In ethnomusicology it is often taken for granted that aesthetic judgements and evaluations are made in the traditions we investigate. However, aesthetics as a Western philosophy of art may be too deeply rooted in Western thought to be meaningfully applied to non-Western societies and cultures. Therefore, in 2019 a symposium on Ethnoaesthetics of Music hosted at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz raised the following questions: • What, if anything, can aesthetics and ethnomusicology learn from each other? • Which categories, if any, has aesthetics developed and refined that might turn out to be useful to ethnomusicology? • How, if at all, could social or cultural anthropology in general and ethnomusicology in particular correct the traditional Eurocentrism of aesthetics? Speakers were asked to discuss both general issues and specific case studies exemplifying their ideas. The present volume provides a vivid impression of the range of concepts and examples covered in their papers. In the final discussion, the term ethnoaesthetics – which had served as a catchword for the event – was scrutinized and challenged. In order to avoid the prefix ethno- and to highlight the cross-cultural approach advocated here, the term comparative aesthetics was proposed. It has been adopted in the title of this book, which is borrowed from a 1982 paper by Christopher Marshall. As will become apparent in the essays presented here, we have made some progress in our engagement with music aesthetics in a cross-cultural perspective. Still, the general challenge of this endeavor persists; it is our hope that this collection will inspire further in-depth studies and fruitful dialogue, further expanding our understanding of music aesthetics in musical cultures around the world.weiterlesen