The Shaman’s Drum: Eurocentric Interpretations of Non-European Sonic Worlds
VIRUS - Beiträge zur Sozialgeschichte der Medizin January 1, 2023 Bernd Brabec 1 citation
The term 'shamanism' was brought to Europe from Russian Siberia in the 17th century and reinterpreted as an epitome of the exotic and diabolic until the 20th century. In the last third of the 20th century, the term was romanticized in alternative and New Age contexts, transforming associated Indigenous ritual music—such as monotonous drumming—so that anyone could play it. Both the historical construction of the exotic and contemporary romantic appropriations are based on colonial prejudices against what was considered 'primitive' and ignore Indigenous historical and contemporary realities.