Road is the
story
behind
the
building
of the first
motorway
in the
UK, the Ml
(5
November
1959),
TSCD
802.
Recordings
British traditional and folk musics
The release of two
major
series of
recordings provides
the
opportunity
to
raise the
profile
of British traditional and
folk musics within
ethnomusicology,
and
to discuss issues of representation and
classification. The
recordings
to be
considered are Ewan MacColl's The
Radio Ballads
(8
CD set,
Topic Records);
The Voice
of
the
People (20
CD set, also
Topic); recordings
of Bob Hart and of
Cyril
Poacher
(2 CDs, Musical
Traditions)
and Melodeon
Players from
EastAnglia (Double Tape, Veteran).
The Radio
Ballads,
8
CDs, Topic
TSCD801-808, 1999. Ewan
MacColl
(song lyrics, music,
script), Peggy Seeger (orchestration
and music
direction),
Charles
Parker
(field recordings).
The so-called "radio-ballads" created
by
MacColl,
Parker and
Seeger
were first
broadcast
by
the BBC between 1957 and
1964
(and
were
published
as LPs on the
Argo
label between 1965 and
1970).
Represented
as a new kind of radio based
on the traditional
ballad, this series of
eight
radio
programmes
had a
huge
impact
when it was broadcast and was
hailed as a
breakthrough
in
popular
art.
Why
then do I feel so uncomfortable with
the
programmes
now? Let us look first at
their
compass.
The Ballad
of
John Axon is about the
railwaymen
of
England,
in
particular
the
story
of steam locomotive driver John
Axon, who was
posthumously
awarded
the
George
Cross for his heroic
attempt
to
stop
his train after the brake
pipe
failed
(broadcast
2
July
1958),
TSCD 801.
The
Song of
a Road is the
story
behind
the
building
of the first
motorway
in the
UK, the Ml
(5
November
1959),
TSCD
802.