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The Ethics of Ndau Performance: Questioning Ethnomusicology's Aesthetics

The examination of two contexts of Ndau performance from southeastern Zimbabwe—ceremonial drumming for spirit possession and secular muchongoyo dance/drumming—is an excellent starting point for reopening discussion about the analytical value of aesthetics in ethnomusicology. Members of these communities evaluate performances according to specific ethical values and social expectations. The parameters, values, and expectations that shape Ndau responses to sacred and secular performances can be compared to the legacy of aesthetic discourses in ethnomusicology that emerge from Immanuel Kant. Ultimately, aesthetics seems a counterproductive tool for understanding how communities such as this evaluate local performance practices. Within Ndau communities, the good is coterminous with the beautiful.