Georg Joseph Vogler's Samori

This dissertation offers a critical examination of Georg Joseph Vogler's opera Samori, focusing on its portrayal of Indian identities and cultural heritage. Utilizing my newly developed Intercultural Positionality Framework (IPF), the study addresses limitations in traditional opera analysis by providing an interdisciplinary approach to scrutinize cultural depictions. The IPF, rooted in positionality theory, incorporates a threefold heuristic assessing positionality, views of the Self and Others, and representations of the Self and Others. My ethnocentrism-relativism spectrum within the IPF aids in distinguishing cultural viewpoints among creators, ranging from ethnocentric to relativistic. The dissertation contributes to three main areas. First, it introduces the IPF as a tool for analyzing musical works within a cultural and power-dynamic context. Second, it broadens our understanding of Vogler's interactions with non-European cultures, thereby enriching interpretations of his works. Third, it situates Samori within the broader landscape of late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century exoticist works, specifically in relation to German perceptions of India. Through an exploration of Vogler's life, works, and evolving perspectives on cultural difference, the study also illuminates contemporaneous shifts in German intellectual thought about India. Vogler's approach to depicting India in Samori, sourced from scholarly writings—including works by Pierre Sonnerat, Georg Forster, and Fra Paolino da San Bartolomeo—exemplifies a complex interplay between cultural exoticism and relativism. This detailed depiction provides a meaningful examination of cultural representation in opera. The study offers a distinctive perspective to ongoing discussions in musicology about diversity and identity and underscores the potential of the IPF for future scholarship.