| The study of Ethnomusicology: Thirty-one Issues and Concepts, one of the most important publications by American ethnomusicologist Bruno Nettl, is a revised one based on the 1983 edition. It is recognized as a comprehensive textbook-like classic to the ethnomusicology in the English-speaking world, a book worthy of the attention from scholars in other arts, reflecting how people understand music in their changing life.The book consists of four parts, two of which the translator is in charge of: Part Two, "In the Field" (6 chapters) and Part Three, "In the Culture" (9 chapters). The contents involved are the essentials for the fieldwork; insider and outsider; archive and preservation; music-maker; redefining the fieldwork; ethnography writing; music in the culture; the origin of music; the function and use of music; the transmission and change of music; the geographic distribution of music; the musical semiotics; and the determinants of musical style.The book review, focusing on the two new chapters—chapter 14 and 17, mainly discusses the changes in the perspectives and thoughts over the last twenty years, such as the ethnomusicology "at home"; the rise of the study of popular music and Western art music; ethnography writing, and so on. In addition, the translator also point out some places that need further improvements, such as the author's preference to Merriam's tri-partite pattern, which is replaced by the translator's own attempt to analyze these cases in one of more recent models. At last, understandings and perceptions gained through the translation are also included in this part. |
