Tracey J Nicholls | None (original) (raw)

Uploads

Papers by Tracey J Nicholls

Encyclopedia of Global Justice, 2011

Les Cahiers de la Société québécoise de recherche en musique

This paper explores the extent to which one can participate in community without having to sacrif... more This paper explores the extent to which one can participate in community without having to sacrifice aspects of one’s identity, through examination of the relation that female musicians in improvising musical ensembles have to their gender identity. I concentrate on the views expressed within a particular interview setting—a roundtable event organized as part of an academic conference on improvisatory communities. This event merits attention because it was organized specifically to discuss the extent to which gender is an obstacle, a topic the invited speakers decided they did not want to address publicly. I look at their resistance to gender identification and pose questions about whether identifying as female—or as feminist—has implications for their ability to succeed in the world of improvised music, and about the extent to which we might see their refusals as fear-based or as principled resistance to a difference that ought not to matter.

Critical Studies in Improvisation, 2006

In a 1979 essay on the principles of a contemporary movement in literature, écriture, Michel Fouc... more In a 1979 essay on the principles of a contemporary movement in literature, écriture, Michel Foucault quotes approvingly a rhetorical question posed by minimalist author Samuel Beckett: “what does it matter who is speaking?” (“What Is an Author?” 205). My purpose in this paper is to argue that endorsing such critical-theoretical inattention to speakers’ identities actually promotes some of the abuses of power that Foucault and the theorists he has inspired most object to. Notably, inattention to identity forecloses analysis of the speaker’s position within the discourse and, in so doing, permits both the continued dominance of socially-legitimated points of view and continued marginalization of social commentaries and critiques that oppose themselves to these dominant threads of discourse. My critique of this curious blind-spot in Foucault’s theorizing is worked out through an analysis of critical attention to John Coltrane’s ‘free jazz’ experimentations of the 1960s. One of the central points I am concerned to make in discussing Coltrane is that how artistic projects are represented depends at least in part upon the willingness of critics to take notice of issues of identity and social positioning (both their own, and that of the artists they evaluate). I choose to engage with evaluations of Coltrane, specifically, because there are certain features of his relation to his audience and his critics that demand of us an especially nuanced and complex analysis of the power jazz journalism can exert.

PhaenEx, 2011

This article examines the difficulties of mediating cross-cultural disputes and enacting solidari... more This article examines the difficulties of mediating cross-cultural disputes and enacting solidarity across borders, through the example of conflicting Caribbean feminist positions on political freedom in Haiti.

Liminalities, 2018

This article uses analysis of the Black Lives Matter movement and of the political tasks of natio... more This article uses analysis of the Black Lives Matter movement and of the political tasks of national anthems to explore the power of protest songs to build social justice communities and to popularize social justice struggles.

e-cadernos ces Special Issue, 2013

This paper explores various manifestations of violence against women in the United States through... more This paper explores various manifestations of violence against women in the United States through a Fanonian analysis of colonizing practices. It argues that the hostility towards women which has been so evident in American public policy over the past year can be understood as a large-scale, abstract version of more concrete applications of social control still pervasive in interpersonal relations. Understanding misogyny and objectification of women through Fanon's theory of colonization shows us that the philosophical basis of American attitudes about gender roles and gendered public policies is not the “pro-life” orientation promoted in political rhetoric, but the deliberate application of a politics of fear.

Teaching Documents by Tracey J Nicholls

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2011

This encyclopedia entry discusses the life and work of existential philosopher and decolonization... more This encyclopedia entry discusses the life and work of existential philosopher and decolonization theorist Frantz Fanon.

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2015

This encyclopedia entry examines the role music has played in movements for social justice.

Encyclopedia of Global Justice, 2011

Les Cahiers de la Société québécoise de recherche en musique

This paper explores the extent to which one can participate in community without having to sacrif... more This paper explores the extent to which one can participate in community without having to sacrifice aspects of one’s identity, through examination of the relation that female musicians in improvising musical ensembles have to their gender identity. I concentrate on the views expressed within a particular interview setting—a roundtable event organized as part of an academic conference on improvisatory communities. This event merits attention because it was organized specifically to discuss the extent to which gender is an obstacle, a topic the invited speakers decided they did not want to address publicly. I look at their resistance to gender identification and pose questions about whether identifying as female—or as feminist—has implications for their ability to succeed in the world of improvised music, and about the extent to which we might see their refusals as fear-based or as principled resistance to a difference that ought not to matter.

Critical Studies in Improvisation, 2006

In a 1979 essay on the principles of a contemporary movement in literature, écriture, Michel Fouc... more In a 1979 essay on the principles of a contemporary movement in literature, écriture, Michel Foucault quotes approvingly a rhetorical question posed by minimalist author Samuel Beckett: “what does it matter who is speaking?” (“What Is an Author?” 205). My purpose in this paper is to argue that endorsing such critical-theoretical inattention to speakers’ identities actually promotes some of the abuses of power that Foucault and the theorists he has inspired most object to. Notably, inattention to identity forecloses analysis of the speaker’s position within the discourse and, in so doing, permits both the continued dominance of socially-legitimated points of view and continued marginalization of social commentaries and critiques that oppose themselves to these dominant threads of discourse. My critique of this curious blind-spot in Foucault’s theorizing is worked out through an analysis of critical attention to John Coltrane’s ‘free jazz’ experimentations of the 1960s. One of the central points I am concerned to make in discussing Coltrane is that how artistic projects are represented depends at least in part upon the willingness of critics to take notice of issues of identity and social positioning (both their own, and that of the artists they evaluate). I choose to engage with evaluations of Coltrane, specifically, because there are certain features of his relation to his audience and his critics that demand of us an especially nuanced and complex analysis of the power jazz journalism can exert.

PhaenEx, 2011

This article examines the difficulties of mediating cross-cultural disputes and enacting solidari... more This article examines the difficulties of mediating cross-cultural disputes and enacting solidarity across borders, through the example of conflicting Caribbean feminist positions on political freedom in Haiti.

Liminalities, 2018

This article uses analysis of the Black Lives Matter movement and of the political tasks of natio... more This article uses analysis of the Black Lives Matter movement and of the political tasks of national anthems to explore the power of protest songs to build social justice communities and to popularize social justice struggles.

e-cadernos ces Special Issue, 2013

This paper explores various manifestations of violence against women in the United States through... more This paper explores various manifestations of violence against women in the United States through a Fanonian analysis of colonizing practices. It argues that the hostility towards women which has been so evident in American public policy over the past year can be understood as a large-scale, abstract version of more concrete applications of social control still pervasive in interpersonal relations. Understanding misogyny and objectification of women through Fanon's theory of colonization shows us that the philosophical basis of American attitudes about gender roles and gendered public policies is not the “pro-life” orientation promoted in political rhetoric, but the deliberate application of a politics of fear.

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2011

This encyclopedia entry discusses the life and work of existential philosopher and decolonization... more This encyclopedia entry discusses the life and work of existential philosopher and decolonization theorist Frantz Fanon.

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2015

This encyclopedia entry examines the role music has played in movements for social justice.