VOICING MOTHER NATURE: ECOMUSICOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES ON GENDER AND PHILOSOPHY IN JAPANESE SHAKUHACHI PRACTICE A thesis submitted to the College of the Arts of Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts By Lydia L. Snyder 2019 Thesis written by Lydia L. Snyder B.A., Hiram College, 2014 M.A., Kent State University, 2019 Approved by ____________________________________________________ Andrew Shahriari, Ph.D., Advisor ____________________________________________________ Jane K. Dressler, D.M.A., Interim Director, School of Music ____________________________________________________ John R. Crawford-Spinelli, Ed.D., Dean, College of the Arts iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES ..............................................................................................................v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................................................................................vi CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................1 Selected Literature Review ...........................................................................................5 Topic and Scope ............................................................................................................13 Source Materials and Methodology ..............................................................................14 Projected Results ...........................................................................................................15 II. TRACING THE HISTORY OF ECOMUSICOLOGY ....................................................16 Timeline of Environmentalism ......................................................................................16 Environmental Awareness and Music .....................................................................21 The Birth of Ecomusicology .........................................................................................23 Weighing the Pros and Cons of Ecomusicology As Its Own Field ........................26 How Does Writing and Research Enact Change? ...................................................28 Future Directions in Ecomusicology .......................................................................28 Environmentalism in Japan ...........................................................................................30 II. AN ECOMUSICOLOGICAL VALUE SYSTEM ............................................................35 Schwartz Theory of Basic Values .................................................................................35 Hierarchy of Music ........................................................................................................39 Categories of Sound: A New Conception ...............................................................42 Participants & Description of the University ....................................................43 Survey................................................................................................................43 Data Analysis & Discussion ..............................................................................44 Eastern & Western Philosophy and Values...................................................................54 Japanese Religious Philosophy ...............................................................................59 Gender Values ...............................................................................................................65 Ecofeminism............................................................................................................66 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................71 IV. THE SHAKUHACHI AS A VOICE FOR “MOTHER NATURE” ...............................72 Historical Background...................................................................................................72 Environmental Awareness.............................................................................................74 Silence “Ma” ...........................................................................................................75 Mimesis, Noise, and Music ...........................................................................................78 Cultural Ideas of Listening ............................................................................................83 Gender & The Shakuhachi ............................................................................................86 V. CONCLUSIONS ...............................................................................................................90 iv Overview .......................................................................................................................90 A New Ecomusicological Conception of Music ...........................................................91 The Shakuhachi as Sensitization to the Natural World .................................................93 Directions for Further Research ....................................................................................98 Conclusions: The Shakuhachi as a Voice for “Mother Nature”....................................101 APPENDICES A. Survey and Consent Form ........................................................................................103 B. Comments From Survey ...........................................................................................107 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................110 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Andy Goldsworthy’s Pebbles, Broken and Scraped ..................................................6 2. Earth’s temperature 1880-2013 ..................................................................................18 3. Nattiez’ views of music ..............................................................................................40 4. Gender of participants graph ......................................................................................44 5. Class rank of participants graph .................................................................................45 6. Race of participants graph ..........................................................................................45 7. This is music graph ....................................................................................................46 8. Preference rating graph ..............................................................................................47 9. What is music? chart ..................................................................................................47 10. Preference chart ..........................................................................................................47 11. Themes of reasoning chart .........................................................................................48 12. Themes of reasoning graph ........................................................................................48 13. Hierarchy of sounds ...................................................................................................52 14. Spectrum of sounds ....................................................................................................53 15. Hierarchy of sounds ...................................................................................................93 16. Spectrum of sounds ....................................................................................................90 17. Kyorei in Japanese notation with echo ornamentation illuminated ...........................97 18. Nayashi in “Kyorei”...................................................................................................98 19. Nayashi in “Kyorei” represented in staff notation .....................................................98 vi ACKNOWLEGEMENTS I must take the time to thank those who have led me to this point in my life and have shaped who I am as a scholar and as a person. First, my advisor Dr. Andrew Shahriari for his time and guidance through thesis writing, teaching, and the overall graduate studies process; Dr. Joe Clark, for his painstaking attention to detail as a committee member- the kind only the most skilled music librarians can give, and for his much needed humor; Dr. Jennifer Johnstone, for her insightful work on my committee, her endless encouragement, and most importantly, her friendship; Dr. Craig Resta for his help on the entire survey portion of my thesis. I also owe a great deal to Drs. Terry and Sara Miller, whose generosity cannot be topped. These professors created the right mixture of guidance to make this thesis come to fruition. Thank you to Dr. Aaron Allen, Dr. Christopher Yomei Blasdel, and to all the participants of the 2018 World Shakuhachi Festival and the 2017 Seiha ho-gaku Summer School, for their contributions to my research- including my first shakuhachi teacher, Michael Chikuzen Gould. I extend my thanks to all the faculty at Kent State University who have shaped my education; to Dr. Eve McPherson, Dr. Priwan Nanongkham, and Dr. Janine Tiffe, for intellectual stimulation, patience, and some very interesting travel experiences. And, of course, Tyler Rounds, who didn’t get to see the completion of this document but would have called it “groovy.” Her compassion and energy changed my life. I must also express my gratitude to the music