Labrecque-Lee Book 2022 Award Announcement

The Labrecque-Lee Book Award was established in 2018, and named in honour of two outstanding Canadian anthropologists, Marie-France Labrecque and Richard Borshay Lee.

The Labrecque-Lee Book Award honors a single or co-authored monograph on sociocultural, archaeological, bio-cultural, ethnohistorical or linguistic work, in French or English. It is given to CASCA members who demonstrate a Canadian affiliation through either their fieldwork, institution, degree or funding. The winner is honored at the CASCA annual meeting and receives a $500 award. In 2022, the Committee was composed of Nathalie Boucher, Karoline Truchon, Katie Kilroy-Marac, Greg Allan Beckett, Wendy Wickwire, and Rine Vieth. Seven monographs published in 2021 were submitted. The Committee’s criteria are richness and deepness of ethnography, strength of theoretical work, literary style, originality, and contribution to anthropological debates.

The Committee is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2022 Labrecque-Lee Book Award is Dr. Yana Stainova, for her book Sonorous Worlds: Musical Enchantment In Venezuela, published by the University of Michigan Press. Dr. Stainova is an assistant professor at McMaster University.

Sonorous Worlds is an ethnography of young Venezuelans enrolled in El Sistema. El Sistema is a national and public program of musical education created in 1975, which is part of the socialist political line of the government. At its peak, the program was attended by nearly one million students. The author explores how, for many young people living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods where violence is a daily occurrence, El Sistema offers, through the voice of musical enchantment, an escape, a break, a critique of the dominant structures of exclusion and repression.

The ethnographic research behind this book took place between 2011 and 2015. It is solid and astute, both theoretically and methodologically. The book does not focus on the institution that is El Sistema. Rather, by interviewing students, conductors, directors, and employees, the author focuses on the ways in which participants at El Sistema, during and after their participation in the program, continue to build worlds of experience and self-expression that allow them to flourish in the midst of suffering, marginalization, and social injustice (pp. 10–11). The book’s main organizing scheme (around the central ideas of music, enchantment, aspiration, and power), works well and shows how the argument moves from the narrow sense of music making to much broader aspects of social life.

The ethnography is beautifully written and has an engaging and accessible balance of ethnographic and theoretical data. It was this detail of balance in particular that most convinced the Committee. This balance stems from an effective and sensitive narrative between conversations with informants and their families, observations in the corridors of local El Sistema schools as well as during political events, and broader theoretical concerns. This balance results in part from the fact that the author skillfully builds her understanding of the embodied and affective dimensions of music and socialist politics on her own experience.

Sonorous Worlds offers an opportunity to think deeply about all aspects of ethnographic research and writing (the methods/conceptualization of research, writing an incredible introduction, how to “get into” the work, etc.). Although the book is very much focused on music and its sensory and responsive dimensions—which a priori might be of interest to a limited Canadian audience—the author’s articulation of the notion of enchantment is compelling and innovative. In particular, the argument about sound worlds and ineffability makes significant contributions to conversations in anthropology about subjectivity, politics, affect and ambivalence. In addition, the book includes detailed descriptions of the concrete applications of theory to the field, and careful considerations of empirical events as fertile contributions to theoretical reflection. This work sets a new standard for the richness of exchange between anthropologists and informants.

The solid balance of authorial voice, theoretical engagement, and empirical construction in Dr. Stainova’s book has had a great impact on the committee, which sees in this how anthropologists, students and the general public could relate to, learn from, and debate about. This book has opened up new worlds of thought and reflection for our committee.

The Committee would like to acknowledge, with an honorable mention, the book What was said to me: The Life of Sti’tum’atul’wut, a Cowichan Woman, by Ruby Peter (in collaboration with Helene Demers (Royal BC Museum). The book is a first-person oral history of Cowichan Elder Ruby Peter (Sti’tum’atul’wut), who dedicated her life to teaching and preserving the Hul’q’umi’num’ language and endeavoring to keep language and traditions intact. It tells a story of colonial resistance an Indigenous survival through the incredible life history of the author, from youth to old age through the Second World War, schooling, and initiation as a Thi’tha (shaman). Edited by anthropologist Helene Demers, the book is extremely accessible. The beautiful and poignant narration reads as if it was heard. The creative process, although not detailed, and the life itself of Ruby Peter left a strong impression among the Committee members, who warmly recommend it to anyone with an interest in Indigenous studies or in the writing of oral history.

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Announcement of the Labrecque-Lee Book Award 2022

The Labrecque-Lee Book Award was created in 2018 and named in honour of two outstanding Canadian anthropologists, Marie-France Labrecque and Richard Borshay Lee.

The Labrecque-Lee Book Award honors an authored or co-written monograph, in any discipline (sociocultural, archaeological, biocultural, ethnocultural, ethnohistorical or linguistic), in French or English. The Award is given to CASCA members who demonstrate a Canadian affiliation through their fieldwork, their institutional affiliation, their degree-granting institution or their funding. The winner is honoured at the CASCA annual meeting and receives a $500 prize. In 2022, the Committee was composed of Nathalie Boucher, Karoline Truchon, Katie Kilroy-Marac, Greg Allan Beckett, Wendy Wickwire and Rine Vieth. Seven monographs published in 2021 were submitted. The Committee’s criteria are the richness and depth of ethnography, the strength of theoretical work, literary style, originality, and contribution to anthropological debates.

The Committee is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2022 Labrecque-Lee Book Award is Dr. Yana Stainova, for her book Sonorous Worlds: Musical Enchantment In Venezuela, published by the University of Michigan Press. Yana Stainova is an assistant professor at McMaster University.

Sonorous Worlds is an ethnography of young Venezuelans enrolled in El Sistema. This national public program of musical education was created in 1975 and is part of the socialist political line of the Venezuelan government. At its height, it welcomed nearly one million Venezuelans. The author explores how, for many young people living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods where violence is a daily occurrence, El Sistema offers, through the voice of musical enchantment, an escape, a break, a critique of the dominant structures of exclusion and repression.

The ethnographic research behind this book, which took place between 2011 and 2015, is solid and astute, both theoretically and methodologically. The work does not focus on the institution that is El Sistema. But by interviewing students, conductors, directors, and employees, the author is interested in the ways in which participants in El Sistema, during and after the program, continue to build worlds of experience and self-expression that allow them to flourish through suffering, marginalization, and injustice (our translation, pp. 10–11). The book’s main organizing scheme (around central ideas: music, enchantment, aspiration, and power) works well and shows how the argument moves from the narrow sense of music-making to much broader aspects of social life.

The ethnography is beautifully written and presents an engaging and accessible balance of ethnographic and theoretical data. It is particularly this aspect of balance that most convinced the committee. This balance owes to an effective and sensitive narration between conversations with informants and their families, field observations in the corridors of local El Sistema bodies as well as political demonstrations, and broader theoretical concerns. This balance results in part from the fact that the author skilfully builds her understanding of the embodied and affective aspects of music (and of socialist politics) on her own experience.

Sonorous Worlds offers an opportunity to reflect deeply on all aspects of ethnographic research and the art of writing (methods/conceptualization of research, writing an incredible introduction, how to “get into” the work, etc.). Although the work is very focused on music and its sensory and responsive dimensions — which a priori might interest a limited Canadian audience — the author’s articulation of the notion of enchantment is convincing and innovative. In particular, the argument on sound worlds and ineffability makes significant contributions to conversations in anthropology about subjectivity, politics, affect and ambivalence. In addition, the work includes detailed descriptions of the processes of concrete applications of theory to the field, and careful considerations of empirical events as fertile contributions to theoretical reflection. This work sets a new standard for the richness of exchanges between anthropologists and their interlocutors.

The solid balance between the author's voice, theoretical engagement, and empirical construction in Yana Stainova's work had a great impact on the committee, which sees in this how anthropologists, students and the general public could relate to it, learn from it, and debate. This work has opened new worlds of thought and reflection for our committee.

The Committee wishes to recognize, with an honorable mention, the book What was said to me: The Life of Sti’tum’atul’wut, a Cowichan Woman, by Ruby Peter (in collaboration with Helene Demers [Royal BC Museum]). This book presents the first-person oral history of Cowichan elder Ruby Peter [Sti’tum’atul’wut], who dedicated her life to teaching and preserving the Hul’q’umi’num’ language and traditions. The book tells the story of colonial resistance and Indigenous survival through the incredible life history of the author, from her youth through the Second World War, schooling, and her initiation as a Thi’tha (shaman). Edited by anthropologist Helene Demers, the book is very accessible. The narration, beautiful and moving, reads as if it were heard. The creative process, although not detailed, and Ruby Peter’s life as such left a strong impression among the Committee members, who warmly recommend it to anyone interested in Indigenous studies or in the writing of oral history.