Introduction

Culture is a powerful sociological concept. Sociologists define culture “as the languages, customs, beliefs, rules, arts, knowledge, and collective identities and memories developed by members of all social groups that make their social environments meaningful” (“Culture”).  Put briefly, everything you think, do, and use is predicated on your cultural context. Take for example, feeding toddlers. Since humans are biologically the same, our biological needs for calories and nutrients do not vary by country, but our definition of what is “tasty” and ‘’appropriate” does. According to Parents magazine, food preferences for toddlers vary widely around the world (Badal). While American toddlers crave dairy products, cheerios and chicken nuggets, Japanese toddlers want egg-flavored rice with broiled fish, seasonal vegetables and tofu, and Israeli toddlers prefer olive and butter sandwiches served with apricot juice and fresh fruit. Something as simple as food preference is determined by your culture.

Ethnocentrism

Some of you are thinking – “How on earth do Israeli and Japanese parents get those kids to eat fish and olives and vegetables? Kids do not like that stuff!” This is because of ethnocentrism. The Sociological concept of ethnocentrism is the idea that the elements of one’s own culture or subculture are infinitely better than those of another cultural group, and are “natural” and “absolute” (“Ethnocentrism”). American ethnocentrism would suggest that since US toddlers will not touch an olive or broiled fish as a general rule, it must be true for all toddlers. Besides, you must be thinking, dairy is full of calcium, and cheerios are whole grain, and that is good for children. But were you born in Japan, you would “know” that seaweed and fish contain that which makes kids healthy.

Cultural Relativism

Defining what is “good” is a matter of culture. Many cultures see the US diet as unhealthy for children just as we see the diets of Japan and Israel as unrealistic for toddlers. Seen outside of their cultural contexts, all three diets would be a challenge for parents if they tried to switch. Imagine getting your young cousin to eat sushi! When seen in the context of the cultures within which they occur, these culinary preferences are perfectly sensible. That introduces another sociological term, cultural relativism.

The opposite of Ethnocentrism is Cultural Relativism, which means that cultures and cultural elements cannot be judged by a single standard. Rather, cultural elements must be analyzed within the cultural context in which they occur – that is, they must be contextualized by being placed in their proper cultural setting (Fernando). In our case above, the diets of the respective toddlers emerge within the contexts of the particular social and historical experiences of the cultures in which they occur. Armed with this notion, the Japanese toddlers’ preference for rice and fish is understandable because these foods are not only nutritious, but common in an island culture, and are a reflection of the diets of their parents. The Israeli toddler’s food of choice is also consistent with the Mediterranean culture in which it is served. The US toddler’s menu is a reflection of a culture where convenient and processed food stuffs are common and reflect the realities of US parents. All three are not a reflection of the nutritional needs of toddlers, but rather of the “… customs, beliefs, rules, … knowledge, and collective identities and memories developed by members of all social groups that make their social environments meaningful…”(“Culture”).

Because our own cultural elements are ‘normal’ to us, it is only natural that we use them as ‘standards’ when evaluating what is unfamiliar to us. When I traveled in Asia, hotels would serve breakfast buffets with Asian breakfast selections such as pickled vegetables and rice porridge (congee) on one side of the buffet table, and American selections such as omelets and sweet rolls on the other side. As I ate my choices, I would watch others peruse the buffet. I saw many people look at the American foods with disgust while others looked at the Asian foods with the same disgust. Both types of food were viewed with equal dismay by those to whom they were unfamiliar.

Similarly, some people, when hearing unfamiliar music will exclaim “that’s not music!” when what they hear sounds different from the music they’re used to.  Again, while I was traveling in Asia and heard concerts of Asian traditional musical styles, I overheard many comments from Western tourists that asked questions such as “how can they listen to that?” and  “Do they really LIKE that?” Because unfamiliar music does not sound the same as their own music, people frequently judge it not to be music, or they find it to be “primitive” or “unsophisticated” rather than “civilized” or “sophisticated” or simply “good music.”

Judging as inferior or wrong that which is ‘normal’ for other cultures (ethnocentrism), can cause disapproval, which can cause tension and conflict, whether it is about music, food, politics, or religion. Understanding reduces conflict. Because music is so fundamentally important to people, understanding music that sounds very different from our own can reduce censure and conflict between cultures. Yet when the sounds are so unfamiliar that we cannot even recognize them as music, being non-judgmental is hard. How do we approach unfamiliar music objectively? How do we suspend judgement?

One goal of this book is to introduce readers to music they have never heard before. To circumvent criticizing the unfamiliar, we suggest asking questions about it. Upon first listening we can focus on identifying what is in the sounds rather than evaluating them by asking two simple questions: What do I hear in this music that sounds familiar? What do I hear in this music that sounds unfamiliar?

The specific learning objectives that will be fulfilled in each chapter are the following:

The first two chapters of this book provide musical and analytic tools necessary to understand the songs and the regions of the world we study. The first chapter defines musical elements, and introduces the vocabulary necessary to identify and understand stylistic traits of different types of music. The second chapter demonstrates the tools used to identify and understand the cultural values and elements that provide the context for the music. It also demonstrates how musical elements connect to cultural elements.

Subsequent chapters of this book cover unique musical cultures. Each begins with music that may or may not be familiar to the readers. The on-line text contains links to YouTube and Spotify so that readers may listen to the songs discussed. Readers begin each chapter by identifying the familiar sounds of the music as well as the unfamiliar sounds. Then, because cultural relativism suggests that we can only understand cultural elements within their own context, each chapter presents information about the music and culture from which it comes. Musical information presented includes typical stylistic traits and musical instruments used, as well as detailed musical descriptions of the specific songs discussed so that readers will be able to identify the culture-specific stylistic elements and instruments while listening to each song.

Information about the cultural context includes who is making the music, why they are making it, where, when, and how they are making it as well as who listens to it and why. This part also includes musical aesthetics and cultural values, as well as discussions of the roles of music in people’s lives.

This contextual information is then connected to the sounds of the songs being discussed so that readers can fully understand why the music sounds like it does and learn how to connect music to culture. Each chapter concludes with a list of songs similar to the ones discussed so that readers can apply their new contextual and musical knowledge to build skills for future encounters with new songs.

As we stated earlier, one goal of this book is to introduce readers to music they have never heard before. Two reasons underpin this goal. One is the personal enrichment of learning and growing our musical palette. The other is the growth of understanding we achieve when we can appreciate components of cultures vastly different from our own. Cross-cultural conflict arises through misunderstanding; conversely, understanding encourages concord. Music is so central to culture that musical understanding creates cultural understanding. Our goal in writing this book, then, is to promote understanding and concord through presenting music and cultures that might otherwise be unfamiliar. We wish to build acceptance and harmony through music.

Works Cited

Badal, Tanveer. “What Toddlers Eat Around the World.’  Parents, 11 January 2006. https://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/feeding/recipes/what-toddlers-eat-around-the-world/.

“Culture.” American Sociological Association, https://www.asanet.org/topics/culture.  Accessed 26 March 2021.

“Ethnocentrism.” Sociology Research, http://sociology.iresearchnet.com/sociology-of-race/ethnocentrism/.  Accesses 26 March 2021.

Fernando, Mayanthi.   “Cultural Relativism”  Oxford Bibliographies, 25 June 2013.  https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199766567/obo-9780199766567-0003.xml.