Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology

“With the publication of Let the Inside Be Sweet in 1982, Ruth M. Stone broke new methodological and analytical ground in ethnomusicology and related disciplines. Let the Inside Be Sweet was the first ethnomusicological monograph to make use of the feedback interview, a method now pervasive in ethnographic research. Equally innovative was Stone’s decision to use the “music event” as an analytical frame. A masterful move, the music event served as an ideal locus for the study of human interaction in the making of music and meanings. Synthesizing symbolic interactionism, ethnosemantics, semiotics, and performance theory, Let the Inside Be Sweet serves as a model for the study of indigenous interpretations of music, communication and social life.” -Daniel B. Reed, Associate Professor of Folklore and Ethnomusicology