Encoding song : faithful defiance in Mexican Mennonite music making
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2008. Music Includes bibliographical references (leaves 340-353) Between 1922 and 1926, over 7,000 Old Colony Mennonites left Canada to settle in northern Mexico. In addition to prioritizing religious education, rejecting "technology," a...
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ftmemorialunivdc:oai:collections.mun.ca:theses4/122365 2023-05-15T17:23:33+02:00 Encoding song : faithful defiance in Mexican Mennonite music making Klassen, Judith Marie, 1976- Memorial University of Newfoundland. School of Music Mexico, North 2008 xii, 353 leaves : col. ill., maps Image/jpeg; Application/pdf http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/theses4/id/122365 Eng eng Electronic Theses and Dissertations (41.03 MB) -- http://collections.mun.ca/PDFs/theses/Klassen_JudithMarie.pdf a2701091 http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/theses4/id/122365 The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. Paper copy kept in the Centre for Newfoundland Studies, Memorial University Libraries Mennonites--Mexico North--Songs and music North--Religious life and customs Text 2008 ftmemorialunivdc 2015-08-06T19:22:24Z Thesis (Ph.D.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2008. Music Includes bibliographical references (leaves 340-353) Between 1922 and 1926, over 7,000 Old Colony Mennonites left Canada to settle in northern Mexico. In addition to prioritizing religious education, rejecting "technology," and maintaining Low and High German as their vernacular and worship languages, respectively, this pacifist religious group practiced nonconformity by proscribing particular forms of song practice. This meant the singing of lange Wies ("long way" or "long melody") in worship, and the forbidding of musical instruments in public and domestic spheres. While musical prohibitions have lessened in recent years, instrument use, genre choices, and performance styles remain contentious. -- The Mennonite colonies in northern Mexico are currently comprised of Old Colony, Kleine Gemeinde, and Evangelical churches. Despite their shared Anabaptist heritage, diverse - and sometimes conflicting - understandings of what it means to "be Mennonite" among these churches have meant that for Old Colonists, "worldly" influences have not only come from beyond their communities, but from within the Mennonite colonies themselves. -- This dissertation is grounded in research conducted in Mexico in 2006, and explores how analyses of song repertoire, performance style, social interaction, and the assigning of musical meaning might inform understandings of Mennonite faith communities. Narratives of covert musicking in conserving domestic spaces, defiant song practices among Old Colony youth in the more public Singstunde ("singing hour"), and careful musical decisions made by evangelical Mennonites in their efforts to "share the gospel" with conserving Mennonite neighbours, demonstrate that essentialist depictions of Mexican Mennonites, emphasizing conservative values and resistance to change, frequently cloud efforts to the contrary from within Mennonite colonies themselves. -- Building on past research that has emphasized the didactic function of song among non-conformist religious communities, and engaging diasporic theory to emphasize the agency of conserving Mennonites within these communities, this study demonstrates that devout belief and defiant song practice are not mutually exclusive. Further, by examining the overlapping roles of church community and family in the performance of faith, it expands models for religious experience that rely on individual-collective dialectics. Finally, by engaging ethnography in relation to Mennonite song practice and belief, this study complicates the easy polarization of evangelical and conserving faith experience. Text Newfoundland studies University of Newfoundland Memorial University of Newfoundland: Digital Archives Initiative (DAI) Canada |
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Memorial University of Newfoundland: Digital Archives Initiative (DAI) |
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English |
topic |
Mennonites--Mexico North--Songs and music North--Religious life and customs |
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Mennonites--Mexico North--Songs and music North--Religious life and customs Klassen, Judith Marie, 1976- Encoding song : faithful defiance in Mexican Mennonite music making |
topic_facet |
Mennonites--Mexico North--Songs and music North--Religious life and customs |
description |
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2008. Music Includes bibliographical references (leaves 340-353) Between 1922 and 1926, over 7,000 Old Colony Mennonites left Canada to settle in northern Mexico. In addition to prioritizing religious education, rejecting "technology," and maintaining Low and High German as their vernacular and worship languages, respectively, this pacifist religious group practiced nonconformity by proscribing particular forms of song practice. This meant the singing of lange Wies ("long way" or "long melody") in worship, and the forbidding of musical instruments in public and domestic spheres. While musical prohibitions have lessened in recent years, instrument use, genre choices, and performance styles remain contentious. -- The Mennonite colonies in northern Mexico are currently comprised of Old Colony, Kleine Gemeinde, and Evangelical churches. Despite their shared Anabaptist heritage, diverse - and sometimes conflicting - understandings of what it means to "be Mennonite" among these churches have meant that for Old Colonists, "worldly" influences have not only come from beyond their communities, but from within the Mennonite colonies themselves. -- This dissertation is grounded in research conducted in Mexico in 2006, and explores how analyses of song repertoire, performance style, social interaction, and the assigning of musical meaning might inform understandings of Mennonite faith communities. Narratives of covert musicking in conserving domestic spaces, defiant song practices among Old Colony youth in the more public Singstunde ("singing hour"), and careful musical decisions made by evangelical Mennonites in their efforts to "share the gospel" with conserving Mennonite neighbours, demonstrate that essentialist depictions of Mexican Mennonites, emphasizing conservative values and resistance to change, frequently cloud efforts to the contrary from within Mennonite colonies themselves. -- Building on past research that has emphasized the didactic function of song among non-conformist religious communities, and engaging diasporic theory to emphasize the agency of conserving Mennonites within these communities, this study demonstrates that devout belief and defiant song practice are not mutually exclusive. Further, by examining the overlapping roles of church community and family in the performance of faith, it expands models for religious experience that rely on individual-collective dialectics. Finally, by engaging ethnography in relation to Mennonite song practice and belief, this study complicates the easy polarization of evangelical and conserving faith experience. |
author2 |
Memorial University of Newfoundland. School of Music |
format |
Text |
author |
Klassen, Judith Marie, 1976- |
author_facet |
Klassen, Judith Marie, 1976- |
author_sort |
Klassen, Judith Marie, 1976- |
title |
Encoding song : faithful defiance in Mexican Mennonite music making |
title_short |
Encoding song : faithful defiance in Mexican Mennonite music making |
title_full |
Encoding song : faithful defiance in Mexican Mennonite music making |
title_fullStr |
Encoding song : faithful defiance in Mexican Mennonite music making |
title_full_unstemmed |
Encoding song : faithful defiance in Mexican Mennonite music making |
title_sort |
encoding song : faithful defiance in mexican mennonite music making |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/theses4/id/122365 |
op_coverage |
Mexico, North |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
Newfoundland studies University of Newfoundland |
genre_facet |
Newfoundland studies University of Newfoundland |
op_source |
Paper copy kept in the Centre for Newfoundland Studies, Memorial University Libraries |
op_relation |
Electronic Theses and Dissertations (41.03 MB) -- http://collections.mun.ca/PDFs/theses/Klassen_JudithMarie.pdf a2701091 http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/theses4/id/122365 |
op_rights |
The author retains copyright ownership and moral rights in this thesis. Neither the thesis nor substantial extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's permission. |
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1766113312168214528 |