A Spiral Way: How the Phonograph Changed Ethnography
Brady (folk studies, Western Kentucky Univ.) critically explores the early use of and controversy surrounding the phonograph in anthropology and folklore research. First wax cylinders and then discs recorded the myths, music, language, and religious ceremonies of vanishing Native American (Crow, Hopi, Navajo, Omaha, Ute, and Zuni) cultures. With restraint and candor, Brady reports on the pioneering work of Jesse Walter Fewkes and Frank Hamilton Cushing and discusses the social problems always inherent within the complex relationships among collector and informant and machine in anthropological fieldwork. Her own glimpses into the methodological ideas of Franz Boas and Ernst Mach (among others) reveal the emerging empiricism that dominated the social sciences at the beginning of the 20th century. Brady emphasizes the scientific value of phonograph recordings in preserving aspects of those cultures that have changed or disappeared. For social scientists, this is a unique and important contribution to the history of ethnography. Highly recommended for all large academic and public anthropology collections.AH. James Birx, Canisius Coll., Buffalo, NYCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.