Colonization and the Institutionalization of Hierarchies of the Human Through Music Education: Studies in the Education of Feeling
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Colonization and the Institutionalization of Hierarchies of the Human through Music Education: Studies in the Education of Feeling by Lise C. Vaugeois A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Music University of Toronto © Copyright by Lise C. Vaugeois, 2013 Colonization and the Institutionalization of Hierarchies of the Human through Music Education: Studies in the Education of Feeling Lise Vaugeois Doctor of Philosophy in Music Education Music Graduate Department University of Toronto 2013 Abstract In the following study I explore the role of musical practices in the making of different sensibilities. Beginning with the founding of colonial musical institutions in the late nineteenth century in Canada and ending with a consideration of the ideals and subjectivities embodied in a 2008 concert at the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto, I take up the education of feeling as it is rehearsed into being through various musical practices and juxtapose notions of identity with actual material and social relations. Anchored as it is in particular physical locations, my project draws on spatial analysis, discourse analysis and historical contextualization. The study is a genealogy of music education in Canada with music education referring to the institutional settings in which professional musicians and music educators are taught; public school music programs; and public celebrations of national identity in which music is employed with the goal of enjoining participants in particular historical/political narratives and emotional responses. My concern is to track the production of Imperial subjects and the normalization of hierarchies of the human, for example, rationalities of race, gender and class, as they become embodied and normalized in colonial institutional structures and discourses of national identity. I am particularly concerned with the ways that the displacement of Indigenous peoples, along with narratives of white entitlement, are rationalized and rehearsed into being in musical contexts. ii I also take up the question of how the discipline of musical training might lead to increased identification of classically- and university-trained musicians with the ruling order, and passivity in “political terms of obedience”—a subjectivity Foucault refers to as “docile bodies.” I identify this mode of being as “terminal naivety” in order to draw attention to personal and societal effects, and costs, that result from positioning ourselves and our artistic endeavours as politically disinterested. iii Acknowledgments One of the pleasures of completing a dissertation is the opportunity to thank the many people who not only made my PhD journey possible but also highly enjoyable. I would like to begin by thanking my dissertation committee members Elizabeth Gould, Patricia Shand and Sherene Razack. Liz, you were enthusiastic, supportive and ready to talk about challenging issues from the very beginning. Thank you for your amazingly fast turn-around times and your astute comments. And thank you for continuing to identify as a feminist when there is such a strong tendency in our field to dismiss the importance of feminist work. We can’t afford to forget our histories or contemporary realities and I want to thank you for keeping the flame of feminism alive in the field of Philosophy of Music Education. Pat, you have been steadfast in your support I feel so lucky to have had the chance to work with you. Your knowledge about the history of Canadian music and Canadian music education has been invaluable to the development of my thinking. Thank you also for staying on my committee after you had officially retired. Accepting my dissertation at your summer home was above and beyond the call of duty! Sherene, I was attracted to U of T because of your work and have been thrilled ever since to have the opportunity to work with you. I arrived at my first course with an interest but without a sense of what kind of research might make sense in the world of the professional musician. Your questions and willingness to explore musical territory that is unfamiliar to you have been inspiring. You have helped me to sharpen my analytical focus and have encouraged me to persist in looking for pedagogies capable of bringing the effects of raced and gendered dividing practices to light in a world where inequality is so thoroughly normalized. I would also like to thank Jamie Magnusson and Anna Hoefnagels, my internal and external examiners, for the care and attention they brought to my dissertation. Anna, I can’t thank you enough for your detailed comments and editing notes. Your questions throughout my defense were thought-provoking and have pointed the way to new considerations and challenges. Jamie, you continue to inspire me with the way you are able to do theory and find creative ways to make change “on the ground.” I loved your questions and look forward to pushing my thoughts and iv activism into new directions. Thank you also to Ruben Gaztambide-Fernandez who read my dissertation and was prepared to step in if needed. I would also like the thank the wonderful staff at the Edward Johnson Building Library and the University of Toronto Archives as well as the many people, in addition to my committee, with whom I had the pleasure of working with while at U of T: Lori Dolloff, Lee Bartel, Christos Hatzis, Sasha Rapoport, Doreen Rao, Gillian MacKay and Susan Ironside at the Faculty of Music, and Kari Dehli, Rinaldo Walcott, and Kathleen Gallagher at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Throughout this journey I also enjoyed many conversations with graduate students John Paul Catungal, Shaista Patel, Roger Mantie, Michelle Pereira and Juliet Hess. In particular, I would like to thank Juliet Hess for our many conversations about writing, composition, teaching and life! I am so glad that we get to continue being real-time friends and colleagues via Skype. My family has been a steadfast support throughout what turned out to be a much longer process that any of us expected. My Mom, Yolanda Hall, continues to inspire me to live well and never stop being active! Mom, I so enjoy our time together. Thanks to my sister too! Paula, you are the best sister anyone could imagine. And you like cats! I would also like to thank Ann Vaugeois, Sam Vaugeois, Xav Mesrobian, Chris and Heather Vaugeois and all the kids for adding so much pleasure to my time in Toronto. Thank you so much for the many fabulous dinners and family gatherings! Dad, I wish you could have been here for the conclusion of this journey. Raj, you would have enjoyed celebrating the completion of the PhD too. We miss you. Jessie Brooks and Phillip Robbins: thank you for letting me make my home with your family while I was in Toronto. Not only did I have great place to live but I got to play with Evan, Kate and Andrew and watch them grow. How could it get any better! Another of the pleasures of living in Toronto was having the chance to have many visits with my friends Derek Conrod and Peter Shackleton. I can’t mention how long we have been friends because we might start to worry about getting old! We always seem to manage to talk about music, philosophy, politics and everything else while fitting in time for ice cream and long walks. Thank you! v I also want to offer a special thank you to another long-standing friend, Diem LaFortune, previously known as D. Maria Marchand. Diem, you have always challenged me to take my thinking further and to translate my concerns into activism. I hope you will see the results of our many conversations in this work. Lakehead University has been my professional home for many years. Thank you to my great colleagues at the Faculty of Education for providing such fertile ground for research on social justice issues in Education. My Thunder Bay friends continue to teach me about community and friendship Kamland folks, and paddling folks – you know who you are! Thank you for our many life-sustaining outings, potlucks, gatherings to mourn and gatherings to celebrate. I want to especially thank my Kamland family, Betsy, Ma-nee and Nellie for bringing so many smiles to my life. Betsy, in addition to everything else, you are the best paddling buddy ever! Finally, I want to thank my partner, Maureen Ford, who has been my anchor for so many years I’ve lost count. Maureen, I am so glad to have you in my life. Thank you too for sharing your mother, Jean, and the rest of your crazy family with me. As Liz so aptly noted after the defense, we are wealthy in all the ways that matter. vi Table of Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures ............................................................................................................................ x Preface .......................................................................................................................................... xiii Prologue .......................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One: The Dissertation Project ..........................................................................................