This tutorial will examine the relevance of African and African-American musics to postmodernism. Many qualities of Black music-its eclecticism, cosmopolitanism, deconstructionism, multivalence, improvisatory nature, fragmentation, non-linearity, marginality, and oppositionalism-are similar to the postmodern sensibility. This course will consider definitions of postmodernism and examine the qualities of specific African and African-American performance traditions (such as Ghanaian drumming, rap, and Trinidad carnival) that resemble postmodernism. We will also analyze the music of postmodern European or Euro-American composers such as Steve Reich and Gyorgy Ligeti) who have been inspired by Black performance traditions. Evaluation will be based on five 5-page papers and class participation. Prerequisites: permission of the instructor. Preference for students with experience in the following areas as evidenced by suitable coursework: music analysis, African and African-American music and culture (e.g. Music 125, 122, 130, History 306, Kusika, or English 345); and postmodernism in the arts (e.g. English 359, ArtH 262). Enrollment limited to 10.
E. D. BROWN