Dancing About Architecture in a Performative Space: Discourse, Ethics and the Practice of Music Education by Julian Humphreys A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Music Education University of Toronto © Copyright by Julian Humphreys 2010 Dancing About Architecture in a Performative Space: Discourse, Ethics and the Practice of Music Education Julian Humphreys Doctor of Philosophy Music Education University of Toronto 2010 Abstract British singer/songwriter Elvis Costello once said, “Talking about music is like dancing about architecture – it’s a really stupid thing to want to do” (in Brackett, 1995, p. 157). In this thesis I talk not only about music but I also talk about talk about music, perhaps an even stupider thing to want to do. But I do so because recent critical discourses in musicology and music education suggest talk about music is an inherent part of music, such that if we talk about music at all we must additionally talk about talk about music. But in talking about talk about music we are called upon to talk about talk. Consequently this thesis divides into five parts. In Part I I talk about talk with a discussion of performativity. I outline three different conceptions of the performative, showing how ethics inheres in language, with talk about talk necessarily being talk about ethics to some extent. In Part II I talk about talk about music, showing how musicology has attempted to respond to this ethical dimension of talk with a “new” musicology. In Part III I write in a number of different genres, exploring the discursive norms governing genres of writing about music and musicians and how they impact what we take music to be. Thus I write in philosophical, ii ethnographic, genealogical, narratological, autobiographical and literary forms, concluding that literary writing on music and musicians acts as a meta-discourse on music, bringing multiple different discourses into dialogue within a single unified text. In Part IV I explore the implications of literary writing about music and musicians for the practice of music education with critical readings of four novels, concluding with the recommendation that a “Non-foundational approaches to music education” course be offered as part of music teacher education programs, in addition to the more traditional “Foundational approaches to music education” course. In Part V I provide two annotated bibliographies for teachers interested in teaching such a course and for those who simply wish to further their understanding of music and music education through critical engagement with literary texts about music and musicians. iii Acknowledgments The following people, events and institutions provided valuable insight, fellowship, introductions and/or resources over the course of my PhD, making it, for the most part, a very enjoyable experience, for which I am truly thankful: Roger Mantie and Mark Whale, fellow PhD students in the Department of Music Education at the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto Christopher Trigg and Ira Wells, PhD students in the English Department at the University of Toronto Andrew Dubois of the English department and Sherry Lee of the Faculty of Music, both at the University of Toronto The following conferences: Arts Education: To what end? at NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York, USA; the Feminist Theory and Music 9: Speaking Out Of Place Conference at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; and the Seventh International Symposium on the Philosophy of Music Education, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada The Music Graduate Students Association at the University of Toronto The weekly Graduate Colloquia in Musicology, Ethnomusicology and Theory at the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto The monthly Law & Literature Workshops at the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto The Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) The members of my supervisory committee, Robin Elliott and Lori-Ann Dolloff My supervisor, Dr. Elizabeth Gould, an unwavering source of support and guidance iv Catherine Jheon, mother of my child and love of my life v Table of Contents Abstract...........................................................................................................................ii Acknowledgments..........................................................................................................iv Chapter 1: Introduction ...................................................................................................1 Why talk about music? ................................................................................................1 Why teach music? .......................................................................................................5 The current project ......................................................................................................7 Part I: Talk About Talk..............................................................................................17 Chapter 2: Three Conceptions of Performativity............................................................18 J. L. Austin’s Performative Speech............................................................................19 Jacques Derrida’s Performative Intentions................................................................. 22 Judith Butler’s Performative Subjects........................................................................28 Conclusion ................................................................................................................36 Part II: Talk About Talk About Music ......................................................................38 Chapter 3: Developments in Musicology.......................................................................39 Theodor Adorno........................................................................................................39 Jean-Jacques Nattiez and Carolyn Abbate..................................................................49 Gary Tomlinson and Lawrence Kramer.....................................................................51 Conclusion ................................................................................................................60 vi Part III: Experimental Writing About Music............................................................63 Chapter 4: Philosophical Writing About Music .............................................................64 Embodied Utterance..................................................................................................64 Inherently Meaningful Bodies ...................................................................................68 The Body in Music....................................................................................................71 Citations of the Body in the Music of Thelonious Monk............................................76 Characteristics of Philosophical Writing about Music................................................83 Chapter 5: Narratological Writing About Music ............................................................84 Song Narratives.........................................................................................................84 Life Narratives ..........................................................................................................90 Cultural Narratives....................................................................................................96 Characteristics of Narratological Writing about Music ..............................................99 Chapter 6: Ethnographic Writing About Music............................................................ 100 A Nexus in the Cultural Web................................................................................... 100 Promotional (Con)Texts .......................................................................................... 107 Answer Songs ......................................................................................................... 114 Discussion Forums.................................................................................................. 119 Interpretation........................................................................................................... 121 Characteristics of Ethnographic Writing about Music.............................................. 125 vii Chapter 7: Genealogical Writing About Music............................................................ 127 Prosper Mérimée’s Carmen..................................................................................... 127 Meilhac and Halévy’s Carmen ................................................................................ 130 Bizet’s Carmen ....................................................................................................... 133 Performances of Bizet’s Carmen ............................................................................. 137 Characteristics of Genealogical Writing About Music ............................................. 141 Chapter 8: Autobiographical Writing About Music ..................................................... 142 The Chorister .......................................................................................................... 142 Characteristics of Autobiographical Writing About Music......................................