Rafal Zaborowski
2014-10-20 20:19:56 UTC
CALL FOR PAPERS
Special issue of Networking Knowledge: Journal of the MeCCSA-PGN
Audiences and their musics: new approaches
There is a certain imbalance in the way we analyse sound, compared to the
way we research images. Listening feels somehow more *passive *than
watching or reading. Even in academic writing, we operate with phrases that
accentuate this visual bias, such as âas we can seeâ or âto shed lightâ.
This imbalance is especially striking when considering modes of engagement
with music media. While a body of audience research has been able to make
connections to reception and literary studies (arguing that the
interpretative work of the viewer mediates the reproduction of textual
meanings), modes of listening, on the other hand, have been traditionally
confined to the domains of semantics, musicology and sound studies.
As a result, dichotomies of music-listening experiences have been imagined:
âdeepâ versus âsuperficialâ, âconsciousâ versus âbackgroundâ, âeverydayâ
versus âspecialâ, âmotivated by aesthetic pleasureâ versus âmotivated by
goal achievementâ. These modes have not only been treated as mutually
exclusive, but also as indicative of music, genre and individual
characteristics of the listener, thus being rarely understood to exist
simultaneously or to influence each other. On the other hand, even
acknowledging that music is accompanied by a plethora of other stimuli,
analysing these engagements in detail remains vital, as empirical data
suggests that audiences consciously switch between modes, and identify them
as such. As recent studies suggest, placing the media experience within the
rich context of everyday life does not preclude multimodality; on the
contrary â it allows us to make important connections between media, the
personal and the social.
This special issue will seek contributions that critically engage with the
shift from formalist approaches to music to a model encompassing the
experiences of listeners. Postgraduate students and early career
researchers across the social sciences and humanities are invited to
submit. We are especially looking for original, empirical work that tests
and challenges existing theorisations of listening modes, and/or proposes
new conceptualisations.
Abstracts should be no more than 250 words for papers of approx. 6,000
words. Accepted papers will be published in a special guest-edited issue of
Networking Knowledge: Journal of the MeCCSA-PGN.
Possible topics might include but are not limited to:
- Music in everyday life: what does it mean?
- Un/changing listener experiences in the digital age
- New practices of music participation
- Music and generations; music and class
- Taste and preferences: still relevant?
- The genre in listening
- Western and non-western music audiences.
Abstracts should be sent to the guest editor Rafal Zaborowski at
***@lse.ac.uk by 8 December 2014. For enquiries please contact
Rafal or the journal general editor Simon Dawes at ***@gmail.com
=====
General list info and FAQ: http://comm.umn.edu/~grodman/cultstud.html
Special issue of Networking Knowledge: Journal of the MeCCSA-PGN
Audiences and their musics: new approaches
There is a certain imbalance in the way we analyse sound, compared to the
way we research images. Listening feels somehow more *passive *than
watching or reading. Even in academic writing, we operate with phrases that
accentuate this visual bias, such as âas we can seeâ or âto shed lightâ.
This imbalance is especially striking when considering modes of engagement
with music media. While a body of audience research has been able to make
connections to reception and literary studies (arguing that the
interpretative work of the viewer mediates the reproduction of textual
meanings), modes of listening, on the other hand, have been traditionally
confined to the domains of semantics, musicology and sound studies.
As a result, dichotomies of music-listening experiences have been imagined:
âdeepâ versus âsuperficialâ, âconsciousâ versus âbackgroundâ, âeverydayâ
versus âspecialâ, âmotivated by aesthetic pleasureâ versus âmotivated by
goal achievementâ. These modes have not only been treated as mutually
exclusive, but also as indicative of music, genre and individual
characteristics of the listener, thus being rarely understood to exist
simultaneously or to influence each other. On the other hand, even
acknowledging that music is accompanied by a plethora of other stimuli,
analysing these engagements in detail remains vital, as empirical data
suggests that audiences consciously switch between modes, and identify them
as such. As recent studies suggest, placing the media experience within the
rich context of everyday life does not preclude multimodality; on the
contrary â it allows us to make important connections between media, the
personal and the social.
This special issue will seek contributions that critically engage with the
shift from formalist approaches to music to a model encompassing the
experiences of listeners. Postgraduate students and early career
researchers across the social sciences and humanities are invited to
submit. We are especially looking for original, empirical work that tests
and challenges existing theorisations of listening modes, and/or proposes
new conceptualisations.
Abstracts should be no more than 250 words for papers of approx. 6,000
words. Accepted papers will be published in a special guest-edited issue of
Networking Knowledge: Journal of the MeCCSA-PGN.
Possible topics might include but are not limited to:
- Music in everyday life: what does it mean?
- Un/changing listener experiences in the digital age
- New practices of music participation
- Music and generations; music and class
- Taste and preferences: still relevant?
- The genre in listening
- Western and non-western music audiences.
Abstracts should be sent to the guest editor Rafal Zaborowski at
***@lse.ac.uk by 8 December 2014. For enquiries please contact
Rafal or the journal general editor Simon Dawes at ***@gmail.com
=====
General list info and FAQ: http://comm.umn.edu/~grodman/cultstud.html