In the borderland between song and speech: Vocal expressions in oral cultures (Lund University Press)

Book info: In the borderland between song and speech: Vocal expressions in oral cultures (Lund University Press) (Hardcover, 352 pages) – Lund University Press, 2022. Language: English.

This is a study of vocal expressions in the borderland between speech and song, based on performances from cultural contexts where oral transmission dominates. Approaches drawn from perspectives belonging to both ethnomusicology and linguistics are integrated in the analysis. As the idea of the performance template is employed as an analytical tool, the focus is on those techniques that make performance possible. The result is an increased understanding of what performers actually do when they employ variation or improvisation, and sometimes composition as well. The transmission of these culture-specific techniques is essential for the continuation of this form of human communication and interaction with the spirit world. By comparative study of other research, the result of the analysis is viewed in relation to ongoing processes in society.An electronic edition of this book is freely available under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND) licence.

This book aims to improve our understanding of vocal expressions that lie in the borderland between song and speech. It develops a new method for studying them that integrates perspectives from both musicology and linguistics.

Based on recorded performances representing cultures in East and Southeast Asia and Alaska, the book analyses orally transmitted vocal expressions in order to extract the performance techniques used in each genre. The resulting performance templates explain the principles governing virtually all performances within the genre in question by the same person. When the recurring elements are brought together and used to identify groups, an overall description of the performance techniques emerges. The relationship between those techniques and ongoing processes in society is discussed from a comparative perspective.

In the borderland between song and speech establishes a new path for research based on both recent documentation and as-yet-unstudied samples stored away in archives. Such research will increase our knowledge of the relationship between music and language, as well as the role of vocal expressions in human life.

Håkan Lundström is Professor Emeritus of Music and Society at Lund University
Jan-Olof Svantesson is Professor Emeritus of Linguistics at Lund University