In the 1980s, many musicians and journalists in the English-speaking world began to draw attention to music from around the

Question

In the 1980s, many musicians and journalists in the English-speaking world began to draw attention to music from around the globe—such as mbaqanga from South Africa and quan h� from Vietnam—that can’t be easily egorized according to British or South American popular music genres, typically referring to such music as “world music.” While some scholars have welcomed this development for bringing diverse musical forms to prominence in countries where they’d previously been overlooked, musicologist Su Zheng claims that the concept of world music homogenizes highly distinct traditions by reducing them all to a single egory.

Which finding about mbaqanga and quan h�, if true, would most directly support Zheng’s claim?

Accepted Answer

Choice A is the best answer. Zheng&rsquo;s claim is that the idea of world music &ldquo;homogenizes&rdquo; (meaning makes similar) distinct kinds of music by reducing them to one egory. In other words, Zheng thinks the concept of world music is a harmful oversimplifiion of diverse musical forms. To support this claim, we need evidence that these musical traditions are so different from one another that they should not fall into the same egory. If it&rsquo;s true that mbaqanga and quan h� developed separately and have little in common musically, then it wouldn&rsquo;t make sense to lump them into the same egory. Choice B is incorrect. If true, this wouldn&rsquo;t affect the claim. To support the claim, we need evidence that these musical traditions are so different from one another that they should not fall into the same egory. A difference in popularity doesn&rsquo;t necessarily mean that the two musical traditions shouldn&rsquo;t be egorized together: instead, we need to know if the music itself is similar or different. Choice C is incorrect. If true, this wouldn&rsquo;t affect the claim. To support the claim, we need evidence that these musical traditions are so different from each other that they should not fall into the same egory. This choice doesn&rsquo;t do that. Choice D is incorrect. If true, this would actually weaken the claim. Zheng thinks it&rsquo;s reductive or oversimplifying to put distinct musical traditions into a single egory. But if mbaqanga and quan h� are similar to each other, then it would make sense to put them in the same egory.

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