The Cosmic Fugue: Exploring Musical Metaphors in Astronomy (Webb, 2013) Lydia Kooistra Master Thesis Comparative Cultural Analysis Thesis Advisor: Murat Aydemir Student number: 6138772 7 May, 2016 1 Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 3 Examples of musical metaphors in media for the dissemination of astronomy .................. 5 Sonic phenomena ............................................................................................................. 6 The Big Bang ..................................................................................................................... 7 The spectrum of electromagnetic radiation ..................................................................... 8 String theory ..................................................................................................................... 9 Ornamental musical metaphors ....................................................................................... 9 Chapter 1: Conceptual Metaphor Theory .............................................................................. 11 Linguistic form or conceptual metaphor ............................................................................ 11 MIP and MIPVU .................................................................................................................. 12 Conventionalized grammar or specific situations of usage ................................................ 13 Determining the similarities ............................................................................................... 15 Primary and complex conceptual metaphors .................................................................... 16 Discourse metaphors ......................................................................................................... 17 Chapter 2: Cosmos case study ................................................................................................ 19 Description case study ....................................................................................................... 19 Analysis Cosmos case study ............................................................................................... 24 Identifying source and target domains .......................................................................... 24 Grammar or usage? ........................................................................................................ 27 Identifying the conceptual metaphor ............................................................................. 28 Chapter 3: Case Study String Theory ...................................................................................... 30 Description case study ....................................................................................................... 30 Analysis String Theory case study ...................................................................................... 32 Identifying source and target domains .......................................................................... 32 Grammar or usage? ........................................................................................................ 34 Identifying the conceptual metaphor ............................................................................. 35 Chapter 4: Comparison case studies ...................................................................................... 37 Summary ............................................................................................................................ 37 Comparison ........................................................................................................................ 37 Discourse Metaphor Approach .......................................................................................... 38 Chapter 5: Harmony of the Spheres ....................................................................................... 41 Origins of Harmony of the Spheres .................................................................................... 41 The Scientific Revolution .................................................................................................... 43 2 Kepler’s Harmonic Law ....................................................................................................... 46 Music as a model at the beginning of modern science ...................................................... 49 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 52 Summary ............................................................................................................................ 52 Music’s Sublime Quality ..................................................................................................... 53 Topics for further research ................................................................................................. 56 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................... 57 3 Introduction Music and astronomy are seemingly unrelated subjects that, at first glance, have no overlap in academia or in our day-to-day lives. The study of astronomy and the study of music (whether practical or theoretical) have no shared discourse. Indeed, these two studies could be regarded as representatives of the ‘two cultures’. The theory of ‘two cultures’ describes the gap between the sciences and the humanities and how the intellectuals of these fields have such different approaches, methods and behaviors that it is as if they belong to different cultures (Snow, 2012). Despite this lack in overlap between these two subjects, an interesting and contradicting trend can be observed in media meant for the dissemination of astronomy like documentaries, nonacademic articles, TED talks and educational YouTube videos. This trend involves the recurrent use of musical metaphors to explain complex astronomical concepts or phenomena to audiences unfamiliar to the field. For example, string theory is rarely explained to laymen without the use of the metaphor of a guitar or violin string that when plucked produces musical notes that represent the elementary particles that are produced by the frequency of the vibration of elementary strings. Apart from that, documentaries and nonacademic articles about astronomy are shot-through with terms like ‘celestial symphony’, ‘planetary orchestra’, ‘soundtrack of the universe’, and ‘space rings like a drum’. This metaphorical trend raises a number of questions. What is it about these musical metaphors that is particularly functional in this context? Does this trend have a basis in culture or history, or does it arise from a predisposition in human cognition that links these two subjects? What does this metaphorical trend imply about how we value music? Ultimately, the question I will try to answer in this thesis is as follows: why has the metaphorical trend that explains astronomical concepts in musical terms manifested itself in astronomy dissemination? By answering this question, I aim to be able to draw conclusions about the implications of this metaphorical trend for how music is viewed and valued in society. I aim to answer the question by analyzing two case studies that make use of musical metaphors in the context of astronomy dissemination. The analysis of these two case studies is useful to gain a comparative perspective. One of the case studies is a novel 4 example of a musical metaphor that is used in an episode of the popular 1980s astronomy series produced by Carl Sagan, Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (1980). Throughout this thesis, I will refer to this cast study as the Cosmos case study. This novel case study is relevant in relation to my second case study which will deal with a more general and consistently used example of a musical metaphor. It has been drawn upon by many scientists in many different sources over a period of almost 30 years. This is the string theory metaphor that I have mentioned previously, which is used to explain string theory in terms of the strings of a violin or guitar. I will discuss the general use of this metaphor, but I will pay special attention to a passage in the source that popularized this metaphor. I will refer to this case study as the the String Theory case study. The comparison of these very different types of case studies is helpful for determining if, despite their differences, they have a similar basis and, if so, whether this basis is historical, cultural or conceptual. I have identified Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) as a useful theory through which to analyze the musical metaphors in these case studies. This hermeneutic approach focuses on the role metaphor plays in conventional language rather than its ornamental use in literature and poetry. Furthermore, CMT not only shows how metaphors structure everyday conventional language, but also thought. This theory was established in 1980 with linguist George Lakoff’s and philosopher Mark Johnson’s groundbreaking book Metaphors We Live By. I will draw upon their work as well as work by other linguists and metaphor theorists such as Gerard Steen, Zoltán Kövecses, Joe Grady, Jörg Zinken, Iina Hellsten and Brigitte Nerlich who amongst others, have formalized, criticized, and developed this theory throughout the years. The first chapter of this thesis will be devoted