Recent South African Postgraduate Research in Music

Abstract

It is natural that the postgraduate theses that were accepted by South African universities during the ten-year period from 1990 through 1999 were affected by the deprivations and prejudices that were a part of the larger South African society during that and preceding decades. Not surprisingly the strongest effects are those concerning the race of those writing such theses and the strong European and American orientation evident in the topics that were studied. Until recently, universities have accepted works that have not problematised theoretical and methodological issues, including the purpose of music analysis. Few important works on South African music have been written by musicologists or ethnomusicologists who live in the country, a state of affairs that raises many questions about music researchers and the contexts within which they work.


(SA J Musicology: 2002 21: 39-46)