Via Gra Translation

http://www.allthelyrics.com/forum/russian-belorussian-ukrainian/64112-english-translation.html

Music as an Analogy to Geographical Space

Throughout reading the Longhurst chapter, to be honest, I was not sure exactly what concept she meant by the many references to geography.  Going with the assumption that she is speaking of physical places and environments in which our bodies must exist, I want to make the analogy of thinking about music (particular pieces/songs, even) as a place, or more abstractly, as a "space".  (It is slightly different because we cannot physically place our bodies within a song as we can place them within locations in the physical world.)  She posits that we are not effectively grappling with the body's fluid boundaries because--to give one reason--the fluids produced that characterize the body as "messy" are viewed as abject, unclean; we do not want to acknowledge them because they tarnish the model of the human.

This phenomenon of skirting around the truth of the messy body is something I have seen in the "geography" of some popular music.  Some songs are quite sexual in nature, but the fluids that are inherently involved in sexual acts are pretty much avoided in lyrics by way of using implications rather than more direct language.

Examples...

• "Taste It", by INXS (lyrics, video): The title alone is suggestive of fluids; the video clearly shows the sexual subject material of the song; an excerpt from the lyrics is "Sweet, sweet, sweet / Could you taste it?", but to look at the lyrics, they are still rather abstract, not explicit.
• "Birthday Sex", by Jeremih (lyrics): The lyrics contain some pretty specific references but still step around the messiness of the act.
• "Secret", by Maroon 5 (video - lyrics in description): In this case the lyrics are not explicit at all, more poetic in nature, but the sexual nature of the song (enhanced by the music) is evident.

To ponder for a moment: Perhaps partially we are avoiding bodily fluidity and messiness in music (as an example of popular media) because it seems distasteful and human-image-tarnishing.  Because this is music, though, we may not just be avoiding something, but rather trying to glorify the actions without including dirty details--yes, they exist, but we know that in the back of our minds, so we need not include them directly.  Additionally (as came to mind for me via the third song above), part of the game is creation of mystery (through abstraction) and thus the desire to uncover more.  In that "more" could be all the "dirty" details.

"Wit" - Emma Thompson

Historically, the body has been seen -- in medicine at least -- as a male being. Longhurst provides Vesalius and Galen as examples to this end, and indeed, research projects have consistently focused on the "70-kg male," and then extrapolated their findings to females, minorities, etc.

Similarly, Longhurst supports that culturally, the body is also a male being:

"The body [humanist geographers] refer to here is ... a man's body. ... They do not want a body that is messy, incomplete, out of place and not possessing clear boundaries. They do not argue for the menstruating, birthing or lactating body -- that which is associated with the feminine." (p. 16)

Longhurst's implied feminism here made me curious: how do we think about the woman's body, particularly if the disease affects this "male/female" dichotomy. In "Wit," Emma Thompson is diagnosed with stage IV (disseminated) ovarian cancer. Losing the ovaries (literally, or in terms of function) is clearly a defeminizing process, yet we don't see it as masculinizing. Does this get in the way of the dichotomy Longhurst seems to see in baby diapers and cultural history?

More significantly, Longhurst's continuing discussion on the interface between mind and body also seems relevant here. How does the mind deal with a failing body? Emma Thompson confronts this challenge in the scene, excerpted below.

Longhurst Reading

Longhurst talks of how those that occupy the space of the mind transfer knowledge, that there is a palpable separation between mind and body. The body has needs and is subject to its own set of rules. Sometimes, when composing music, I wonder what it would be like to be an incorporeal being. My body requires me to eat, go to the bathroom, get exercise, etc… While these tasks can be fulfilling in their own right, at times they get in way of working, and limit my ability fulfill my mind. That being said, I need my body to play instruments and sing, so it ends up being a balancing act between my body and my brain’s requirements.

Abjection as societal or biological?

As I was reading this, I had a hard time really buying what Longhurst was saying. While I can see some of her points, she fails to acknowledge that some abjection of fluids, for fluids like vomit and urine, is more biological than societal. She seems to focus purely on the humanitarian element, lamenting society's taboos, but fails to consider the biological element. For instance, it is evolutionarily advantageous for the person who sees his peer vomiting to be repulsed. Otherwise, he may not avoid the food that cause this in the first place. Along the same lines, nausea inducement in groups is also common. If one is in a group and someone vomits, many other people in the group will feel nauseated. While this might have societal overtones, the biology of this process cannot be denied.

On a less critical note, as I was reading this, I thought of this scene from Dr. Strangelove.

Longhurst reading

Longhurt's discussion of the extension of the body into fluids and how we divide bodily fluids into "dirty" fluids like vomit and sweat and "clean" fluids like tears makes me think of the noises we make with our voice and which ones we consider music as opposed to just noise. We can make a wide range of noises including screaming, crying, talking, yelling, but for some reason we only consider "singing" musical. If someone were "crying on pitch," would that be music?

Longhurst's "Corporeographies" and Music

Among the scores of points that Longhurst addresses in "Corporeographies", she asserts that to understand bodies, "it is necessary to pay attention to discourses and/on/in flesh". Therefore, the 'common', fundamental definition of 'body' - what our skin covers - does not adequately describe said concept. Instead, Longhurst explains that "body" (or geographer's definitions of body) is influenced but one's sociocultural environment, colored by values, politics, and prejudices.
After reading this paper, I found a strong connection between how Longhurst approaches the body, and how our 21st century approaches music, more specifically, instrumentation. Just how Longhurst moves away from the fact that the body is not solely 'organs' (no pun intended), music today can be created and/or performed without instrumentation - it is no longer concrete and substantial, but rather an amorphous, sonic experience. To prove this point, I chose a youtube clip of Tiesto, a popular European DJ and the Blueman Group.
The fact that Tiesto never plays any instruments to produce his sound, I believe, provides visual evidence to my point. In addition, the incorporation of the Blueman Group - a genderless performance troop - may also stimulate conversation as to how 'body' - or lack thereof - can be connected to musical performance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXd9XQsvkSY

The "Otherized" Body in Music (Karp)

In "Corporeographies," Longhurst stresses that the body has been treated as the "Other" in most academic discourse (specifically in geography). The body and its normal functions could detract from the neat and tidy rationality of such discourse, especially in an intellectual tradition that treats humans as dichotomous, with reason contained in the mind and lustful passions in the body. Music harbors some of the "Otherization" of the body. Recordings often seek to minimize what is human and bodily in order to create a more "perfect" sound. Just think of the wildly popular Autotune trend in pop music. It is basically no longer acceptable in pop music to even sound like a human, whose voice slides along an analogue continuum of pitches and often does not rest perfectly at the exact desired frequency. Rather, we aim to sound like computers: digital, perfect, and squeaky clean. Any signs of the body - voices cracking, breathing - are treated as deviations from the norm. I've attached a video of YouTube sensation Tay Zonday's "Chocolate Rain" to demonstrate how musicians make concerted efforts to minimize breathing noises, even though singing itself is a variation of breathing. Fast forward to 0:25.

Breathing Bodies and the Soul in Sax - Croom (25Jan10)

If you stood in a vault and the air was suddenly sucked out, it wouldn't be long until you realized just how interdependent the body is with the environment. You may even justifiably wonder: is the air I'm breathing, the air sustaining my very existence, included as internal to my body or excluded as external? Is such an internal/external distinction always apt? In Bodies: Exploring Fluid Boundaries Longhurst suggests that "In ingesting objects into itself or expelling objects from itself, the subject can never be distinct from the objects" (p. 29). This made me think of Maceo Parker's Soul of a Black Man. Where does Maceo's instrument begin? Surely not in the sax, but within his lungs, within his body. And when you hear him play, you not only hear the sound of the sax, but the sound of his breath, the style of his exhale. Growing up I always felt intimate with my sax; I think for some, it's an extension of one's soul.

Kalahari Debate Article

This helped me understand what was going on in the Grauer article.

Kalahari Debate

Specifically, the Arguments section is helpful.

Longhurst's "Corporeographies"

Longhurst's chapter does not deal specifically with music, yet there is great potential to apply her ideas to musical products, behaviors, processes, etc.

How might this be done?

New Research On Music Therapy

I know we haven't discussed music therapy yet, however I just found research that came out a few days ago suggesting a profound link between Mozart's Sonatas and baby growth. Take a look:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100107132551.htm

Bodies as Cages

His body's still a cage...

At the request of Tori (not Amos), I've started a blog for the class. Feel free to post whenever the spirit moves you.