“[Un]Covering Silences: Queer Fieldwork Ethnomusicology”
An audible silence exists in ethnomusicological fieldwork practice. Queer subjects and queer topics make few appearances in ethnomusicological literature. This perceptible paucity is not due to an absence of LGBTQ-identified members and allies within the discipline. So why has queer ethnomusicology arrived late to the dance party? Why, when queer theory has been around for over two decades? Is queer ethnomusicology demanding face time when some suggest that queer theory is already over, passé, and in fact … dead? For ethnomusicologists to jump on the dance floor might seem akin to wandering into a club at last call, just as the DJ packs up and everyone else takes an Uber home. In this presentation, we will consider whether the fieldwork we engage in ethnomusicology is, in fact, inherently queer in its disciplinary deviance.
Gregory Melchor-Barz (Professor of Musicology/Ethnomusicology, Director of the School of Music, Boston University) is an ethnomusicologist who has engaged field research in Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, and Israel. His current research project is on global drag traditions, with a focus on American and Israeli Drag and politics in the Middle East. A former opera singer, Gregory is the Director of the CFA School of Music at Boston University, where he is a professor of ethnomusicology. His latest co-edited book, Queering the Field: Sounding Out Ethnomusicology, was published by Oxford University Press.