Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2006 3:39 pmCongaplace,
This message comes from Nolan Warden.
As some of you might already know, I recently completed my M.A. degree in
ethnomusicology at Tufts University. The thesis that I wrote to complete
the program is entitled "Cajón pa’ los Muertos: Transculturation and
Emergent Tradition in Afro-Cuban Ritual Drumming and Song." It is my hope
that many of you will find this thesis to be original, insightful material
that will be helpful to understand this tradition and related Afro-Cuban
music and culture. It documents over two hundred songs used in Cajón
ceremonies, in addition to the eclectically-arranged drum rhythms used by
Grupo Cuero y Cajón to accompany these songs. The abstract, copied from the
thesis itself, is:
==========
Cajón pa’ los Muertos ceremonies are relatively unknown compared to other
forms of Afro-Cuban religious music. As such, this is the first in-depth
study of these heterodox musical ceremonies for the dead, which combine
Espiritismo, Palo, and Santería, among other religious practices.
Grupo Cuero y Cajón, from Pogolotti, Marianao (Havana), are the case
study for this thesis. Personal fieldwork with them over the past six years
has led to this presentation of the drum rhythms they use as well as over
two hundred songs from their repertoire, analyzed for their cultural and
spiritual significance.
This thesis is written from the framework of transculturation and
foregrounds the role of musicians in the emergence of new traditions through
the use of cohesive acts. It also studies the antecedents of Cajón, issues
of pragmatism in ritual, Cajón as a site of preservation and innovation, and
suffering as expressed in popular religion.
==========
The thesis has been accepted at Tufts for archiving at UMI, so eventually
you’ll be able to order everything through there. That will take months,
though, and will likely be quite expensive. So, I’m willing to make copies
for anyone who is truly interested in reading this work that took me many
months of pure writing and years of research. For better or worse, though,
the thesis is 212 pages long, includes three audio cd’s, and one DVD. This
means a hefty price for copying and binding. So, I’m looking into options
to make a disc-based thesis (PDF for the text portion). I will also upload
the PDF of the text portion somewhere, but that is really only a portion of
the whole package. If you are interested in having a copy of your own,
please email me privately and tell me if you want a hardcopy of the text or
an all-disc version. I’ll compile a list of people who want it and that
will allow me to figure out how much this initial run will cost. I’m not
looking to make money off of this, just to break even with copying,
materials, and shipping. Hardcopies (with CD’s and DVD included) will
probably be between $20-30 total, including shipping. All-disc versions
will be at least $10, but probably less than $15. Please let me know soon
if you want a copy so I can get moving on everything.
I’ll upload the PDF of the text portion soon so that anyone can read
portions before deciding to buy the rest (i.e., audio and video).
I’m looking forward to your reviews of the thesis.
Sincerely,
Nolan Warden
For those interested feel free to contact Nolan @:
nolanwarden@hotmail.com
Edited By tamboricua on 1161625471
This message comes from Nolan Warden.
As some of you might already know, I recently completed my M.A. degree in
ethnomusicology at Tufts University. The thesis that I wrote to complete
the program is entitled "Cajón pa’ los Muertos: Transculturation and
Emergent Tradition in Afro-Cuban Ritual Drumming and Song." It is my hope
that many of you will find this thesis to be original, insightful material
that will be helpful to understand this tradition and related Afro-Cuban
music and culture. It documents over two hundred songs used in Cajón
ceremonies, in addition to the eclectically-arranged drum rhythms used by
Grupo Cuero y Cajón to accompany these songs. The abstract, copied from the
thesis itself, is:
==========
Cajón pa’ los Muertos ceremonies are relatively unknown compared to other
forms of Afro-Cuban religious music. As such, this is the first in-depth
study of these heterodox musical ceremonies for the dead, which combine
Espiritismo, Palo, and Santería, among other religious practices.
Grupo Cuero y Cajón, from Pogolotti, Marianao (Havana), are the case
study for this thesis. Personal fieldwork with them over the past six years
has led to this presentation of the drum rhythms they use as well as over
two hundred songs from their repertoire, analyzed for their cultural and
spiritual significance.
This thesis is written from the framework of transculturation and
foregrounds the role of musicians in the emergence of new traditions through
the use of cohesive acts. It also studies the antecedents of Cajón, issues
of pragmatism in ritual, Cajón as a site of preservation and innovation, and
suffering as expressed in popular religion.
==========
The thesis has been accepted at Tufts for archiving at UMI, so eventually
you’ll be able to order everything through there. That will take months,
though, and will likely be quite expensive. So, I’m willing to make copies
for anyone who is truly interested in reading this work that took me many
months of pure writing and years of research. For better or worse, though,
the thesis is 212 pages long, includes three audio cd’s, and one DVD. This
means a hefty price for copying and binding. So, I’m looking into options
to make a disc-based thesis (PDF for the text portion). I will also upload
the PDF of the text portion somewhere, but that is really only a portion of
the whole package. If you are interested in having a copy of your own,
please email me privately and tell me if you want a hardcopy of the text or
an all-disc version. I’ll compile a list of people who want it and that
will allow me to figure out how much this initial run will cost. I’m not
looking to make money off of this, just to break even with copying,
materials, and shipping. Hardcopies (with CD’s and DVD included) will
probably be between $20-30 total, including shipping. All-disc versions
will be at least $10, but probably less than $15. Please let me know soon
if you want a copy so I can get moving on everything.
I’ll upload the PDF of the text portion soon so that anyone can read
portions before deciding to buy the rest (i.e., audio and video).
I’m looking forward to your reviews of the thesis.
Sincerely,
Nolan Warden
For those interested feel free to contact Nolan @:
nolanwarden@hotmail.com
Edited By tamboricua on 1161625471