The Locations of Musical Meaning and Subjectivity

Williams, Alastair

Abstract

This chapter evaluates the critical musicologies of the 1990s and follows their subsequent trajectories. It compares such models of encoded meanings with alternative approaches whereby meaning resides primarily in social use or in other forms of shared interaction. Furthermore, the chapter examines the claims made by performance studies about the locations of musical meaning. Theodor W. Adorno's work on music is a thread, since it has been prominent in all of the areas covered. The chapter argues that critical musicology, the study of social functions, and performance studies can be brought together productively. In short, it demonstrates that the hermeneutics of music can be combined productively with socio-cultural approaches. New musicology was influenced by Adorno to the extent that it also considered social meaning to be encoded in music, but it took its lead from post-structuralism and the idea that subjectivity is, at least partly, constructed by the discourses in which it is immersed.

Citation

Williams, A. (2023). The Locations of Musical Meaning and Subjectivity. In The Routledge Companion to Applied Musicology (63-72). Taylor & Francis (Routledge). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003042983-8

• Online Publication Date: Sep 19, 2023
• Publication Date: Aug 9, 2023
• Deposit Date: Jun 7, 2024
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Pages: 63-72
• Book Title: The Routledge Companion to Applied Musicology
• Chapter Number: 6
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003042983-8
• Public URL: https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/847057
• Publisher URL: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003042983-8/locations-musical-meaning-subjectivity-alastair-williams
• Related Public URLs: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781003042983/routledge-companion-applied-musicology-chris-dromey?refId=5a4d9b80-dc15-40e0-b002-df9e4d79115e&context=ubx