Psychological Empiricism and Anthropological Relativism as Dialectic in an Epistemology of Musical Emotion: Insights from a Mixed-Methodology Study of Qawwali

Graves, T. (2018) Psychological Empiricism and Anthropological Relativism as Dialectic in an Epistemology of Musical Emotion: Insights from a Mixed-Methodology Study of Qawwali. British Forum for Ethnomusicology 2018 Annual Conference, Newcastle, UK, 12-15 Apr 2018.

Abstract

As the ‘affective turn’ (Hofman, 2015) in ethnomusicology has progressed, the focus has been on interpreting ethnographic data, either using indigenous theory, as in Racy’s book on ṭarab in Arabic music, or using theoretical models drawn from psychology or sociology. ‘Empirical’ psychological approaches have historically generalised from research samples drawn primarily from global elites and while recent work such as that of Balkwill (2002) has begun to address this, it still focuses on ‘cross-cultural comparison’, hastily jumping to universalise. My master’s dissertation project attempted to bridge this gap, continuing the trajectory of work by Laura-Lee Balkwill, Martin Clayton, Judith Becker and others. It took information based on a short period of fieldwork in Pakistan, interviews with listeners in London, and the ethnographic information of others as a basis for an experimental methodology to measure the subjective feelings of UK residents of South Asian origin compared to that of UK residents of other origins in response to Amjad Sabri and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s Coke Studio version of Rang, as well as individual variations. The primary aim of this study was to determine the degree to which understanding of qawwali lyrics affects subjective feeling response, however the secondary purpose was to explore the synthesis of two antithetical epistemologies: one based on subjectivity and particularism, the other based on objectivity and universalism.

• Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Graves, Mr Thomas
• Authors: Graves, T.
• College/School: University Services > Library and Collection Services > Library

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