Description

DISCOURSE and MUSIC

 

Anthropology 393

 

 

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This course explores the relationship between musical "discourse" and verbal / kinesic discourse (including dance), seeking to extract rules that are common to both, to place both in a common performance frame, and to describe the ways in which music on occasion attempts to emulate spoken communication and speech on occasion attempts to emulate music, as well as the ways that people speak about music in their verbal discourse, or "play" speech musically.   Crucial to the perspective taken here is the notion of performance, corollaries to which are interpretation in context and culture construction through performance. 

 

Week 1      What is speech?   What is Music?   To which category does chanting belong?

                        How does dance fit in musically, communicatively?

Creativity and Novelty in Speech and in Music

 

Week 2      Gender and Sex in speech and in music, dance

 

Week 3      Social segmentation – (caste, class, race)  in speech and in music

 

Week 4       Classification  in Speech and Music:   genres, instruments, situations,

                        Oratory, Recitation, Joking, …..

                        Jazz, Classical, Pop, R&B, R&R, Alternative, Rock, Acid Rock, World, 

 

Week 5             Instruments of speech (vocal auditory channel, telephonic, computer,  writing)

Musical instruments  (piano, guitar, bass, ….)

                        Dance instruments  (body, other accoutrements)

 

Week 6      The different natures of communication through speech and music

                        Music and speech in space and time

                        Trance, dance, and possession in music and speech  (cf.  Kapchan)

 

Week 7      Speaking of Music, and Musical renditions of speech

 

Week 8       Analyzing speech and music structurally

     

Week 9             Speech and Music in Religion

 

Week 10           Acquisition of competence in speaking and musicianship

 

Week 11         Preferences and Taboos in Speech and Music

 

Week 12           Identity Issues w/ speech and music

 

Week 13          Power and persuasion in speech and in music

 

Week 14          Curing with speech, curing with music   (Bribri,  Kuna)

 

 

Bibliography

midis

 


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Comments

10/13/2004