Emic-etic analysis as a research method for theory of music

Emic and etic are the terms taken from linguistics, but they have become widespread in other fields of humanities, especially anthropology. According to the most general definition, emic approach implies studying behaviours in culture according to its internal categories, whereas etic approach uses external, objective points of reference for this purpose. From the time the concept was created in the 1950s, numerous researchers from different fields have tried to adapt and redefine these two terms so as to use them in their work. The present article attempts to apply both emic and etic approaches within one coherent analytical method. It presents its theoretical fundamentals and proposes a list of six elements that an emic-etic analysis should include. The article focuses on the use of the concept of emics and etics in the theory of music, but the suggested method may also be used for an analysis of other types of culture texts such as music pieces, literary texts, and even fine arts works. The example used in the article is the emic-etic analysis of Letters about music by Michał Kleofas Ogiński, which has shown that the method seems fruitful from the perspective of an analyser, yet it is flawed in terms of objectivity. Therefore, the author does not recommend it as a main method for academic research, but he suggests it could be an auxiliary method and a new tool for the education of school and university-level students. The present article is a shortened version of the BA thesis entitled Emic-Etic Analysis Exemplified On M. K. Ogiński’s “Lettres sur la musique”, defended at the Department of Composition and Theory of Music, The Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, in June 2021.

Socio-Cultural Values and Ecological Awareness in Sakela Sili in Kirant Rai in Nepal

In the Eastern part of Nepal, Kirant Rai in traditional attires perform Sakela Sili, a dance style performed twice a yearin a larger circle to honour of Sakela, a deity in Kirant Rai community. The performance of Sakela or Sakkew involves singing and dancing simultaneously. Sakela connects the Kirant to their original source of energy, cultural root, origin and the civilization. Ethnic Kirant Rai, including youth and the old in their dance steps of working in the farmland and worshiping gods, with their hands and legs raising low and high, embody their connections to the terrestrial and celestial, profane and sacred, and the humanity and the divinity to maintain a perfect balance of art and life. The dancers in their body movements blend their passionate intensity to work and aesthetic response to art and embody socio -cultural practices and ecological awareness. While dancing, they work and dance for representing the life in totality. The Kirant Rai work pleasingly, and they dance with their strong passion to work. This paper as an instance of qualitative research employs both emic and etic perspectives to find out how such Sakela Sili performed shapes the socio - cultural values and ecological awareness among Kirant Rai community.

When the Poison Is the Cure—Healing and Embodiment in Contemporary Śrividyā Tantra of the Lalitāmbikā Temple

This paper discusses the healing practices of samayācāra Śrīvidyā, a Hindu Tantric tradition. This study is based on field research conducted in the Śrī Lalitāmbikā temple in Coimbatore, India. The tradition not only advocates inner ritualism, but also focuses on healing practices derived from Tantric sources. By using both emic and etic approaches, this paper attempts to show how the rituals and Śrīvidyā meditative practices became incorporated into this system of healing and well-being. A further aim of this paper is to indicate how various forms of embodiment and healing define the spiritual practice of Lalitāmbikā Śrīvidyā.

Contrasting Mathematical Phenomena and Concepts in Ethnomathematics through Etic and Emic Approaches: A Study of Dhikr Jahar Practices in Tariqa Qodiriyah Naqsyabandiyah Ma’had Suryalaya

Ethno-mathematical research trends pioneered by D'Ambrosio are on the rise, especially in Indonesia as a nation with high cultural diversity which has a lot of potential researches to be explored. This paper has two major objectives, first to explore the importance of the role of mathematics in the practice of Dhikr Jahar in Tariqa Qodiriyyah Naqsyabandiyyah and second to contrast the differences between mathematical phenomena and mathematical concepts in ethnomathematics research. Attempts to contrast the mathematical phenomena and mathematical concepts in ethnomathematics was expected to provide a sharper highlight in the writing of ethnomathematics research. This research used qualitative methods with two approaches, namely ethnography and phenomenology. The locations of the research are at Pondok Pesantren Suryalaya-Sirnarasa and Padepokan Talangraga Tasikmalaya with observations for 9 months in the first stage and then 6 months in the second stage. The number of respondents interviewed in this research were 48 people. Data processing was performed using the Nvivo 12 Plus. The results showed that there are many mathematical phenomena in the practice of Dhikr Jahar Ikhwan TQN. In carrying out the practice of dhikr, the Ikhwan used a mathematical concept with two events, fingers and prayer beads aids. The concept of counting in dhikr was used strictly by the Ikhwan. They believe that numbers have an important role in the quantity of dhikr. Contrasting mathematical phenomena and mathematical concepts can be done with an emic and etic approach and is expected to become an alternative style in ethnomathematics research.

Language and Languaging from a Phonetic Point of View

We differentiate between language-as-system, as exemplified by such constructs as “English,” or “Mandarin,'” and languaging, understood as a rich set of affiliative and coordinative behaviours that involve speech. The former is the more familiar term, and has been constructed in a specific manner that is inextricably bound to literacy, writing and normative social practices. But we argue that only the latter can inform us about what it was that happened to the human species to so differentiate us from other primates. To draw out this distinction, we lean on the contrast between emic and etic approaches, introduced by Ken Pike and rooted in the distinction between phonology and phonetics. We argue that an etic approach to speech can reveal forms of languaging that are not addressed by language-as-system. Joint speech is put forward as an important form of languaging that can be thematised for study only if the emic/etic distinction is taken seriously. Consequences for the self-understanding of phonetics as a discipline are cautiously put forward.

Making Sense of Change: Methodological Approaches to Societies in Transformation—An Introduction

In this introductory chapter the authors discuss ways of studying change that go beyond a chronology of events and sweeping laws of evolution and that take into account the ways in which people live through, experience, desire, create, and challenge change. How can we‚ at the same time‚ gain a longue durée perspective on societal transformations and give a truthful account of the ways our different interlocutors describe, name, and understand the changes they are living and the kinds of future they expect? The authors first situate this question within broader disciplinary debates, focusing particularly on debates in anthropology and its focus on studying history and change through ethnography. Ethnography is a crucial instrument for uncovering and analyzing the relationship between emic and etic perspectives of change, as well as the complex and often contradictory interplay of continuity and change beyond linear periodization and teleological presuppositions. The authors argue for a combination of multiple methods of investigation that borrow from both ethnography and other methods of data collection and analysis, and for an analytical framework that articulates three levels of analysis: the unit of analysis, the empirical data and the metanarratives of change.

Between Emic and Etic

This article examines the trope of systematic destruction (sustavno/sistemsko uništavanje) and traces how it was mobilized during the 2018 Croatian shipbuilding crisis. First, an ethnographic vignette introduces the political actors and issues at stake during the crisis. The literature on post-socialist labor transformations and deindustrialization in South-East Europe is reviewed, and the tensions between political actors and policy are described. The concept of “predatory privatization” and the etic concept of “creative destruction” are then discussed as a prelude to an analysis of the emic concept of “systematic destruction.” Finally, the relations between the different concepts are described and the emotive power and political uses of the “systematic destruction” trope are explored and placed in the wider context of post-Yugoslav deindustrialization.

All Human, yet Different

Only little social psychological research is conducted outside so-called WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic societies) cultures (e.g., in the “Global South”). Although cross-cultural replication of social psychological theorizing and findings is thus essential for higher external validity of the field, valid cross-cultural replications are not straightforward to do. Indeed, they require more than “copy-and-pasting” the same research design in different countries. To facilitate valid cross-cultural replications, we present a collection of concrete recommendations that integrate emic and etic approaches: (1) establishing an egalitarian and respectful partnership with representatives of the local community, (2) examining whether constructs carry the same meaning are relevant in and across contexts, and (3) preparing culture-sensitive research materials and procedures. These recommendations aim to inform and improve purely “etic” approaches.