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The Context of Venda Possession Music: Reflections on the Effectiveness of Symbols

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2019

John Blacking
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Extract

Cases of trance, ecstasy, spirit possession, and other institutionalized states of altered consciousness have frequently been invoked is discussions of the effectiveness of musical symbols, often as if they were the most convincing proof of the extraordinary powers of music. They are, of course, more visibly dramatic than an individual's quiet and total absorption in the performance of a moving piece of music; but there is as yet no evidence that these two kinds of experience are essentially different or that the appropriately different styles of music are crucial factors in generating the different kinds of response.

Type
Articles
Information
Yearbook for Traditional Music , Volume 17 , 1985 , pp. 64 - 87
Copyright
Copyright © 1985 by the International Council for Traditional Music

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References

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