TY - JOUR
T1 - Literature’s listening spaces
T2 - Representations of music listening in two contemporary novels
AU - Vilmar, Therese Wiwe
PY - 2021/1
Y1 - 2021/1
N2 - Literary descriptions of music are – of course – pure fiction. However, such narratives are also windows into the phenomenological and sociological workings of music in modern society. Many novels share detailed descriptions of music in their fictional worlds, and this article examines what two contemporary novels reveal about modern-day music listening as both a cultural and private practice. The article will analyse the nature of ‘listening spaces’ represented in A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (2010) and Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (2005). Both novels have been published within the first decade of the 21st century and describe Western popular music. Music experienced by fictional characters can be valuable empirical data, because novels represent different listening situations varied by geography, epochs and genres, and they depict characters with different demographics, lives and musical/cultural backgrounds. This enables scholars to collect and compare multi-faceted datasets. The aim of this article is to use literary descriptions to ask qualified questions about sociological and phenomenological aspects of contemporary music listening practices. The analysis will focus on the atmosphere of listening (Böhme, 2017) – and especially the fictional listeners’ bodily presence in musical spaces – in dialogue with sociological studies of music listening by especially Tia DeNora (2000), David Hesmondhalgh (2013) and Even Ruud (2013). The analysis indicates how fiction articulates a connection between music, body (in space and place) and mind (emotions, temporality and memory).
AB - Literary descriptions of music are – of course – pure fiction. However, such narratives are also windows into the phenomenological and sociological workings of music in modern society. Many novels share detailed descriptions of music in their fictional worlds, and this article examines what two contemporary novels reveal about modern-day music listening as both a cultural and private practice. The article will analyse the nature of ‘listening spaces’ represented in A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (2010) and Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (2005). Both novels have been published within the first decade of the 21st century and describe Western popular music. Music experienced by fictional characters can be valuable empirical data, because novels represent different listening situations varied by geography, epochs and genres, and they depict characters with different demographics, lives and musical/cultural backgrounds. This enables scholars to collect and compare multi-faceted datasets. The aim of this article is to use literary descriptions to ask qualified questions about sociological and phenomenological aspects of contemporary music listening practices. The analysis will focus on the atmosphere of listening (Böhme, 2017) – and especially the fictional listeners’ bodily presence in musical spaces – in dialogue with sociological studies of music listening by especially Tia DeNora (2000), David Hesmondhalgh (2013) and Even Ruud (2013). The analysis indicates how fiction articulates a connection between music, body (in space and place) and mind (emotions, temporality and memory).
U2 - 10.7146/se.v10i1.124198
DO - 10.7146/se.v10i1.124198
M3 - Journal article
SN - 1904-500X
VL - 10
SP - 56
EP - 70
JO - SoundEffects - An Interdisciplinary Journal of Sound and Sound Experience
JF - SoundEffects - An Interdisciplinary Journal of Sound and Sound Experience
IS - 1
ER -