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Undoing Authenticity as a Discursive Construct: A Critical Pedagogy of Ethnomusicology and “World Music”

Krüger, S (2013) Undoing Authenticity as a Discursive Construct: A Critical Pedagogy of Ethnomusicology and “World Music”. In: Alge, B and Kraemer, O, (eds.) Beyond Borders: Welt-Musik-Pädagogik: Musikpädagogik und Ethnomusikologie im Diskurs. Wissner Verlag, Augsburg, pp. 93-114. ISBN 978-3896398840

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Abstract

This chapter engages with the concept of authenticity in the pedagogy of ethnomusicology and “world music”. Yet rather than exploring the implications of a well-established conception of authenticity and adaptation from the conceptual perspective of music education, in this chapter I argue—whilst showing that authenticity is a discursive construct—that within the context of ethnomusicology, Western concerns with authenticity are deeply ingrained within the politics of race and ethnicity and may even be construed as implicitly racist. To do so, authenticity as a discursive construct will be outlined, showing how in ethnomusicology the authentic became defined through “otherness” in terms of “tradition” and race and ethnicity. Meanwhile, authenticity is equally relevant in the formal transmission of ethnomusicology at universities, which will be illustrated subsequently, showing how concerns with authenticity informed by Western politics of race and ethnicity are clearly evident in the perceptions of students who often evince strong opinions about difference and otherness in the world’s musics they encounter. Ultimately, I wish to emphasize the importance of “undoing” authenticity in the university classroom through deconstructing racial and ethnic imaginations, which is of pivotal importance for a more holistic, inclusive and democratic pedagogy of ethnomusicology and “world music”.

Item Type: Book Section
Subjects: M Music and Books on Music > ML Literature of music
Divisions: Humanities & Social Science
Publisher: Wissner Verlag
Date Deposited: 10 Mar 2017 10:09
Last Modified: 03 Sep 2021 23:29
DOI or ID number: http://www.wissner.com/pdfs/9783896398840.pdf
Editors: Alge, B and Kraemer, O
URI: https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/5508
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