Song, Songs, and Singing: A Special Issue of The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism
Guest Editors: Jeanette Bicknell and John Andrew Fisher
Any philosophical treatment of songs or singing will be considered, but papers addressing these topics are especially welcome:
Songs and singing across the genres and cross-culturally – art music, opera, lieder, Broadway and jazz standards, folk song, religious vocal music, lullabies, work songs, popular songs (of all sorts, blues, rock, rap, etc.), mass art.
Meaning and Representation. How is the song representation established and what sort of representation is it? How does it compare to visual art, to the art of poetry or to theatre?
Exploring the contrasts between vocal and instrumental music. Do these make different kinds of demands upon listeners, composers, performers?
The unity of music and text. What is this, and how is it established?
Ontology. How do songs and recordings fit into the ontological catalogue of musical works?
Performance. How does singing compare with other types of performance, such as acting? How does live singing compare to recorded? How does singing in popular, jazz or folk music compare with singing in art music, such as lieder?
Singing and expression. Does vocal music raise different problems than instrumental music? Are expressive properties established in a different way in vocal music? Is “authenticity” different for songs than for instrumental music?
Singing and cinema. The problems raised by both diegetic and non-diegetic songs in film. How does the contemporary use of popular songs as the musical score of films change the relation of sound track to the visual narrative?
Ethical criticism. Is moral criticism of popular songs as appropriate as moral criticism of movies and literature?
What trends in the history of art theory or core assumptions about the field of aesthetics have inclined philosophers of art and music to ignore songs as an important art form?
Philosophical analyses of specific vocal music in any genre.
Submissions should not exceed 7,000 words and must comply with the general guidelines for submissions (see “Submissions” on the JAAC website: www.temple.edu/jaac). Send submissions as e-mail attachments to both guest editors, indicating clearly that your submission is for the special issue.
Jeanette Bicknell, OCAD University, Canada
John Andrew Fisher, University of Colorado Fisher
bicknellj@hotmail.com
john.fisher@colorado.educo.edu
Deadline for Submissions: January 16, 2012
