Musicking Body
MUSC 117
Spring 2024 not offered
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"What is this thing called music?" asks Christopher Small in his book "Musicking" (1998) and observes, "Music is not a thing at all but an activity, something that people do." Taking a cue from Small's concept of "musicking" as an inherently social and physical process, this course will explore the role of the human body in the act of music performance and the creation of musical meaning. We will discuss interdisciplinary approaches to the study of music as embodied experience, drawing insight from fields as diverse as philosophy, feminist and performance studies, anthropology, ethnochoreology, and ethnomusicology. We will examine the modes, aesthetics, and cultural connotations of bodily expression, movement, and gesture in a variety of music and dance traditions worldwide--from Sufi-shamanic rituals in Central Asia to Indian classical vocal music, and from drumming and martial arts in East Asia to African American popular genres. By engaging with a range of theoretical perspectives and case studies of embodied sounds, we will reflect on the corporeal, sensory aspects of music performance and perception, the tacit nature of learning and transmission, the intersections of human musicking with the environment and technology, and the ways in which the musicking body is entangled with the physical, social, spiritual, and political forces that shape our lives. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA MUSC |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Major Requirement for: (MUSC) |
Major Readings:
Selected readings from works by Christopher Small, John Blacking, John Baily, Judith Becker, Timothy Rice, Thomas Turino, Charles Keil and Steven Feld, Martin Clayton, Matthew Rahaim, Rolf Inge Godøy and Marc Leman, Ronald Radano and Philip Bohlman, and others.
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Examinations and Assignments:
Weekly posts, a "musicking autobiography," a midterm test, and a final creative project including an oral presentation |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
The course is designed for undergraduate students from a range of study programs, including, but not limited to, music, dance, theater, anthropology, and feminist, gender, and sexuality studies. No special knowledge of music is required for attending this course.
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