Decolonizing Ethnomusicology, Decentering Power: Ethical Research that Benefits Cultural Custodians
Tan Sooi Beng
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Biodata
The term ‘decolonization’ connotes the ongoing process of recovering and reclaiming
histories, knowledge, and values that have been negated by colonial and neocolonial
hegemonic structures that fabricate racial, gender, and other types of discrimination and
equalities (Tuhiwai Smith: 2012). In ethnomusicology, decolonization studies call for the
decentering of theory and methodology from the dominating power of the European and
American academy particularly in the ways of conducting research, producing knowledge,
and representing the researched. The ethnomusicologist is morally obligated to participate in
critical dialogue and collaborate with the indigenous, minority, or marginalized performing
artists she works with in order to legitimize indigenous knowledge, challenge inequities, and
conduct ethical research that benefits these communities (Mackinlay: 2015, Diamond: 2019).
By complicating dichotomies such as neutrality/engagement, outsider/ insider, and theory/practice, the ethnomusicologist creates spaces for rupturing European and American thought that has been accepted as universal.
This paper contributes to the few studies on decolonizing ethnomusicological research
methods that can facilitate greater responsibility for the communities and indigenous people
regarding the representation, transmission, and sustainability of their musical cultures
(Mackinlay: 2015, Araujo et al: 2006). Based on my own long-term research on the Chinese
glove puppet theatre in Malaysia, an endangered minority form of musical-theatre that does
not receive support of the nation state or the Chinese community, this essay advocates for
engaged activist research as a decolonizing methodology. To decenter the power of the
researcher as the cultural expert, I engage in self-reflexivity, bottom-up participatory research,
and dialogic collaboration with the tradition bearers; I involve young people in the
community as researchers and apprentices, and become an active mediator in the political and
cultural issues affecting the performers. The final research products are co-authored with the
incorporation of different forms of media such as videos, pop-ups, and flipbooks, as well as
performances that can be easily accessed by the community. Through this method, the
cultural custodians are given the opportunity to represent themselves, generate and
disseminate knowledge, and rejuvenate their cultures in their own ways.
Tan Sooi Beng is Professor of Ethnomusicology at the School of the Arts, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang. She is the author of Bangsawan: A Social and Stylistic History of Popular Malay Opera (Oxford University Press, 1993), and co-author of Music of Malaysia: Classical, Folk and Syncretic Traditions (Routledge, 2017), and Longing for the Past, the 78 RPM Era in Southeast Asia (Dust-to-Digital 2013), which won the joint SEM Bruno Nettl Prize, 2014. She also co-authored a multimedia book and box set on the Potehi of Penang (George Town World Heritage Incorporated, 2017) and edited the book Eclectic Cultures for All: The Development of the Peranakan Performing, Visual and Material Arts in Penang (USM, 2019). Tan serves in the Advisory Editorial Board of Asian Music (USA), and is an elected Executive Board Member of the International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM). She is an advocate of activist scholarship and is engaged in the practice of community theatre for young people in Penang and the development of a community archives for Malaysian Music.