Mannerism and Cultural Change: An Ethnomusicological Example [and Comments and Reply

Abstract

Based on a systematic analysis of musical materials of three generations of Aleppo Jews in Israel, a theory of the initial stages of one type of culture change is proposed. The central proposition of the theory is that the apparent resistance to acceptance of majority group culture may be expressed in "manneristic" terms, i.e., in terms of the exaggeration and embellishment of those elements of traditional culture by means of which the majority identifies the minority and the minority comes to identify itself. It is suggested that this type of culture change is found particularly in minority groups which are well-accepted in the overall social structure but which are nonetheless steadfast in their desire to preserve some of their traditional forms. The concept of "mannerism," drawn from art history, is employed here to denote "the tension between conflicting stylistic elements" and to signal the decline of a style.

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