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Culture, Conservation and Community Reconstruction: Explorations in Advocacy Ethnomusicology and Participatory Action Research in Northern Kwazulu Natal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2019

Angela Impey
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Extract

Applied or advocacy ethnomusicology has yet to be developed as a formal sub-field in South Africa, yet researchers of music have the advantage of being at the forefront of a social reconstruction impetus that provides opportunities for relevant social engagement, the remodelling of research foci, the expansion of multidisciplinary applications, and the utilisation of participatory methodologies that have yet to be explored in research on performance. This paper is presented in the form of a report of my recent explorations into the operational interface between ethnomusicology, environmental conservation and sustainable development in the Dukuduku Forests of northern KwaZulu Natal. In so far as the study is situated in a community that resides within an environmentally protected area, it extends the notion that culture is as much a part of the treasure of the landscape as are its faunal, floral and marine resources. The premise herein, is that songs, dances and ritual processes present rich repositories of local knowledge about the environment, and are particularly relevant signifiers of local meaning systems in a context where these systems may no longer be learned through apprenticeships or oral tradition, due to geographic displacement and rapid socio-economic transformation. Broadly therefore, the project strives to examine the interdependencies between symbolic practices and natural resource use, and to explore ways in which deep-rooted cultural wisdoms can be recast to generate an organising paradigm for the sustainable custodianship of the environment, and herein empower the communities to participate more equitably in the development of the region.

Type
Articles
Information
Yearbook for Traditional Music , Volume 34 , 2002 , pp. 9 - 24
Copyright
Copyright © 2002 By The International Council for Traditional Music

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