Module FREN3491: LISTENING TO FRENCH (SUB)CULTURES: MUSIC, MEANING, AND PHILOSOPHY

Department: Modern Languages and Cultures (French)

FREN3491: LISTENING TO FRENCH (SUB)CULTURES: MUSIC, MEANING, AND PHILOSOPHY

Prerequisites

• French Language 2 (FREN2051) plus one or more from: FREN2011, FREN2031, FREN2061 OR an equivalent qualification to the satisfaction of the Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

Corequisites

• Modern Languages, Combined Honours and all Joint and 'with' programmes: French Language 4 (FREN3041). Other: see Chairman/Chairwoman of the Board of Studies in MLAC or his/her representative.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To introduce students to key issues in the study of music and sound cultures, and to a selection of music from France and Francophone cultures
• To explore the characterisation or use of music in French thought across a variety of texts and a variety of philosophical contexts
• To develop an awareness of the breadth of objects/processes that may be considered as music
• To explore (cultural, political, social, ethical, etc.) issues at stake in the attempt to make a distinction between music and sound
• To scrutinise some of the (non-musical or extra-musical) reasons philosophers have invoked music for philosophical or theoretical ends
• To put these (new) understandings into dialogue with music as the students find/experience it in daily life

Content

• This module uses philosophical, musicological and sounds studies readings alongside a diversity of auditory sources in order to investigate key issues in the understanding and study of musical/sound cultures
• Topics to be studied will typically include:
• The question of definition: what do we mean when we talk about music(s)? Which/whose music(s) count?
• What does the inclusion of music/sound add to our study of languages and cultures?
• Mimesis, representation, and meaning
• The phallogocularcentrism of philosophy/theory
• The relationship between the symbolic and the sensuous
• Mediation, materiality, instruments and technologies
• The relationship between ethics and aesthetics
• Music and identity: gender, sexuality, race, class, etc.
• Cultural hegemony, (post)modernity and power
• Key vocabulary/terminology for describing music and/or sound artefacts/materials

Learning Outcomes

• By the end of the module students should:
• Have critical knowledge and understanding of a range of recent philosophical attempts to understand, use, or characterize music
• Critical insight into how philosophical texts might critique music, use music itself as a form of critique, or construct music in particular ways according to many factors that may appear to be only tangentially related to ‘actual’ music.
• Demonstrate in-depth knowledge of key debates and terms in the study of music and sound cultures
• Have acquired sufficient musical and philosophical terminology to discuss the issues arising from the consideration of music and sound in precise and focused ways.

• By the end of this module, students will have developed analytic, synthetic, comparative and interpretative skills, such as:
• The ability to perform the close-reading of philosophical texts that deal with music, developing particularly the capacity to recognise when music is being deployed as an ‘idea’ for other ends, or by contrast when examples of ‘actual’ music are referred to as exemplary/ideal for aesthetic/ethical reasons.
• The capacity to think about and reflect on trans-disciplinary and intermedial concerns
• The ability to identify what other issues are being worked through or constructed in particular ways, though the discussion may be ostensibly about ‘music’ or sound.
• The ability to include music and/or sound artefacts/materials as part of written assignments or presentations

• By the end of this module, students will have developed:
• Critical, analytical and comparative skills
• Essay-writing and oral presentation skills
• Structuring of arguments
• Independent learning and research

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Weekly lectures and fortnightly seminars
• The inherent interdisciplinarity of the course means that students will be expected to read and listen widely and creatively; this is reflected in the (potentially creative and) research-led modes of assessment
• Students will give one seminar presentation which will form the basis of one of the summative essays/unessay
• Assessment will be in the form of summative (un)essays based in the student’s own research interests; tutorial time is allocated to discuss possible topics
• The first exegetical essay will focus on primary texts, allowing the student to explore more deeply the theoretical debates encountered in the module which will reflect the intended learning outcomes
• The second summative assignment will be in the form of either a) a second essay; or b) an ‘unessay’ (e.g. ‘any form or media that allows you to make a compelling and effective argument’ (Michael Ullyot)), the design of which will be discussed in consultation with the tutor in the allotted tutorial time. In both instances the students will explore their own lines of research.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Students will give a seminar presentation, which they will receive feedback on, and participate in student-led group discussions based on the allocated seminar reading/listening. They will also have a short tutorial each term to discuss with the tutor ideas for the summative assessment.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University