PROJECTS 1. Apply John Blacking's ethnographic material on Venda girls' initiation to a particular anthropological/ethnomusicological theoretical perspective. Possible questions that could be addressed include: How does Venda girls' initiation relate to van Gennep's model of initiation? How might Victor Turner's notion of communitas be applied to Venda girls' initiation? How might a functionalist have defended the argument that girls' initiation schools helped promote social stability amongst the Venda? Discuss the role of the girls' activities during initiation in relation to current perspectives on embodiment. How might the Venda girls' initiation cycle have contributed to the construction of gender identities amongst the novices? Provide an interpretive analysis of the symbolism employed in one of the ngoma or set of related dzingoma of the domba school.  2. What does John Blacking's material on Venda girls' initiation schools reveal about his fieldwork methods? 3. In the chapter 'Venda Music' of this website/CD-Rom, Blacking outlines his method of 'cultural analysis of music', and applies it to the songs of vhusha and tshikanda. Choose a song from the domba repertoire, and apply the analytic technique to it. If you choose a song that is not in the 'key' of C it is wise to begin by transposing it. 4. Apply the Venda 'rules' for the relationship between speech-tones and melodic contour to one or more songs of vhusha.  To return, click 'Back' in the browser.