Abstract
Systems are intended to work. The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines a system as “a complex whole; a set of things working together as a mechanism or interconnecting network.” The human brain functions as a system. Assuming the existence of a musical system, there must be a reason for its work and an internal structure.
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Notes
- 1.
As I am writing and reflecting on my observation of little Ingvald, it dawns on me that my observation has some similarities to Jean Piaget’s (1923/1924) classic observations of egocentric speech and subsequent theories on child development more or less predicated on processes within the individual. Many readers will know that Piaget’s theories were challenged by Lev Vygotsky (1934) who to a greater degree emphasized the social and cultural aspects of ontogenesis.
- 2.
Vygotsky, 1978.
- 3.
Mead, 1934.
- 4.
Rommetveit, 2008.
- 5.
Dewey, 1897.
- 6.
Bruner, 1990, p. 77.
- 7.
Ibid, p. 80.
- 8.
Translation from French to English by Gabrielle Varro.
- 9.
E. Olivier, H. Rivière, “Reflections on Categorization”, Ethnomusicology, 45/3, 2001, p. 481.
- 10.
In Namibia, among the Ju/’hoan,!Xuu, Hai//om, Kxoe, Himba, Zimba, Herero, Kwanyama, Ndonga, Nama and Damara; in Mali among the “people of Jenne”, Fula, Songhay, Bozo, Bamana.
- 11.
Antilope Taurotragus oryx.
- 12.
Some of them had a particular title that referred to their ancientness, either to the name of their composer or to their use or specific representation cf. E. Olivier, “La musique ju/’hoan: de la création à la consummation”, in Olivier et Valentin (éds.), Les Bushmen dans l’Histoire, Paris, CNRS Editions, 2005, pp. 171–201.
- 13.
Cf. E. Olivier, “The Art of Metamorphosis or the Ju|’hoan Conception of Plurivocality”, in C. Lucia (ed.), The World of South African Music. A Reader, Cambridge, Cambridge Scholars Press, pp. 249–257 [2005]; “On Polyphonic Construction. An Analysis of Ju|’hoan Vocal Music”, African Music, 8/1, 2007, pp. 82–111.
- 14.
For a more complete list of the different repertoires of songs, see E. Olivier, “Categorizing the Ju|’hoan Musical Heritage”, African Study Monographs, 27, 2001, pp. 11–27.
- 15.
L. Quéré, “La valeur opératoire des categories”, Cahiers de l’URMIS, n°1, 1995, pp. 6–21.
- 16.
John Dewey, Logique. La théorie de l’enquête [Logic: The Theory of Inquiry] Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, 1967 [1938].
- 17.
M.-L.Honeste, «Un mode de classification sémantique: la polysémie», Faits de langues, 14, 1999, p. 29.
- 18.
On shamanism among the Bushmen, cf. E. Olivier & M. Valentin, Les Bushmen dans l’Histoire, Paris, CNRS Editions, 2005.
- 19.
Those are individual choices, allowing some shamans to distinguish themselves from others (cf. Olivier 2005).
- 20.
A time when hunting began to decline and the eland to disappear from Ju/’hoan territory. Cf. J. Marshall & C. Ritchie, “Where are the Ju/wasi of Nyae Nyae? Changes in a Bushman society: 1958–1981”, Communication, n 9, Centre for African Studies, University of Cape Town, 1984.
- 21.
Djxánì is the name of the eland that men use obligatorily during the hunt to designate the animal.
- 22.
It would be possible to refine further, but this is not the place, by distinguishing those who perform music (songs and/or instruments), and who therefore know it from within, those who are happy to just listen, and those who are not very interested.
- 23.
Fiagbedzi, 1979, pp. 18–21.
- 24.
Dawkins, 1989, pp. 189–201.
- 25.
From the album, I Don’t Want You Back by Eamon (Jive: 2004). The lyrics include the lines: Fuck what I said it don’t mean shit now, Fuck the presents might as well throw ‘em out, Fuck all those kisses, it didn’t mean jack, Fuck you, you hoe, I don’t want you back. (Accessed from http://www.lyricsandsongs.com/song/19574.html on 26 Feb 2007)
- 26.
Blaikie, 2008, p. 4.
- 27.
Ibid., p. 5.
- 28.
Sumara, 2004, p. iv
- 29.
Powell, 2004, p. 183.
- 30.
Uyechi, 1995.
- 31.
Davis, 2004, p. 190.
- 32.
d’aquili, Laughlin, & McManus, 1979, p. 160.
- 33.
Davis, 2004, p. 159.
- 34.
Ibid.
- 35.
Men’s song type, inclusive of movements.
- 36.
Women’s song type, inclusive of movements.
- 37.
From South Africa.
- 38.
A vernacular term for the gourd resonated musical bow. This instrument used to be common in Herero culture and is still played among Owambo and Ovahimba people.
- 39.
A great hit song in Namibia. The term in Khoekhoe for “short and round” and refers to how a girl should look, especially her round buttocks.
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Mans, M. (2009). A Functioning Musical World. In: Living in Worlds of Music. Landscapes: the Arts, Aesthetics, and Education, vol 8. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2706-1_3
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