Laudan Nooshin - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Laudan Nooshin
Springer eBooks, Dec 31, 2023
Does the language of 'multiculturalism' reinforce or transcend difference? And whose purpose do s... more Does the language of 'multiculturalism' reinforce or transcend difference? And whose purpose do such discourses serve? Whilst a number of writers have sought to refine the the discussion by suggesting alternative terms such as 'inter-cultural' or 'trans-cultural', few have problematised the notion of 'culture' in this particular context (notwithstanding the extensive literature on 'culture' as a concept more broadly). Specifically, in relation to music, there is a relatively new and growing ethno-musicological literature documenting collaborative projects of various kinds, mostly based-and led and funded by musicians and organisations-in the cosmopolitan urban centres of the 'global north'. Such collaborations are not new, of course, but have received added impetus by factors such as the emergence of the 'world music' industry from the 1980s, the rise of digital communications technologies, and increased human mobilities of various kinds. Like the broader lay and marketing discourses, much of this scholarly work is celebratory in tone; relatively little of it engages critically with issues such as the power relations involved in such cultural 'exchanges'. In particular, the language of multiculturalism-including talk about exploring the spaces 'between' cultures-is predicated on a view of culture as relatively stable and bounded, rather than as a fluid and ongoing process. Viewed from the latter perspective, all cultures are arguably 'multi'. This paper will explore these questions with reference to several 'cross-cultural' projects, including Ukranian singer Mariana Sadovska's collaborations with the Kronos Quartet and German percussionist Christian Thomé; and Iranian musician Kayhan Kalhor's work with the Kronos Quartet and the Silk Road Ensemble. We explore the discourses by which these musicians and others position their work in relation to perceived cultural boundaries and ask whether those participating in such 'multicultural' projects are not in fact often from the same cultural formation (Turino 2003) sharing more culturally than the discourses of 'multiculturalism' allow for, and reinforcing an essentialised privileging of difference over shared commonalities (Agawu 2003).
Living Ethnomusicology, 2019
1. Introduction: The Ethnomusicology of Western Art Music Laudan Nooshin 2. Music Teachers as Mis... more 1. Introduction: The Ethnomusicology of Western Art Music Laudan Nooshin 2. Music Teachers as Missionaries: Understanding Europe's Recent Dispatches to Ramallah Rachel Beckles Willson 3. The Orchestration of Civil Society: Community and Conscience in Symphony Orchestras Tina K. Ramnarine 4. Classical Cult or Learning Community? Exploring New Audience Members' Social and Musical Responses to First-time Concert Attendance Melissa C. Dobson and Stephanie E. Pitts 5. Ethnographic Research into Contemporary String Quartet Rehearsal Amanda Bayley 6. "The Condition of Mozart": Mozart Year 2006 and the New Vienna Eric Martin Usner 7. Reflections on an Ethnomusicological Study of a Contemporary Western Art Music Composer Pirkko Moisala 8. Afterword Philip V. Bohlman
Edinburgh University Press eBooks, Apr 20, 2021
This chapter focuses on the variety of ways in which sound plays a pivotal role in The May Lady. ... more This chapter focuses on the variety of ways in which sound plays a pivotal role in The May Lady. Nooshin analyzes the act of listening as portrayed and provoked by the protagonist of the film, examining how the purely sonorous material qualities of the spoken voice, such as timbre, texture, and contour—often presented as being outside of referential meaning—in fact communicate a great deal to the listener “beyond words.” She argues in particular how sounds facilitate a new kind of filmic intimacy, affective subjectivity, and embodied listening that she terms “cinema of empathy.”
Contents: Preface. Part I Musicological Narratives of Creativity: Approaching the study of musica... more Contents: Preface. Part I Musicological Narratives of Creativity: Approaching the study of musical creativity: musicologies, discourses and others. Part II Creativity in the Iranian Context: Discourses and Structures: Discourses of creativity in Iranian classical music Disciplining creativity: the radif of Iranian classical music. Part III Beyond Discourse: The Practice of Creativity: Creative performance in Iranian classical music Postlude: 'Roots in the past and a view towards the future': contemporary developments in Iranian classical music performance. Appendices Bibliography Index.
Ethno-musicology, Oct 1, 2018
This article explores the emergence of the internet as an alternative sphere of musical circulati... more This article explores the emergence of the internet as an alternative sphere of musical circulation, focusing on the case of Iran and specifically certain kinds of music for which the internet has become the primary arena of musical sociality, in some cases replacing its physical public presence entirely. In particular, it asks how the spaces opened up by new media technologies have shifted the conceptual boundaries between public and private. The article begins with an overview of recent scholarly work on Iranian cyberspace and on the relationship between "public" and "private, " providing a grounding for the case examples that follow. August 2002. I visit the private studio of composer, performer, and teacher Ramin Behna. We chat about recent developments in Iranian popular musics. Towards the end of our discussion Ramin produces a clear plastic bag in which I make out twenty or so cassette tapes and minidiscs. He explains that these are recordings made by young rock musicians, mainly from Tehran. Word had been circulated through informal networks a while back soliciting submissions for an online rock music competition. The organizers expected to receive maybe ten or fifteen; no one was prepared for the flood of recordings sent in (about seventy), an indication of
Iranian Studies, Sep 1, 2005
Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 2003
This article traces the discourses which have dominated the musicological study of creativity ove... more This article traces the discourses which have dominated the musicological study of creativity over the last 50 years or so, focusing on the concept of improvisation and its relationship to composition, particularly as applied to musics outside the notated Western tradition. Arguing that such discourses have served specific ideological purposes, the author illustrates the ways in which these continue to be implicated in an essentializing and orientalist exercise of power over ‘other’ musical traditions. Considering the specific case of Iranian classical music, the author discusses the impact of Western discourses on concepts of musical creativity in Iran and, through detailed musical analyses, illustrates the problematic nature of such discourses in the context of this musical tradition.
Oxford University Press eBooks, 2001
Oxford University Press eBooks, 2001
Oxford University Press eBooks, 2018
In the ancient parable of the elephant and the blind men, each man attempts to describe the eleph... more In the ancient parable of the elephant and the blind men, each man attempts to describe the elephant through feeling a different part of its body-the smooth tusk, the long trunk, the rough skin, and so on-and each reaches a very different understanding of the nature of the animal. Tracking creative processes in music often feels rather like this: each of the methodologies commonly used by scholars working in the various branches of music studies-whether ethnographic, analytical, psychological, and so on-touches on and seems to reveal quite different things about the creative process. In this keynote, I explore some of the themes and issues that have arisen within ethnomusicological studies of musical creativity, through the prism of my own work on Iranian classical music, a tradition in which the performer plays a central creative role and which is therefore usually described as 'improvised'. I will consider some of the myth-making that surrounds musical creativity in this traditionand the purpose that such myths serve-as well as exploring the ways in which younger musicians are developing new discursive frameworks for their creative practice. Ultimately, I'm interested in the methodological challenges in bringing together the different parts of the elephant in order to describe and understand creative processes in music more holistically.
By the turn of the 99 s, literary and social theory was laying heavy stress on the discursive log... more By the turn of the 99 s, literary and social theory was laying heavy stress on the discursive logic through which dominant ideologies commonly route their power. We can call this the logic of alterity. It works by setting up opositions between a normative unitary self, usually invested with universal significance, and a plurality of deviant or imperfect others. The others are defined by negation; they are everything the self is not, the mirrors in which the self recognizes its own identity. As we will see, this system of oppositionality is far from stable … Furthermore, the identity that the self recognizes through the other is necessarily mystified ... 99 :
Psychology Press eBooks, Sep 24, 2007
Edinburgh University Press eBooks, Apr 20, 2021
Springer eBooks, Dec 31, 2023
Does the language of 'multiculturalism' reinforce or transcend difference? And whose purpose do s... more Does the language of 'multiculturalism' reinforce or transcend difference? And whose purpose do such discourses serve? Whilst a number of writers have sought to refine the the discussion by suggesting alternative terms such as 'inter-cultural' or 'trans-cultural', few have problematised the notion of 'culture' in this particular context (notwithstanding the extensive literature on 'culture' as a concept more broadly). Specifically, in relation to music, there is a relatively new and growing ethno-musicological literature documenting collaborative projects of various kinds, mostly based-and led and funded by musicians and organisations-in the cosmopolitan urban centres of the 'global north'. Such collaborations are not new, of course, but have received added impetus by factors such as the emergence of the 'world music' industry from the 1980s, the rise of digital communications technologies, and increased human mobilities of various kinds. Like the broader lay and marketing discourses, much of this scholarly work is celebratory in tone; relatively little of it engages critically with issues such as the power relations involved in such cultural 'exchanges'. In particular, the language of multiculturalism-including talk about exploring the spaces 'between' cultures-is predicated on a view of culture as relatively stable and bounded, rather than as a fluid and ongoing process. Viewed from the latter perspective, all cultures are arguably 'multi'. This paper will explore these questions with reference to several 'cross-cultural' projects, including Ukranian singer Mariana Sadovska's collaborations with the Kronos Quartet and German percussionist Christian Thomé; and Iranian musician Kayhan Kalhor's work with the Kronos Quartet and the Silk Road Ensemble. We explore the discourses by which these musicians and others position their work in relation to perceived cultural boundaries and ask whether those participating in such 'multicultural' projects are not in fact often from the same cultural formation (Turino 2003) sharing more culturally than the discourses of 'multiculturalism' allow for, and reinforcing an essentialised privileging of difference over shared commonalities (Agawu 2003).
Living Ethnomusicology, 2019
1. Introduction: The Ethnomusicology of Western Art Music Laudan Nooshin 2. Music Teachers as Mis... more 1. Introduction: The Ethnomusicology of Western Art Music Laudan Nooshin 2. Music Teachers as Missionaries: Understanding Europe's Recent Dispatches to Ramallah Rachel Beckles Willson 3. The Orchestration of Civil Society: Community and Conscience in Symphony Orchestras Tina K. Ramnarine 4. Classical Cult or Learning Community? Exploring New Audience Members' Social and Musical Responses to First-time Concert Attendance Melissa C. Dobson and Stephanie E. Pitts 5. Ethnographic Research into Contemporary String Quartet Rehearsal Amanda Bayley 6. "The Condition of Mozart": Mozart Year 2006 and the New Vienna Eric Martin Usner 7. Reflections on an Ethnomusicological Study of a Contemporary Western Art Music Composer Pirkko Moisala 8. Afterword Philip V. Bohlman
Edinburgh University Press eBooks, Apr 20, 2021
This chapter focuses on the variety of ways in which sound plays a pivotal role in The May Lady. ... more This chapter focuses on the variety of ways in which sound plays a pivotal role in The May Lady. Nooshin analyzes the act of listening as portrayed and provoked by the protagonist of the film, examining how the purely sonorous material qualities of the spoken voice, such as timbre, texture, and contour—often presented as being outside of referential meaning—in fact communicate a great deal to the listener “beyond words.” She argues in particular how sounds facilitate a new kind of filmic intimacy, affective subjectivity, and embodied listening that she terms “cinema of empathy.”
Contents: Preface. Part I Musicological Narratives of Creativity: Approaching the study of musica... more Contents: Preface. Part I Musicological Narratives of Creativity: Approaching the study of musical creativity: musicologies, discourses and others. Part II Creativity in the Iranian Context: Discourses and Structures: Discourses of creativity in Iranian classical music Disciplining creativity: the radif of Iranian classical music. Part III Beyond Discourse: The Practice of Creativity: Creative performance in Iranian classical music Postlude: 'Roots in the past and a view towards the future': contemporary developments in Iranian classical music performance. Appendices Bibliography Index.
Ethno-musicology, Oct 1, 2018
This article explores the emergence of the internet as an alternative sphere of musical circulati... more This article explores the emergence of the internet as an alternative sphere of musical circulation, focusing on the case of Iran and specifically certain kinds of music for which the internet has become the primary arena of musical sociality, in some cases replacing its physical public presence entirely. In particular, it asks how the spaces opened up by new media technologies have shifted the conceptual boundaries between public and private. The article begins with an overview of recent scholarly work on Iranian cyberspace and on the relationship between "public" and "private, " providing a grounding for the case examples that follow. August 2002. I visit the private studio of composer, performer, and teacher Ramin Behna. We chat about recent developments in Iranian popular musics. Towards the end of our discussion Ramin produces a clear plastic bag in which I make out twenty or so cassette tapes and minidiscs. He explains that these are recordings made by young rock musicians, mainly from Tehran. Word had been circulated through informal networks a while back soliciting submissions for an online rock music competition. The organizers expected to receive maybe ten or fifteen; no one was prepared for the flood of recordings sent in (about seventy), an indication of
Iranian Studies, Sep 1, 2005
Journal of the Royal Musical Association, 2003
This article traces the discourses which have dominated the musicological study of creativity ove... more This article traces the discourses which have dominated the musicological study of creativity over the last 50 years or so, focusing on the concept of improvisation and its relationship to composition, particularly as applied to musics outside the notated Western tradition. Arguing that such discourses have served specific ideological purposes, the author illustrates the ways in which these continue to be implicated in an essentializing and orientalist exercise of power over ‘other’ musical traditions. Considering the specific case of Iranian classical music, the author discusses the impact of Western discourses on concepts of musical creativity in Iran and, through detailed musical analyses, illustrates the problematic nature of such discourses in the context of this musical tradition.
Oxford University Press eBooks, 2001
Oxford University Press eBooks, 2001
Oxford University Press eBooks, 2018
In the ancient parable of the elephant and the blind men, each man attempts to describe the eleph... more In the ancient parable of the elephant and the blind men, each man attempts to describe the elephant through feeling a different part of its body-the smooth tusk, the long trunk, the rough skin, and so on-and each reaches a very different understanding of the nature of the animal. Tracking creative processes in music often feels rather like this: each of the methodologies commonly used by scholars working in the various branches of music studies-whether ethnographic, analytical, psychological, and so on-touches on and seems to reveal quite different things about the creative process. In this keynote, I explore some of the themes and issues that have arisen within ethnomusicological studies of musical creativity, through the prism of my own work on Iranian classical music, a tradition in which the performer plays a central creative role and which is therefore usually described as 'improvised'. I will consider some of the myth-making that surrounds musical creativity in this traditionand the purpose that such myths serve-as well as exploring the ways in which younger musicians are developing new discursive frameworks for their creative practice. Ultimately, I'm interested in the methodological challenges in bringing together the different parts of the elephant in order to describe and understand creative processes in music more holistically.
By the turn of the 99 s, literary and social theory was laying heavy stress on the discursive log... more By the turn of the 99 s, literary and social theory was laying heavy stress on the discursive logic through which dominant ideologies commonly route their power. We can call this the logic of alterity. It works by setting up opositions between a normative unitary self, usually invested with universal significance, and a plurality of deviant or imperfect others. The others are defined by negation; they are everything the self is not, the mirrors in which the self recognizes its own identity. As we will see, this system of oppositionality is far from stable … Furthermore, the identity that the self recognizes through the other is necessarily mystified ... 99 :
Psychology Press eBooks, Sep 24, 2007
Edinburgh University Press eBooks, Apr 20, 2021