Abstract
This essay develops the idea of perceiving and practicing ethnographic research through the lens of music-making. I propose and initially explore four tenets of approaching ethnographic research about human interaction as aesthetic activities of making music together. Accomplishing this stance involves: (1) active involvement and inclusion of all parties in the emerging process of composition, improvisation, and performance; (2) committed listening, attunement, and mutual responsiveness; (3) achieving reflexive immersion while embracing the ethical demands of assemblage; and (4) co-achieving rhythm and the connections of musical temporality and form. In doing so, I emphasize theoretical and lived understandings of an aesthetics of interpersonal communication. I argue that it is vital to recognize the interconnection of aesthetic activities with everyday life and the opportunity to learn and create possible understandings together in ethnographic inquiry.
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Rawlins, W.K. (2019). Approaching Ethnographic Research About Human Interaction as Making Music Together. In: Costa, A., Reis, L., Moreira, A. (eds) Computer Supported Qualitative Research. WCQR 2018. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 861. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01406-3_17
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