The musical composition of social reality? Music, action and reflexivity

Journal/Book: Sociol Rev. 1995; 43: 108 Cowley Rd, Oxford, United Kingdom OX4 1JF. Basil Blackwell Publ Ltd. 295-315.

Abstract: Developments in the sociology of music during the 1980s have brought the sub-field more firmly in to the center of sociological concerns. The 'worlds' concept, and the concern with music and social status have helped to ground and specify links between music and society. Meanwhile however, questions concerning music's social content have been sidelined. This paper explores music as an active ingredient in the constitution of lived experience. As with other cultural/technical forms, music provides a resource for the articulation of thought and activity. Bodily conduct and movement, the experience of time, and social character within opera are used to illustrate this point. Recent developments in feminist music analysis have been suggestive for the ways in which music metaphorizes social processes and categories of being. These developments can enrich the sociology of music. However, as with all attempts to 'read' music's social content, they should be conceived as claims made by analysts who are themselves engaged in social projects. Analytical readings of music have no a priori claim of privilege. A constructivist sociology of music should therefore be devoted to the question of how specific music users forge links between musical significance and social life. A sociology of the construction and deployment of musical realities is capable of avoiding the naive positivism otherwise implicit in attempts to 'read' music's social content.

Note: Article T Denora, Univ Exeter, Exeter EX4 4RJ, Devon, England

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