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课文内容
What in the World?
During the late 20th century, greater ease of travel and the information revolution exposed Western ears to an unprecedented variety of unfamiliar but fascinating musical forms.“World Music”began as a marketing concept to sell these sounds to the mainstream public. It went on to developsintosa movement seeking to bring these disparate1 musical stylessintosa common fold.
The criterion for inclusion was a strong and discernible2 link to an established localized tradition. Therefore, Indian sitarists, African drummers, and Balinese Gamelan orchestras could find their music being marketed and sold alongside Western folk genres such as bluegrass, zydeco, and Celtic.
However, as its name suggests, World Music is an expansive category. It is more easily defined by what it is not, rather than by what it is.Popularity is frowned upon,3 as are elitist or urban origins. This obviously disqualifies Western classical music and modern, industry-produced pop. But it is the genres that fall in between that give rise to battles among World Music aficionados.
For example, why is jazz music acceptable as an expression of African-American culture---regardless of its urban roots---while rap is excluded? And why is country-blues welcome when blues-based rock is left out? These seemingly arbitrary4 distinctions continue to fuel the debate over what is“real”World Music---and what is not.
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