Aris Lanaridis | Leeds Beckett University (original) (raw)

Papers by Aris Lanaridis

Research paper thumbnail of The Narrative Function of Music in a Contemporary Society: Designing an Empirical Approach through Dialogical and Representational Practices of the Social Self

The ability of music to transmit emotional intention is a widely acknowledged phenomenon across a... more The ability of music to transmit emotional intention is a widely acknowledged phenomenon across a range of musicological, psychological and semiological research disciplines. Much of this research has focused on the description of the narrative qualities of music within the communication process. However, there is still insufficient explanation of the underlying reasons for the ability to transmit emotional ideas, and little empirical research has been undertaken on the extent and accuracy of the narrative functionality of music. This article considers the reasons, level and extent of the narrative capacity of music in the context of a contemporary society. For this, it looks at the Self from an angle of internal dialogical activity, in order to investigate the subconscious interaction between individual and society. The article also considers the factors that may influence the shaping of musical taste and that may be responsible of setting the mode through which listeners perceive and filter music in the contemporary culture. Specific emphasis is given to the role of the media not only as an important source of information but also as a mechanism for influencing our perception of societal reality.

Keywords: plurality of cultural voices/personas, plurality of promoter positions, heteroglossia, subjectivity, intersubjectivity, interobjectivity, Social Identity Theory, Dialogical Self Theory, Social Representation Theory

Conference Presentations by Aris Lanaridis

Research paper thumbnail of Memory, emotional narrative and music: a game of experiential learning

Music and Lifetime Memories: An Interdisciplinary Conference/Durham, 2019

How can the same music make one person sad and another person happy? From infancy and onwards, mo... more How can the same music make one person sad and another person happy? From infancy and onwards, moments of social and cultural interaction shape identity, contain emotional value and hold a strong potential to connect with music.

Research paper thumbnail of Communicating the emotional narrative though music: a game of the subconscious mind

Psychology and Music - Interdisciplinary Encounters/Belgrade, 2019

Background Our responses to music are varied, dynamic and frequently create a strong emotional ch... more Background Our responses to music are varied, dynamic and frequently create a strong emotional charge which is often categorised through the use of metaphorical descriptors which map the underlying dimensions of the experience. Our understanding of these emotional responses has been investigated through a range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches that have explored how music and emotion connect. Interest in music and emotion has developed into a distinct field of study through the work of Sloboda (2005), Thompson (2009), Juslin and Sloboda (2010) and expanded our understanding of the relationship between music and emotional responses. Many of these studies focus on identifying change (emotional, physiological, behavioural) within a controlled laboratory environment verifying a connection between music and an emotional episode which registers as a cause and effect transformation. As our capacity to explore the workings of our brain increases, we may deepen our understanding of the way music evokes emotions.

Thesis Chapters by Aris Lanaridis

Research paper thumbnail of Communicating emotion through music: developing a model for exploring and testing emotional sharing between postgraduate student composers

Leeds Beckett University, 2022

The ability of music to generate emotional responses is a multifaceted phenomenon and its manifes... more The ability of music to generate emotional responses is a multifaceted phenomenon and its manifestations have been at the centre of multidisciplinary attention at least since the 1950s. Existing research has mainly explored psychological and physiological manifestations of emotional arousal when listening to music. There is still insufficient explanation of the underlying reasons for music's ability to facilitate the sharing of emotional ideas.
This thesis investigates the processes involved when a composer creates emotional connection with an audience. This communication process is understood as a dynamic mechanism that utilises learned experience and is activated through the agency of the subconscious upon the experience of listening to music. This mechanism informs the structure of a model of emotionally shared experience through music and puts specific focus on this between the composer and their audience. A model was created to explore this process and data was collected from reception tests administered to a group of post-graduate student composers. The model was constructed around the key ideas of meaning, emotion, and narrative. Detailed analysis using coding through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis indicate that the emotional interaction music creates between composer and listener is not a linear, unidirectional chain of communication but a shared experience that both the composer and the listener respond to through a common aesthetical understanding.
Responses are administered by dialectical processes which are responsible for the sharing of emotional meaning through music. From this perspective, the subconscious is considered to be a powerful agent that regulates our responses in all decision-making moments in musical communication and should be considered as an important element in the communication process.

Research paper thumbnail of The Narrative Function of Music in a Contemporary Society: Designing an Empirical Approach through Dialogical and Representational Practices of the Social Self

The ability of music to transmit emotional intention is a widely acknowledged phenomenon across a... more The ability of music to transmit emotional intention is a widely acknowledged phenomenon across a range of musicological, psychological and semiological research disciplines. Much of this research has focused on the description of the narrative qualities of music within the communication process. However, there is still insufficient explanation of the underlying reasons for the ability to transmit emotional ideas, and little empirical research has been undertaken on the extent and accuracy of the narrative functionality of music. This article considers the reasons, level and extent of the narrative capacity of music in the context of a contemporary society. For this, it looks at the Self from an angle of internal dialogical activity, in order to investigate the subconscious interaction between individual and society. The article also considers the factors that may influence the shaping of musical taste and that may be responsible of setting the mode through which listeners perceive and filter music in the contemporary culture. Specific emphasis is given to the role of the media not only as an important source of information but also as a mechanism for influencing our perception of societal reality.

Keywords: plurality of cultural voices/personas, plurality of promoter positions, heteroglossia, subjectivity, intersubjectivity, interobjectivity, Social Identity Theory, Dialogical Self Theory, Social Representation Theory

Research paper thumbnail of Memory, emotional narrative and music: a game of experiential learning

Music and Lifetime Memories: An Interdisciplinary Conference/Durham, 2019

How can the same music make one person sad and another person happy? From infancy and onwards, mo... more How can the same music make one person sad and another person happy? From infancy and onwards, moments of social and cultural interaction shape identity, contain emotional value and hold a strong potential to connect with music.

Research paper thumbnail of Communicating the emotional narrative though music: a game of the subconscious mind

Psychology and Music - Interdisciplinary Encounters/Belgrade, 2019

Background Our responses to music are varied, dynamic and frequently create a strong emotional ch... more Background Our responses to music are varied, dynamic and frequently create a strong emotional charge which is often categorised through the use of metaphorical descriptors which map the underlying dimensions of the experience. Our understanding of these emotional responses has been investigated through a range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches that have explored how music and emotion connect. Interest in music and emotion has developed into a distinct field of study through the work of Sloboda (2005), Thompson (2009), Juslin and Sloboda (2010) and expanded our understanding of the relationship between music and emotional responses. Many of these studies focus on identifying change (emotional, physiological, behavioural) within a controlled laboratory environment verifying a connection between music and an emotional episode which registers as a cause and effect transformation. As our capacity to explore the workings of our brain increases, we may deepen our understanding of the way music evokes emotions.

Research paper thumbnail of Communicating emotion through music: developing a model for exploring and testing emotional sharing between postgraduate student composers

Leeds Beckett University, 2022

The ability of music to generate emotional responses is a multifaceted phenomenon and its manifes... more The ability of music to generate emotional responses is a multifaceted phenomenon and its manifestations have been at the centre of multidisciplinary attention at least since the 1950s. Existing research has mainly explored psychological and physiological manifestations of emotional arousal when listening to music. There is still insufficient explanation of the underlying reasons for music's ability to facilitate the sharing of emotional ideas.
This thesis investigates the processes involved when a composer creates emotional connection with an audience. This communication process is understood as a dynamic mechanism that utilises learned experience and is activated through the agency of the subconscious upon the experience of listening to music. This mechanism informs the structure of a model of emotionally shared experience through music and puts specific focus on this between the composer and their audience. A model was created to explore this process and data was collected from reception tests administered to a group of post-graduate student composers. The model was constructed around the key ideas of meaning, emotion, and narrative. Detailed analysis using coding through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis indicate that the emotional interaction music creates between composer and listener is not a linear, unidirectional chain of communication but a shared experience that both the composer and the listener respond to through a common aesthetical understanding.
Responses are administered by dialectical processes which are responsible for the sharing of emotional meaning through music. From this perspective, the subconscious is considered to be a powerful agent that regulates our responses in all decision-making moments in musical communication and should be considered as an important element in the communication process.