Sweers & Ross/Cultural Mapping and Musical Diversity, Introduction. Cultural Mapping and Musical Diversity

Cultural Mapping has become a central method within the UNESCO context that has been focusing on safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage, which likewise includes music. Yet, the method of mapping has long been neglected within ethnomusicology. Briefly sketching central framing issues of this book, such as the UNESCO and the Intangible Cultural Heritage debate, the Introduction thus addresses the question of far the approach of Cultural Mapping can be transferred to ethnomusicology. This is intertwined with central issues, such as general possibilities of musical mapping, the role of diversity with regard to the sustainability of musical environments, and the interrelation of music and landscape. Set against this background, the book is thus subdivided into four parts that address 1. the actual process of musical mapping in ethnomusicology; 2. cultural landscape and music; 3. music and the politics of the UNESCO-related Intangible Cultural Heritage debate, which is further illustrated by 4. individual case studies of music as Intangible Cultural Heritage.