JOHN BLACKING COLLECTION

One of the most important ethnomusicologists of the twentieth century, John Blacking was committed to the idea that music making is a fundamental and universal attribute of the human species. The John Blacking Collection comprises Blacking’s original research data on African music including his diaries, field notes, audio recordings, photographic negatives, 8mm films and unpublished conference papers.

Groupings of papers that have been identified within the collection are:

• field notes, including questionnaires detailing the life and music-making of the Venda people, diaries and notebooks with stories told by the people, field recordings, transcriptions of rhythms and songs, photographs and moving images, and Blacking’s own observations and reflections

• working notes that show the sophisticated way Blacking structured his thinking when tackling complex matters, including questions, observations and jottings

• personal views and frank comments which give an insight into his private thinking

• published and unpublished writings, including articles and speeches delivered at academic and professional gatherings

• administrative documents relating to his work as an editor of seminal publications and as a leading figure on many projects

• correspondence

• early drafts of writings showing the development of a work or an idea

This unique collection is an internationally significant resource for both ethnomusicologists and anthropologists. The collection was donated to The Callaway Centre by Dr Zureena Desai, Professor Blacking's widow, and constitutes a valuable and rare archive.

Extent of Collection

The collection occupies 24.7 linear metres of space and spans a thirty-five year period. It contains approximately 1,474 archival files, 141 5mm reel to reel tapes, 115 audio tapes, 240 vinyl LPs, 49 8mm films, 1,500 visual slides,
1,000 photographs, 35 notebooks and 47 manuscripts.

Status of Collection

The collection has been sorted into archival Series and partially processed as part of the Blacking Collection Project in 2006-2007.

Finding Aid

Series Titles listing

Further Information

The University of Washington Ethnomusicology Archive has digitised audio examples of Venda music selected by John Blacking to accompany his book, How Musical is Man?.