Commentaries from the Society for Ethnomusicology Annual Conference
It was my great honor to have Ms. Nora Yeah, an ethnomusicologist working for the American Folklife Center in the Library of Congress, present at the screening of Mosuo Song Journey in the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Society for Ethnomusicology Annual Conference in New York City on March 28, 2008. Out of approximately 100 conference participants, about half came to this screening event. Ms. Yeah kindly forwarded me the commentaries of the ethnomusicologists from the conference. I would like to share Ms. Yehs report with you:
At the end of showing the documentary, the entire audience applauded and many told me how much they enjoyed and appreciated seeing it.
One commented that we should regard both the Mosuo songs and pop songs and any other “modern” performing arts as part of Mosuo culture, not the dichotomy of real and fake music. This is another way of looking at the current situation.
Another viewer said that the playfulness of showing authenticity and fakeness of culture (e.g. the Han girl dressed in Mosuo costume) is well presented and has conveyed the message.
Another viewer asked if the words stating something like “Words at the beginning of songs have no meaning” were actually part of the sung text? I told her that I didn’t think so. So she suggested to put parentheses around these words in the documentary so the audience would know for sure that these are editor’s notes, not texts sung by the singers. In ethnomusicology, these are considered “non-lexico” syllables.
So, congratulations to you for the film you worked so hard to put together. THANKS for giving me the privilege to show it.”
–Nora