Research on Music and Healing in Ethnomusicology and Music Therapy.

Abstract

This thesis examines current developments in the research and discourse on music and healing. Ethnomusicology has involved extensive work on documenting traditional music and healing traditions; however, ethnomusicologists have neglected to contribute their knowledge and effort to healthcare-oriented research. Music therapy, on the other hand, has been focusing on the benefit of the patient, but rarely relates its practices to traditional music and healing traditions or non-Western music. Despite the recent establishment of the Medical Ethnomusicology Special Interest Group in the Society for Ethnomusicology and increasing awareness of world music and cultural diversity in music therapy, scholars in the two fields have not yet collaborated with each other extensively. The motivations for this thesis are: to review previous developments in research on music and healing, to find out the reasons for the changes in the research trends of the past decade, and to see possible research directions in the future.