The volume in hand deals with modes of inquiry and interpretation
broadly organised into sections on theory, and historical and creative
studies. The section on theoretical issues comprises papers on: the
problem of meaning in African music; musicology and African music; the
juncture of the social and the musical; integrating objectivity and
experience in ethnomusicological studies; the aesthetic dimension in
ethnomusicological studies; universal perspectives in ethnomusicology;
and contextual strategies of inquiry and systematisation. The section on
creative and historical topics covers the following: the history of
music in African culture; history and the organization of music in West
Africa; historical evidence in Ga religious music; processes of
differentiation and interdependency in African music; African musical
roots in the Americas; and developing contemporary idioms out of
traditional music.