Monday, March 07, 2005
Sugar and Spice and All That's Nice
It seems to me that this question of the importance of context to meaning is largely a nature/nurture issue. Undeniably, certain musical sounds and gestures evoke certain emotions -- the art of film-score is based heavily on the knowledge of these tropes and the ability to deploy them. William Kimmel's "The Phrygian Inflection and the Appearances of Death in Music" catalogues many instances throughout western musical history of a particular descending half-step gesture signifying death. So, to take Kimmel's example, are we biologically programmed to associate the Phrygian Inflection with Death, or have we been culturally indoctrinated? Surely we have some biological dispositions, but I would suggest that the safe route is to assume that any given association is socialized until we have solid evidence to the contrary. Larry Summers, at Harvard, is not the first, nor will he be the last, to jump to the conclusion that nature dictates the scientific abilities of women as compared to men when scientists have determined that culture is the overriding factor. Let us be similarly cautious in our discussion.
The kinds of presentational context that Cary brings up are important as well. I agree completely with his observation that presentation is manipulated in order to exercise control over the product, and with his implication that as long as presentation is inevitable, we might as well use it to the best advantage we can.
posted by Galen H. Brown
10:22 PM
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